Ump and Err’Em – May 26^th Game

“Yo, Alma!”

“What up, B?”

“Hey, those guys came into my bar again.”

“Which guys?  The softball team?  Did they win?”

“Nah.  They lost.  They were all moping around.”

“Why, what happened?”

“They were complaining - The ump gave them bad calls, lots of errors…”

“Like what? You mean like leaving Pedro in too long errors?”

“No, not that bad.  Some dropped balls. Bad throws.  Some walks.”

“So what?  What happened?  They couldn’t hit?”

“No.  They scored 14 runs.  Even had back-to-back homeruns.”

“14 runs?  That’s a lot of hits.”

“I know.  The Lady Bus Stops were kicking butt.  Even had a couple of two out rallies.”

“Did the other team suck?”

“No, the Red Room was really good and played well.  Lots of smart base hits and strong defense.”

“Were they assholes like the Poor Sports?”

“No, they were really nice.  The guys even drank a couple of beers together after the game.”

“So, what’s the big deal?”

“I don’t know.  You know them.  They get all analytical when they lose.”

“Did you give them Old Grand Dad before they went?”

“No.  They wouldn’t take it.”

“Well, what other reason do you need?  Don’t they know that they need Old Grand Dad’s blessing for the game?”

“I tried to tell them, but they were saying that they were saving it for the game and that they were hungover from the night before.” 

“Hungover?  What’s that about?  You can’t take it easy and assume you’re going to win.”

“I know! What can I do? I’m just a bar.”

“I hear ya, brother.  Peace out.”

The Game

We win together. We lose together. This day, we lost.  Sure, we had lots of errors, but we had lots of hits and rallies. We kept it close the entire game. We played ok, but they played better. Got to give The Red Room that. That and they psyched us out with all their players in street clothes.

Blue

The grump ruling with an iron fist from the start.  He was bitter over his dismissal a few weeks back due to tardiness. But Wednesday he was on time and he took his job seriously:  It takes a lot of concentration to make my strike zone half the size of the other pitcher’s,  Steve was out for rounding first base and slipping, and Matt was warned for stepping in front of the plate to hit. All of this in the first inning. I think as an apology he later called a girl out because she wasn’t standing on the right first base bag. We overrode that call. We wanted to win the right way. This was the first time we had an umpire not cheering for our team. It certainly didn’t help.

The “I can’t think of anything funny right now” B61 Lineup

“Julius” Johanna as catcher

Amy as backup catcher

“I’m tall, but not that tall” Jonathan as pitcher

Whippet at first

Betsy at second

Alyce as backup second

Matt at shortstop

Jamie at third

Steve in left field

Capone in center field

Alex in right center field

Tamara “The Grin Ripper” in right field

Andrew “Run It Out” Raibel as DH

Memorable Moments

• First inning, Red Room hits a foul ball into Matt’s truck.  The game is on.
• Pitcher – “You gonna call that, ump?” after a sneaky pitch to Jamie.

Ump     - “Sure.  Ball 1.”

• Matt’s pretty double play.  A catch over second base with a tag on the base to get the runner on second out
• The ump saying to the girl I walked twice, “He’s going to walk you again, Laurie.  He must really like you.”  Damn.
• Back to back homeruns by Matt and Jamie
• “The Grin Ripper” Tamara’s line drive with bases loaded
• Steve taking out the first baseman to get to first
• Amy diving and almost catching that foul tip
• Whippet – “Losing sucks.”   Tamara – “Yeah.  Let’s not do it again.”

• More two out rallies
• More of Lady Bus Stops coming through in the lineup

MVP of the Game

“Run It Out” gets it for hitting four for four.  He may be the only person on the team who didn’t make a mistake during the game.  Great hitting!!

Jamie’s Guest Comment

“You know.  It’s tough playing a double header.  People are used to coming in with all of that energy and excitement built up over the week to play a game.  When you play a second game right afterwards, it’s not the same energy.  It’s a lot harder.”

Final Comment

I would never be so superstitious as to throw a hat overboard because it’s bad luck, but did anyone else notice how badly we played after Alyce added lace to her jersey?  Just an observation.