DT Rants

There were 22, yes, TWENTY-TWO players on the field on Saturday. We've not seen those numbers since forever. What a great turnout. If only we can continue to see these numbers for a couple more months. We did start later than usual though, but even with the late start, we managed to get in two good games. The numbers did not look good at 3pm and we decided to kick off the game with only 14 at 3.15. Somehow, the numbers bloomed and we were fielding two full teams (including pitcher, catcher and rover) by 3.30. The teams looked slightly uneven at the start, with Rickey doing a Guppy and loading one team. With his attempt to compensate for the stupendous Superdad, he loaded the opposite team with a slightly advantageous lineup. However, little did he know that Superdad was benching himself in favor of his wife, Supermum. Superdad was taking care of the kids and the pink castle instead. Even without Superdad, Rickey's argument that the ONEs 'had Rube' was incongruous as he loaded the TWOs with an all-star infield and outfield. No matter, even though the TWOs had the better lineup defensively and offensively, they did not have the never-say-die spirit of the ONEs.

The ONEs kicked off the first game by shutting down the TWOs big bats with strong defense. They took an early lead by the 3rd inning with an excellent batting lineup orchestrated by the Rube. The Rube, taking a leaf out of DT's tournament lineup, devised a magnificant batting rotation comprising of single hitters followed by a powerful cleanup batter. Single after single followed by a powerful grandslam soon demoralised the TWOs, and the ONEs pulled ahead. They did not manage to hold off the TWOs for long, as the TWOs clawed their way back run by defiant run. Both teams put up stellar displays of hitting and glovework, but in typical SaturdaySoftball style, neither team was consistant enough to hold a dominant lead. With the ONEs close to winning the first game by mercy in the 5th with a 15-6 score, the TWOs fought back courageously. They strung together a series of hits to pull back the difference and by the 8th inning, they were in sight of a win. At the top of the 9th, the TWOs forged ahead by one run, finally overtaking the ONEs, at 19-18. The ONEs were not about to give up though, as they had the heart of their rotation coming up to the plate. Feeling the pressure, H, Jason and Fei combined to put together a spectacular display of small ball hitting. Jason finally crossed the plate with the RBI going to Fei for the win.

The Second game saw the TWOs lash out in a fury. Coming so close to a win the previous game, they were not about to let themselves get swept by the ONEs. Pulling out all stops, the piled on the hits to take a massive 8 run lead by the 2nd inning with barely a whisper of an answer from the ONEs. Anyone else would have rolled over and died, but the ONEs were not about to give up. They were not prepared to split the series; They wanted the sweep. At the bottom of the 9th, 8 runs down, the ONEs struck back. They struck hard and with a determination unmatched even by the golden glovework of the TWOs. The TWOs had no answer as the ONEs scored run after run finally tying the game before the final out. 10-all was the score as we went into extra innings. Buffered by their strong at-bat, the ONEs held steady and refused to let the TWOs score another run. The TWOs suddenly found themselves facing a brick wall and none of their batters could find a gap, much less a chink in the ONEs' armour. Interestingly enough, there were calls for a 'draw' but these calls came in the middle of the 10th inning... why they were not suggested before the inning started is beyond me, but the ONEs were not about to give up the goat. They concurred on calling the game a tie, AFTER they had their chance at bat not in the middle of the inning. That the TWOs were prepared to pull this shinanigen in the middle of the inning was a testament to how much they feared another loss. Their fears were soon realized as Indiana hit a walk off triple for DT to score for the win. A clean sweep by the ONEs with both wins going to Burma Girl who pitched manificently. Much props must go to Seven who managed to get back-to-back Ks from Swiss Miss and Horfun. If only it were someone else besides NigeyPooh next at bat, Seven might've had a SAS record with 3 straight Ks.

Highlights:
Burma Girl teaches The Mick a lesson in respecting women... Twice. Both times hitting deep fly balls way over his head.
Heidi shows that she knows how to swing the big stick. Girlfriends the world over can learn a thing or two about stroking the bat.
Supermom aka The Better Half aka Amy showed us why Kyle II has been hiding her at home every saturday. She was not only productive at bat, advancing runners, but she showed some great flashes of leather as well. If only we could see both of them on the field at the same time.
Rube let the frisbee idiots know that rightfield is not safe no matter how deep they play. He hit the ball from the far corner almost to the carpark walkway...twice.
Swiss Miss had a bad day. Striking out swinging once and made horrible plays at home. DT and Rube could've killed him when he literally threw away the ball on a live play.
The Sandman and The Generalissimo proved to be a fantastic combination except when compared to DT and Rube who held down the left side of the infield with aplomb.
Seven could've won a Cy Young if not for Burma Girl's extraordinary performance. Last time someone pitched a complete double-header win was in 1926 by Dutch Levson (coincidentally in Aug as well).
Jason had a career day. Batting for a thousand and holding the fort in right field. Even with the lefty bat of The Sandman, nothing got by Jason. He turned doubles into singles.
Indiana proved once again that age or a quadruple bypass will not slow him down. He hit a massive home run in the second inning and chased down and almost overtook DT who was on first base.
Superdad was incredible. He handled his four young girls aged 7 and below with the grace of a ballerina, the strength of a linebacker and the power of a juiced Barry. His kids were running non-stop throughout our entire two games and he kept up. No wonder he's in such great shape.
The Irish hasn't lost her step, showing us an old school guppyesque swinging bunt.

Although everyone was tired and worn from the strenuous day in the sun, it was all worth it as we had a BBQ to look forward to. It was fantastic to see so many old faces who though have left the field of honour, have not left the SAS family. The new members of the family have finally had a chance to be initiated into the mysteries of the SAS BBQ and to meet the people whose names are now mentioned fervently in a roll of honour. For many, it was great to see and catch up with folks no longer on the active roster, due to parental or other commitments. Seeing old stalwarts like The Irish, Hassie, Guppy, Windmill, Lloyd and Coach rubbing shoulders with the new blood is what makes Saturday Softball a great family, and makes the hot saturdays spent running in the sun all worthwhile.

Cheers