Team Dunder Mifflin took home the Spring title in the co-ed San Ramon league this week.  After a nail-biter in the semi-finals, the bats came alive for a blowout in the championship game.

The season had more than it’s fair share of drama and hospital visits.  Aside from my shoulder dislocation, our manager suffered a broken leg defending third base the following week.  Dangerous game.  He was on hand to witness our victory:

Champions!

We’ve come a long way from our first season in Hayward.  Now to repeat.

-Nick

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2-for-2 hitting lefty the other night.  Ugly looking swings but got the job done.  And no trips to the hospital, which was priority #1.  (I’d planned on being a spectator, but we were short on guys.)

I’m slowly regaining some strength and mobility.  Hope to be able to swing righty with some authority again soon.

-Nick

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There I was, rounding first like I do several times a week without incident, when my cleats hit a hard patch of ground and come out from under me.  Instinctively I put my arm out to stop the fall.  In hindsight, that was dumb.  I heard a “noise” … snap, crackle or pop, and limped weakly back to first clutching my arm.

Ugh I could have had a double easily, maybe a triple.  Ok probably a double.

Instead I get a pinch runner and head to the dugout to see if it gets any better.  A half inning later, not so much.  So Bryn drives me to the ER.

Now I admittedly would say I have a pretty low tolerance for pain, but this was amazingly painful.  I’m breathing funny, sweating, and getting the shakes.  Yes yes, common symptoms of going into shock for you former boy scouts.

The ER service was actually really fast.  But even 10 minutes sucked.  At this point I make some comment about how I would be terrible if I ever got interrogated.  I’ll talk, I’ll talk!

For some reason Bryn brought her camera to the game so she documented the event.  Here we are in the waiting room fighting through the pain.

If it’s hard to tell something is messed up from that pic, take a look at this one.  That ain’t right!

At this point the doc comes in and starts pushing and pulling around on my arm a bit.  “Relax your shoulder,” he tells me.  And just like that it pops back in and he leaves.  Unfortunately the pain doesn’t go with him, so we’re laid up in the hospital for another hour and half or so getting loopy on pain meds.  During that time, they were kind enough to take an “after” x-ray to show what a shoulder should look like.  Much better:

Yikes that was a good distance from where it was supposed to be.  The orthopedic doc today looked at the first one and said, “Yeah you were way out in the woods.”  Thanks for that.  No wonder it hurt so bad.  Rec sports are dangerous.

While at the ER I saw a little leaguer who’d taken a grounder to the face.  It was a bad hop, his dad assured me, like I was judging.  It did make me feel a little better not being the only one there with a baseball/softball-related injury though.  And then I thought about how this kid was probably 10 years old.

I’m hoping for a quick recovery, although I’ve been told to take it easy for 3-4 weeks.  When I told the doctor I had 3 games next week, he laughed and made some remark about it being rec softball.  Which apparently is not something worth rushing back for.  (While I was on hold making the appointment I learned his office is the “official” orthopedic center for the A’s and Warriors, so I guess he’s got some perspective.)

Lame lame lame.

-Nick

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For me it’s my baseball-turned-softball glove.  Obviously it way too big at the time, but now 20 years later it fits great.  The leather is worn paper thin, so if I catch anything wrong I definitely feel it.  And it’s a little floppy up by the finger tips, which makes it hard to snowcone a catch.  But other than that it’s awesome.

You can tell it’s a product of the early 90s because of the totally necessary bright blue foam padding… on the outside.  Up until a couple years ago you could still read where mom had written LOPER (you can still make out an L and an O on the thumb) and the phone number 746-3136 in black sharpie, in case I lost it.  The lack of area code is another good clue to its age.

I’ve had to replace some of the laces, and I’m nervous that one day my knots are going to come undone and I’ll take a line drive to the face.

Yes, the Mizuno Techfire glove has served me well.  To be fair, there were a lot of years it didn’t see much use, having been replaced by a catcher’s mitt, but now gets work 3 days a week in rec softball.  I hope to keep this glove forever because I’d hate to have to break in a new one.

Anybody else have something from elementary school you still use on a regular basis?

