19 May 2007 - Numbers

ONEs: Pitcher Ironman/Cool Papa, Catcher Joe, 1st Uboat, 2nd Wild Thing, 3rd Gil, SS NewJohn, OF Superdad, Cool Papa/Ironman, Sandman, Rube

TWOs: Pitcher Horfun/Cheetah, Catcher Gunz, 1st Indiana, 2nd Maglite, 3rd Clement, SS DT, OF Rugburn, H, Knees, Cheetah, Andy
(Game 2, TWOs did a infield-outfield switch. Pitcher Knees, Catcher Andy, 1st H, 2nd Horfun, 3rd Rugburn, SS Indiana, OF DT, Cheetah, Horfun, Clement, Gunz)

Game 1: ONEs 21: TWOs 8 (5 innings Mercy)
Game 2: ONEs 14: TWOs 13 (7 innings)

It was a beautiful day and we had beautiful numbers. 21 people showed up. Making a long forgotten appearance was such legendary names as Cool Papa and The Cheetah, who've not graced our pages for quite some time. As our primary field was still closed, we made our way to the alternate field.

The field was relatively dry, but there were some swampy bits in the outfield that sucked the spirit of the players, and sucked the life out of the ball. The moment the ball landed in any bits of the swamp, it would just stick. It didn't roll or travel. Many a fielder was fooled when the ball just stopped instead of rolling towards him. Many batters attained extra bases, getting doubles on singles, or triples on doubles when the fielder could not pluck the ball from the mud's grasp. The infield was lovely though. Nice and dry and relatively even.

The ONEs took the most advantage of the swamp thing. Facing the ONEs heavy batters, the TWOs OF wisely played deep, but the ONEs decided not to hit long, but hit smart. They fired their projectiles with pinpoint accuracy into the swamp thing, and kept the scoring alive with singles and doubles. The TWOs had no answer. If they played shallow, they go burned, if they played deep, they got burned. The ONEs were simply too dominatant in the first game, taking the win with a 13 run-mercy lead by the 5th.

No changes were made to the teams for the second game. But the TWOs tried a new tactic. The infield-outfield switch. And it almost worked too. The TWOs also picked a leaf from the ONEs book and took advantage of the swamp thing. Letting the swamp thing work for them instead of against them. They managed to string together a nice series of hits and the managed to hold the lead in the game for 5 1/2 innings. It was in the bottom of the 6th when it all fell apart. The ONEs managed to score 4 go ahead runs to go into the 9th, and in the top of the 9th, the TWOs only managed to get 3 runs. It was heartbreak for them, but a clean sweep for the ONEs.

Gold Glove: Swamp Thing (The mud. He held on to every ball refusing to give them up once they landed)
Biggest Bat: Rube
MBP: Swamp Thing (He turned singles into doubles and doubles in triples)

PS. Sandman pointed out to me last weekend that I had neglected to nominate one of the greatest over-40 players in the list I published. Well, it's not too late, as he's still over-40 this week.

Presenting... John 'Indiana' Miksec. The oldest-quadruple-bypassed youngster to grace the Saturday Afternoon Softball Diamond. One of the original founders of the game way way back when he was a young lad of 50. He's probably the only one left on the field who would remember the days of yore when Canadians played Swedes on the field (according to rumour), when games actually started at 2pm (This is an urban legend) and Coach actually yelled at people for fucking up plays (It could be true). He's seen the bar change owners, he's eaten pizza hut (another urban myth), Canadian 2for1 and Rockies. He's had chicken burger but he prefers yam rings, and he's seen Lloyd as a young NUS undergraduate (many have heard this to be true). At 61 years of age, he's still quicker than most of us, has better range and bigger bat. He can play multiple positions, excelling at 1st and short, he's even been known to venture into the outfield. He can still hit homeruns (without steroids) and actually make it home on his own steam. If only he'll retire, he'll be a shoe-in for the hall of fame.