I had been playing softball in UC Berkeley's intramural leagues throughout the 90s, but the games were a drag because they only lasted about 50 minutes, and the underpaid umpires were often cantankerous and bitter. On off weeks, some of us would informally get together to play, but nothing was structured, and often there just weren’t enough for a game. Other times the field would be taken, since nobody bothered to reserve it. Thus, in the Spring of 1997, I agreed to take down people's email addresses, and at least let everyone interested know when and where we planned to play. Initially, there were about 15 people on the list.

The first email called game was still a disaster, since only half the potential people showed up. I was determined not to let that happen again, so I started to demand commits if we were to play, and when the commits came in too slowly, I started to beg. These first "Friday morning grovels" took on a life of their own, and I was off and running, giving my creative delirium free literary reign.

In the five years since, the list has grown to about 250 people, including those in such countries as China, Costa Rica and Belgium (Shamefully, these latter folks rarely if ever commit). We have probably played over 250 games, usually on Saturday or Sunday afternoons, but occasionally on mornings and even weekday nights. 90% of our games have been at either Kleeberger (Astroturf) field, which is next to campus and owned by UC, or Codornices field, which is a beautiful park next to the Rose Garden in North Berkeley. However, in desperate search of real estate, we have ended up playing at various other places in Berkeley, Albany and Oakland, including Albany Memorial Park, San Pablo Parks #1 and #2 in West Berkeley, and BushRod Field in North Oakland. They have all served us well, except for the rocks, puddles, and dog shit.

The problems associated with organizing these games can include the following:

1) Too few players
2) Too many players
3) No place to play
4) Climatological uncertainties (rain, mud, and earthquakes)
5) Misc: Obtaining reservation slips, lack of parking, hostile bureaucracies, etc...

Despite this cornucopia of challenges, I have managed to turn the process into a fine organizational art, and thus am now able to put together delightful 18-22 person games on the majority of weekends throughout the year. I am also willing to switch to football on rainy days, for I am unabashedly poly-sportal.

Of the 250+ people on the list, about half live in the immediate area. Of those, about 100 have played at least once, but at any given time, there is a core group of about 30-40 that show up at least once a month, and a hardcore group of about 15 people, who play at least half the games.

Among the regular players, there are lawyers, doctors, custodians, architects, UC Berkeley professors, speech writers, waitresses, engineers, grad students, librarians, programmers, entrepreneurs, writers, gardeners, secretaries, scientists and assorted underemployed lunatics. They range in age from 13 to 60ish, w/ a mean age of about 35. There is some ethnic diversity, but not as much as I would prefer. About 1/5th of the players for any given game are female. Overall, the occurrence of general neurosis seems to be no higher than that of the general public.

As I wrote in one of my emails, I believe that we have evolved into the finest unaffiliated email-organized softball community West of the Sacramento River. It's a brazen claim, but I'll stand by it.