-Nick

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Great times in and around SF for Neil’s bachelor party weekend, executed to perfection by Mr. Tom Jones.  Thirteen competitors tested their skills at a series of 8 athletic and semi-athletic challenges, with the winner earning supreme bragging rights and a custom-designed trophy.  Plus, according to the official rules: “It is mandatory that each competitor consumes alcohol consistently throughout the day.  If at any point someone begins to slow his drinking he will be subject to derision and disqualification.”

What follows is my recollection and reaction to the events.  Not sure if anyone captured much photographic evidence  but your best bet is probably with Dan.

1. Field Goal Kicking

Having never kicked — or attempted to kick — a field goal in my life, I knew this would be a tough one.  Luckily most everyone else was in the same boat.  We kicked from 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 yards.  I was afraid of Charlie-Brown-ing it but at least made contact every time and even got my 20 yarder through the uprights.  Definitely earned a new respect for field goal kickers and there is nothing “gimme” about a 25-yarder from the right-hash; that’s really far!  Winner: 2 field goals.

2. Football Throwing Distance

Those professional QBs make it look so easy, hitting their receiver in stride with a tight spiral 50 yards downfield.  Not so.  We got 2 tosses, best ball counts.  Everyone was fairly evenly matched here; most people were between 40 and 50 yards.  After a wobbly first ball, I think I reached 47 on my second throw.  Winner: 51 yards.

3. Home Run Derby

As someone who plays softball 2-3 nights a week, I figured I could easily build myself a nice little buffer with a solid performance here.  But of course I choked.  We got 6 outs, with the last ball being a “moneyball” — good for 2 homers if it left the yard.  The fence was 250 ft deep but 20 ft high, so it would take a decent poke to get it out.  Made solid line drive contact but couldn’t even reach the warning track.  Weak.  Winner: 2 bombs.

4. 3-Point Shootout

Stressing after my goose-egg on the diamond, I really had to bring my A-game to the basketball court.  Which was troublesome, because I’ve played basketball one time in the last 5 years (and it’s not like I was amazing before that).  The competition was a total 10 shots from 5 locations around the arc.  I was very happy and pleasantly surprised to hit 3.  Winner: 6 threes.

5. Darts

I said semi-athletic.  Three darts, highest point total wins.  My first two didn’t even stick to board.  WTF?  Luckily hit the outer bullseye with #3 to stay out of the cellar.  Winner: No idea.

6. Mini Golf

Nothing like a busload of inebriated young men taking over the family-friendly mini-golf course and arcade.  The course had seen better days, and so had my short game.  I shot a 52, but an hour was a long time to be out on the “dry” course.  We were happy to get back to the bus and the coolers.  Winner: 47.

7. Closest to the Pin

My moment of glory came on a 120-yard practice hole at the swanky Ruby Hills country club course.  I lobbed an 8-iron up into the wind and it landed right on the green, about 15 ft from the pin.  Nobody got closer.  Thankfully we didn’t have to putt out.  Winner: 15 ft.

8. Bowling

The last competition of the day was a game of bowling.  Not my strong suit but rolled a 122, which was middle of the road.  Winner: 188.

After that, a “closing ceremony” was held and the overall champion crowned.  I was OK with my 6th place finish, given the range of events and quality of the competitors.  At least I didn’t earn the “most likely to become a cheerleader” prize for last place.

The spirit of the games lived on late into the night with several non-scored games of beer pong and flip cup, where everyone could be winners.

-Nick

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After finishing the fall season 10-0, we were crowned the champs of the Pleasanton Sunday Men’s softball league.  We played a lot of tight ballgames, but always found a way to pull it out in the end.  Because of a couple rainouts and the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the playoffs ended up getting canceled, but they gave us these sweet-ass sweatshirts for winning the regular season.

They’re not as prestigious as the elusive UW IMA champion shirts, but having never won one of those, I’m pretty happy with it.

I’ve been playing with this team for a few seasons.  Just a random bunch of guys.  We didn’t win a lot of games the first couple years, but have made steady improvement through some roster changes.  By that I mean they keep weeding out the sucky players and replacing them with all-stars.  I used to be middle-of-the-road talent-wise on the team, but now I’m the guy in right field batting last.  Hopefully they’ll have me back next spring!

