Historically, Jack was the one who believed that the key to
our team getting better was the addition of talent and I was the one who
preferred a guy with a good attitude and proper mindset. I can’t speak for Jack, but from my point of
view I have always seen things as conquests of psychology, therefore I have
always sought to have the people with the right attitude around when things get
rough. I am all about attitude and
attendance. It has been my experience
that when shit hits the fan, it’s the guy with the sense of humor and a healthy
disrespect for authority that is able to grab the moment by the shorties and
turn it around for the better. I always
thought that when we came from behind to win games it was because we had better
heads on our shoulders. When we put together
big innings and kept our shit together in the field it was because we kept our
heads in it, not because we were younger or faster or stronger. I don’t think there is any way to empirically
prove it, but I am certain that we both believe in our own righteousness.
In the end, the tests that were forced on us proved nothing. Good players that joined up didn’t show up
for games or were hurt more often than they were healthy. Guys who did show up and were good teammates
couldn’t always make good plays on line drives or make good throws or hit for
contact with the outfield playing back.
El Racha, my old running mate, is as fast as greased lightening and when
the going gets tough, he is a lion and steady as a rock. The poor guy can’t throw a fit. Some guys who had all the tools never showed
up and we were forced to play shorthanded.
For me, those moments of circling the wagons were always fun, and they
stood to prove my concept when we won.
Of course, sometimes we lost just because we didn’t score enough runs or
field fly balls. Perhaps those moments
are lodged in Jack’s column.
So I moved to Minneapolis. When I got up here I was recruited to play
for a softball team that plays in a league exclusively comprised of
architecture firms. I am, quite frankly,
a ringer. It is hard to categorize
myself as such, but such it is. I only
have one friend up here, and he is the husband of one of my girlfriend’s
classmates in her Masters studio. He
too, is an architect, and he brought me on to play with his firm’s team. He is an up and comer (by all accounts) in a
well respected firm and he was given the task of managing the firm’s softball
team by the founding partner. He was
unable to refuse. He manages the team
strictly on the premise of having fun, and that hurts sometimes. People get moved around so that they can play
different positions and have different experiences. It is co-ed league and sometimes playing with
girls can be trying. I have had a lot of
fun because no pressure has been placed on me to do anything for anybody. On the first night I showed up, my buddy said
to me, “Yer playing center field, the only help you have is the guy in
left. Get every ball you can and have
fun but I don’t care if we win or lose.”
That was no problem for me. I am
capable of playing the game within myself.
I don’t play a lot of outfield, and I don’t have great range, but I use
every inch of the field I can get to. I
made a couple of diving plays, and people thought that was great because they
couldn’t see that any other person could have gotten to the balls standing
up. Anyway, I had fun despite having an
area of responsibility that went from the left field power alley to the grass
behind first base. I like to think I am
a good guy in the dugout. I make a lot
of jokes, chat it up, that sort of thing.
So my season has been pretty good despite our mediocre record. I have been hitting pretty well. I am driving the ball to center with some
authority and going to right field when I need and extra base or two. It has been a good season.
That is, until our last game. I had been exceptionally patient and helpful
with all of the players who did not have my ability or experience. I was a good teammate. I play to win. In our last game the manager came to me
before the game and said, “I have to pitch tonight, you can take
shortstop.” I said, “okay”. I have always considered myself a better
infielder than outfielder though, it is probably closer than I let on. I had always noticed that our guy at first
was not really up to par, but I had always given him good natured shit about it
and let it go. He isn’t our worst
player. He can’t field a ground ball,
and has clumsy feet. He has been beaten
by so many grounders off of left handers that he now plays first from the
outfield grass, and plays it too close to second at that. He is probably 25 or 30 feet away from the
bag, with short base paths it was too far away.
I had encouraged him to forget about the grounders and stay closer to
first. His responsibility is catching
the ball at first, I had told him, and he should focus on that. Not many grounders came his way as it
was. He didn’t listen to me and I
didn’t care because I didn’t play infield.
I knew my role. Now I was playing
infield, and it was my problem.
His first chance to screw things up came in the first
inning. The other team had a few decent
hitters at the top of the order. Their
youngest guy was a lean looking fellow.
He was going to be quick. He hit a
sharp grounder to my right side. I slide
over and picked it up easily. He was
fast and digging. Our firstbaseman
wasn’t there yet. I double clutched to
give him time and stay in rhythm. It
wasn’t going to work. He wasn’t going to
get there. I threw the ball at the
bag. My right hand throw tailed up the
baseline just a tad but not much. It was
going to get there about eight inches right of the bag. He got there and all he had to do was stick
his hand out. He put the wrong foot on
the bag, got twisted up, and the ball cruised underneath his armpit and out of
play. Sigh. I shook it off. I showed him the palm of my hand in a gesture
of “calm down”. Accidents happen.
