Softball: The Cumulative Nature of Fault
Dear People,
Here are the relevant facts as I saw them—raw, unvarnished and ghastly: After rallying hard and proud from a stunning 6th inning 15-7 deficit, my team found itself barely clinging to life with two out, a runner on 3rd and the score tied at 15 in the bottom of the 9th. Enid's contingent still acted as if they were a pride of feral tabbies who had cornered a prostrate rat, and thus as we baked alive in the triple digit heat, they lounged in the shaded bleachers, sipped their iced Sri Lankan teas and taunted us with ceaseless yells of "choke-prone sudorific losers!" Of course I just scoffed at their presumptuous ’tude, for I was still convinced with every fiber of my being that we'd shut them down on the very next pitch, and then go on to triumph.
In any case, with Chris D at the plate and Ehud at the mound, the fate of the universe hung in the balance. The first pitch was a knuckleball that Udi had perfected in his youth, and Chris wisely held off. But on the very next one—a suggestively coy sinker with a fitzer twist— she slammed a fearsome grounder at least two full feet right up the middle! Fortunately, Ehud darted for the orb without hesitation, snagged it with aplomb, spun a full and instantaneous 180 degrees, and then just before Chris could dart to safety, hurled his game-saving throw directly toward the outstretched glove of our trusty first baseman. Unfortunately, I was the trusted dufus in question.
Now look, I’m not going to deny that I “dropped” the ball, thereby allowing Chris to single and Deb to score. Nor will I deny that technically speaking, this cost us the rally, the inning and the entire game, right then and there. But I do think it would be premature to blame me exclusively, if for no other reason that if Nanci, Terri or Lassie had been in my place, they would have dropped that same exact throw at least 10% of the time! Does this mean I think Ehud must be held accountable for his less than perfect toss? Maybe, maybe not; Ultimately, that’s between me, the Huud and our mutual aerobic Mashgiach.
The point is that even though we lost, the true hero of the game was Marcellus, whose 12 short years on this planet have made him the most awesome 3rd basemen in our entire community. Indeed, he’s the only player we’ve had who consistently snags his own grandfather’s line drives with chilling Hooveresque suction. No doubt that Marciel is still beaming with atavistic pride, even if he’s a tad saddened that the kid was stuck on my side. In the end, of course, excellence is its own reward, and if Marcellus needs a Mashgiach to sort it all out, I think that can be arranged. And therefore there will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11AM, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning…Raymond
7/28/06
Softball: Travels
Dear People,
There will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11AM, and as of now there are still four slots left.
This week’s field fee is just $3, and that includes 15,000 free miles on award-winning Air Tajikistan….Ray 845-7552