-Nick

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Both our pitchers were out-of-town for last night’s softball game, and I learned I was the 3rd string choice.

It’s a simple enough task, lob the ball underhand and make it land on the plate or on this rubber mat right behind it.  Easier said than done.  It’s muscle memory, like shooting free throws, hitting tennis serves, or even bowling I suppose.  Only it had been 4 years since my last relief appearance, and my muscles apparently don’t have that great a memory.

So I walked a lot of batters.

I thought some of my pitches were pretty hittable, but the opposing team was pretty patient.  Not patient enough though — they probably could have walked every time if they’d really wanted to.  The odds of 3 strikes coming before 4 balls was not good.  But let’s establish the facts:

• It’s co-ed rec softball
• Hitting is the best part
• Winning the game gets you nothing, winning the league maybe gets you a T-shirt
• You pay to play

So if the pitch is close, why wait for the walk?  When I’m up I want to get my money’s worth.  But hey, if waiting for a walk is your idea of a good time, who am I to judge.

I gave up a 5-spot in the first but then “settled down” and only gave up another 6 the rest of the game.  Which actually isn’t terrible for softball.  Best part was we came back to win in the bottom of the last inning (with no walks), so I think I can happily retire 1-0.

-Nick

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Yesterday I played “arena softball” for the first time.  It’s played in a big warehouse-type building, and the field is entirely enclosed by a net.

The bases were set to maybe 80 or 90 ft, and then the outfield wall was only a little beyond that.  Because of the tight space, even a drive off the wall would only go for a single.  No opportunities for home runs.  A catch off the net is an out.

Some other quirky rules of arena softball:

• Each half inning lasts exactly 18 pitches, no matter how many outs the defense gets.
• 2 balls equals a walk, 2 strikes equals a strikeout.
• Every hit ball is live, fair or foul.
• The batting team earns points from walks (1 point) and runs (2 points).
• The pitching team earns 1 point per out made.

I’m sure there’s some strategy involved but we didn’t get too into it.  It turned out to be a pretty fun, fast paced game, and a surprisingly good workout.  We were definitely sweating (it was also 80 degrees in there)!

I think this could be huge in Seattle or other rainy spots.

-Nick

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Big time games last night for the Pleasanton championship.  We won the first game in come-from-behind-nail-biting fashion, with a last inning walk-off hit.  That got us into the championship game that was played right afterward on the same field.

Against the top-seeded team, we rode that momentum to an early lead.  But then our defense imploded with a series of costly errors that led to a 10-run inning … and sadly a couple of them were mine.  No excuses, I just sucked.

Offensively, we battled back to make it a 1-run game but couldn’t get the hits to fall in our final at-bat.  To the victors went the championship T-shirts, hoodies, and pride.  For us, “wait until next year.”

Still this team has come a long way since I first joined a couple years ago.  We didn’t win very often, and this was the first time we even made the playoffs.  So to have a strong season, and take second place is still pretty good considering where we’ve been.  But victory was so close it hurts!

-Nick

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It was a busy weekend that involved wakeboarding, the Alameda County Fair, work, a farewell house party, running, a BBQ, and softball.

Regarding the Alameda County Fair, it doesn’t compare with the Puyallup.  Thankfully we had free tickets.  The pig-racing was entertaining, and the food was good, but it was a million degrees so we didn’t stay long.

Bryn’s boss was kind enough to take a small group wakeboarding on Friday.  The red circle on the map shows where we went.  Notice the lack of any discernible bodies of water within miles of our location.

The wakeboarding was awesome.  We went up and down these narrow channels so there were plenty of uninterrupted straightaways and no other boats. I only get to go like once a year anymore so it was cool to get out and take some jumps.

The only thing was the water…disgusting.  Brown and semi-salty.  Mysterious floaters, dead fish and birds.  Even though it was 100 degrees you didn’t really want to stay in any longer than your turn.

Definitely looking forward to the open lake back at home in a few weeks, where the water is see-through.

-Nick

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