We got down early but in the top half of the last inning
something dramatic happened. The right
part of our order got up at the right time and tied the game. After a walk and a chip shot behind the
second baseman we had a girl come up and get drive one to the second
baseman. With everybody running we were
able to force an error and get the top of our lineup back up. After nine run top half of the inning, we
were up by three.
The other team got up to bat with the top of their lineup
coming to the dish. They scored a couple
of runs, and then had a girl come up.
She was one of the better female hitters in the architecture
league. Tall for a girl with big thighs
and hips and broad shoulders, she had proven the ability to hit well several
times in the game but she wasn’t much for getting down the base paths. She hit a sharp grounder to my right. It was going to be a backhand play. I took my step, measured the hop and stabbed
my glove down, picking up the ball easily.
I drove my back foot down and turned to throw. Guess what, he wasn’t there. I double clutched and hopped. We had plenty of time. I clutched again and took another hop. He still wasn’t there. One more and when he finally got to the bag
his feet were in such a horrible position that he was going to fall over any
minute. We had time for me to give him
an easy throw. He had time to get his
feet set. The girl was still twenty feet
from the bag. We had no time to wait on
my patience, though. I was furious. I did the only thing that made sense to me at
the time. I pegged the runner.
I didn’t throw it hard.
I just tossed it at her. It hit
her in her ample rump and went out of play.
She was awarded second. She
wasn’t mad and I wouldn’t have cared if she was. It was the only thing that made sense for me
to do. I had to send a message to the
guy to play better. I wasn’t going to
yell it. I wasn’t going to be a jackass
to anyone on my team about it but something had to give. The manager looked at from the rubber like
somebody had just handed him a convict.
Yes, she was the matching run.
No, we didn’t have any outs. Yes,
any sane human being would have done the same thing in my position. I say again, it was the only thing that made
sense at the time.
The next guy up hit a liner to left but our guy in left
played it coming in and held the girl at second. The next hit came to me and I pitched it
softly over to our third baseman, who is a lot like the muppet Ernie, but he held
on. The next one was a grounder to me
and I went for the force at second since it moved me that direction. I didn’t want to risk another chancy one at
third. So, with the important run at
third the next guy up hits one back to the pitcher. He smoked it and it deflected off the
pitchers glove. For some reason I seem
to have a lot of luck with deflected shots.
I picked it up smoothly. It was
going to be a throw to first. No time
for horsing around now. I made the throw
and, as if by divine Providence,
he made the catch. I was relieved. I needed to take a leak.
Jack can be a tough
taskmaster on his teammates, and I have always thought he needed to relax. Every man has his breaking point,
though. I guess that is where mine was.
|
2008 Cubs Preview
Oh boy, here we go.
First of all, you never, never, never double pump the ball while playing short; just like a catcher doesn't double pump when throwing to second. You throw it to the bag and if the guy doesn't get there, it's his fault. I can't stress that enough. Everyone has a job and needs to be held accountable for their job. Your job as a shortstop is to field the ball cleanly and get it over to first base as quick as possible. His job is to get to first base and catch the ball. On top of that, if you double pump it makes you look like the chump on the play when in reality it is his fault.
Teams are built of a whole lot of different types of players but they can't be built with all the same players, if that makes sense. You can't make cake with only eggs, you have to have other ingredients. The same holds true in this instance, a point I've been trying to make for years. Yes, it's very important to have good 'glue' guys on a team. When the going gets rough sure enough they'll come through with a nice play 5 out of 10 times and it will make the team feel good. But, at the same time, you have to have talented mercenaries. Guys who couldn't care who is on the team and is only out to destroy the other team....and can actually do it. Guys who look like they may be out for only themselves but in the end they end up helping the team out more because of their production. If I were to build a baseball team I would want three glue guys at third base, catcher and second base. I'd want 4-5 'assassins' at shortstop, first base, center field and left or right field. The pitcher is to himself as he can be either an assassin or a glue guy depending on his spot in the rotation. The guys on the bench are glue guys with the exception of the specialty players (left handed pinch hitter and utility player).
When you have 3 glue guys in the starting lineup and you aren't winning, you get another assassin. Teams do not have to be made up of guys who like each other, but they do have to be made up of guys who trust each other to get the job done.
I know absolutely nothing about softball but couldn't you just lead him with the ball on his way to the bag, where ever he was? Even if he got the ball 20 feet from the bag. Like a quarter back to a reciever heading to the end zone.
That way if he doesn't get there in time, its on him, not you for tripple pumping before throwing. If you get him the ball immediatly and he's running late to the bag on every play the rest of the team will get on him to move closer...right?
Oh boy, here we go.
You know what, I double clutch. I admit it. You know what else? Jack Cobra double clutches and I bet you do too. So, I guess he stands in the mirror every night and flagellates himself because he does it. I forgive him. Is he as honest about it as I am?
