12/12/12
Softball: Tales of the Feral Boscage
Dear People,
In one of those truly transcendent 10-inning masterworks that obliterate the previously settled boundaries of aerobic joie de vivre, Jim McGuire's team brutally snuffed out my own on the last hit of the game, 9-8. It was a bittersweet dénouement to an otherwise sublime athletic gestalt (a SAG, if you will), and I'm not saying that just because it was actually my side that made all the glorious plays. Really.
I refer you to the top of the 8th, with two outs and the score tied at 7; Paul Fine unleashed a blistering line drive that shot straight past Steve Powers and into the junglelike tundra beyond deep center-right, and because Paulie knew that he was the critical go-ahead run, he raced around the diamond as if he were nothing less than a gazelle on meth. Of course Steve himself is no slouch in the field, and since he had recovered the elusive orb within seconds, it first appeared as if he would hold the Finester to a sublime yet humble double.
Curiously, though, and in the process of mid-hurlage, the Stevenator's throwing arm became horrifically entangled in the sinuous branches of some sultry Peruvian strangler vines, thereby delaying his throw to the infield just long enough for Saint Paul to dart all the way home! That's right; Professor Paul Fine, Cal's greatest living botanist and an expert in phylogenetic relatedness, smashed a pivotal solo homer with shameless assistance from a partisan thicket of treacherous liana plants, and if that isn't ironically glorious, then I don't know what.
Unfortunately, my side still faced extinction in the bottom of the 9th, for the score was now tied at 8 with no outs and cunning little runners on 1st and 2nd. Yet in back-to-back plays of breath-taking courage, we first threw out Ben Carter at home after a terrifying smash to deep center left, and then, just two minutes later, Jim popped up to Kira in a magnificent and an unassisted double play that caught Frank drooling and asleep on the baseline. Yeah, the invasive weeds, the pickoff at the plate, the Frankenstinian somnambulance -It's as if every semiotic hint from nature herself was signaling our imminent triumph.
Except apparently they weren't, for it was Professor Butterball's reckless one-out final-inning overthrow that put Steve Powers into scoring position from 3rd, and yes, it was Steve who scored the winning run as the final sacrifice fly of the day landed in Paulie's tragically outstretched glove-200 yards from the plate. Alas, our leafy little hero was unable to exploit the selfless assistance of the vital shrubage that was there for him, and as we all know, unforeseeable are the consequences when the bonds of man and plant are so painfully cleaved asunder.
Indeed, the delicate interplay of homoathletici with the surrounding worm, yak and fauna will always be fraught, and in the end, I believe that Paul himself will think long and hard, decide to come clean, and then, one fine day soon, look his adoring Tropical Biomass students directly in their wondrously youthful pupils and tell them with a kind and vulnerable heart, “I have let down some of the succulents, but I will do better.” And therefore there will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning…Raymond
PS: Looking for some scientifically stimulating cinematic entertainment? Chris Fure's film "Saraya's Universe" is playing from 5-6pm this Sunday at the Berkeley Video/Film Festival! 1939 Addison Street, Berkeley 94704 (one block from Downtown Berkeley BART). Details here: http://berkeleyvideofilmfest.org/
12/14/12
Softball: Red
Dear People,
There will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11, and as of now there is one slot still left.
This week's field fee is just $4, and that includes a complimenatry post-game stein of 2008 Chardonnay, Grusse en Billat (please allow 10 minutes for chilling)…Raymond 845-7552
12/16/12
Softball: Sunday 9:12AM: Wear yer Mittens!
It's getting sunny and glorious as I peck these very words, Codornices' drainage is magnificent, and since it didn't rain last night and really only drizzled yesterday, I'm going back to sleep rather than drive up to check the field. Not to worry-Just in case, I'll bring my trusty bucket, rake and hoe. That's right; Trusty.
See ya at 11…Raymond
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