Softball: Grove! (Plus ça change….)
Dear People,
Jim McGuire's team snuffed out my own on the last hit of the game, 15-14, in one of those hallucinatory masterworks that spin on the chaos-strewn fulcrum of its own aerobic excellence. I refer you specifically to Marleen, who had been a transcendent pillar of this community during its very first season, but then mysteriously disappeared for the next 16 years! Her reappearance was nothing less than a joyous sojourn into the bracing potential of one athlete's long-delayed renaissance, although she did suffer a somewhat inauspicious incident in the top of the 2nd.
As best I could tell, the Marmeister apparently used the vital peroneus longus muscle of her perfectly innocent calf with a little too much “vigor,” and thus .05 seconds into her first base-running sprint since 1997, she promptly tore it to shreds. Oh sure, her historic comeback was technically cut to just over one puny inning, but we all know that glory knows not an arbitrary minimum. Regardless, as both her cherished s.o. and a fine mensch of a neighbor arrived from Oakland to literally carry her off the field, I knew with every fiber of my bosom that she'd savor, she'd heal and she'd no doubt be back . . . in 2029.
The point is that this community continues to suffer the ravages of torn cartilage, broken bone and the occasional bout of syphilitic psychosis, but over the years, nothing has so challenged our communal cohesion as the City of Berkeley's annual, arbitrary and totally bogus seizure of our beloved yak-laden homeland. I mention this because just a few hours ago, I received sudden word from said City that once again, the Neo-Colonial Softball-Hating Albany-Berkeley Girl's Softball League has been given possession of Codornices for the next several Sundays. Now look, we've been through this countless times before, and yes, I'm well aware that their average player is about nine years old and 75 pounds, and that if we truly trained with the requisite resolve, we could probably take them militarily. Yeah, I get it.
Nevertheless, I think we all know that this league isn't defined by a place or even a game, but rather by the basic character of its people-noble, sincere and utterly shameless in their tawdry locational promiscuity. And therefore there will be a game at magnificent GROVE PARK (at MLK and Russell) this Sunday at 11, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning….Raymond
9/13/13
Softball: Grove! (As in not Codornices)
Dear People,
There will be a game at GROVE PARK (at MLK and Russell) this Sunday at 11, and as of now there are still six slots left. Note that if you fail to read this and go to Codornices, you'll likely see a bunch of annoying pre-pubescent interlopers who might very well treat you like the dufus you'd be. Just sayin'.
Please bring $4 for the field, which for this week only includes a complimentary pre-game heirloom cucumber salad with fried capers and squab terrine toast . . . Raymond 845-7552