I know that guys are suppose to do their job and I am supposed to do mine, but guess what, I had tried and he had failed. It was clear after our first inning that if I threw too early he couldn't get his feet set and pick up the throw. I adapted and overcame. It is what you have to do sometimes to win. Nobody is going to get on their coworker about being a poor softball player if they are a bad softball player as well. Leading a guy with a throw is based on the presumption that he can intercept the ball at the appropriate time and place. That is certainly not the case.
You know what? I would like to have four or five assassins at key positions, too. Unfortunately, sometimes that guy stops coming to the games and then having that assassin on the roster is about as helpful as having shaving your balls with a circular saw. I would love to have an assassin in center that could cover every gap and had an arm and hit with power, but sometimes those guys would rather do something else on Monday. I would love to have speed and daring in left but sometimes those guys are such douchebags that they get into fights every weekend and can't play with broken hands or they get injured and can't go full speed and end up doing more harm than good. I WANT to live in a PERFECT world but happenstance and the availability of cheap, automatic machine guns and anti-tank weaponry won't let me do it. No, being on a team is not dependent on liking the other guy. Hell, I played softball with Jack for three years and put sterilization drugs in his Red Bull before every game. I didn't have to like him. But I would still trade the guy with who never shows up for the guy with good attendance. Either way, that broad got pegged in the dumps.
There is a difference between double pumping a throw and pounding the ball in your glove. The way I understood what you wrote I thought that you came up to throw, saw he wasn't there and then had to go back to your glove to reset. What I do is pump the ball into my glove and then throw, sometimes. That is done to find the seams on the ball. You DON'T double pump because your teammate is too slow to the bag....and this is why I don't play anymore.
If you have too much glue you are just left with a bunch of muck. You need to spread the glue evenly for it to reach its full ability and the only way to do that is to have enough better players for that to happen.
We'll never agree on this. We come from difference perspectives.
I reset nothing, I just pumped the ball into my glove as I took a step. It wasn't my first rodeo.
I double clutched to give him time and stay in rhythm.
That's why I thought it. I think of double clutching as coming up to throw and having to reset. I think of pounding the ball into the glove as pumping. Tomato/Tomato
fair enough. I generally try not to reset anything once I have the ball in my hand. If I screw and exchange trying to dig one out of my glove I generally don't reset then, I just throw without a seam and try to make sure I am coming over the top. Still, the inadequacy of this firstbaseman would stun even you. It is bad enough that the girlfriend got lessons over the weekend. I was hitting grounders at her harder than he sees them at first and at least she doesn't chicken out. She complains about that thin old glove I had. She says it hurts when i throw hard, so i may get her another glove and lobby for her at first. If is she doesn't try to dig stuff out at her feet as long as she gets to the bag and cathces the routine ones things will be better. Here's to hoping.
Still, the inadequacy of this firstbaseman would stun even you.
I once played in a co-ed tourney where my Aunt played first base. That lasted until a ground ball was hit to me and she quit the tourney after my throw nearly decapitated her.....I warned her before the inning.
From looking at this guy you'd think he'd be better. Six three or four, runs okay, long arms, not fat or anything. It just so happens that whenever a ball is moving towards him it turns into a Woody Allen movie where Woody is too uncomfortable and uncoordinated to act in an interpersonal situation. It is just calamitous. Its like watching Leslie Nielsen try to hit on Marissa Miller. His heart is willing but he is still just a wrinkled sack of old man.
You weren't playing with us yet, but in our first season Chip was playing second. There was a slow grounder that got past Lucas and it was going to be between chip and HT. Chip waived him off and got to it. The runner had kinda given up and there was plenty of time but Chip didn't notice. From a distance of about twelve feet chip threw a laser at HT's waist. HT held his glove out at about chest height expecting an easy toss. The ball skipped off the bottom of HT's glove and hit his cup dead on. There was a nut chilling "crack" as the ball still had enough on it to be deflected off the cup and out of play OVER the dugout. HT's eyes were about the size of hub caps. I thought he was going to puke.
Not everyone can play first base like HT Bruce. And a lot of people can play it a lot better! Fortunately Cobra taught me some things over the years and my footwork improved. Above all things though, rule one for me is always to play close enough to the bag to get there in time for a rocket throw. Especially if JC is throwing, as you want to be able to see the ball leave his hand, otherwise you wouldn't see it until after it bounced off your face. From the games I spent at 3B this summer in Short Round's absence I really wished at times that I could throw it across the diamond and be there to catch it myself!! The Meadowood boys ended up 10-5 and at a 3 way tie for first this summer. Still awaiting tie-breaker results. Funny thing was we played our best ball after Shooter moved back home. Tefo and Hoosernation have held things down well.
Its really good to hear that. Really good. When does the fall season start?