Goal Post 23, Cool Cat 2

I'm going to take a stab at doing a write-up for each of my softball team's games this year, similar to what Lee does for each Yankees game he attends. Speaking of which, I turned down tickets to last night's Yanks-Sox game at Fenway to play our first game of the season. My team needed me after all, as we had exactly ten players available. Actually, I'm pretty certain we could have won short-handed, as it turned out to be a rather easy victory over one of the weaker teams in the league, Cool Cat Sportswear.

We scored four or more runs in every inning except the third, and were awarded a mercy-rule victory after just five innings. I batted leadoff and went 5-for-6, although I was the beneficiary of a very generous scoring decision for one of the hits. My recent trend of opening the season by reaching base in my first ten or more plate appearances—something I've done the past two years—ended when I grounded into a fielder's choice for our final out of the game. My personal highlight, though, was turning the pivot on a 6-4-3 double play, on which our shortstop and first baseman told me later they thought we had no chance and assumed I would just take the force out and hold the ball.

Two of our three new players were in attendance last night, and it looks like they will be significant additions to a team that went 15-13 last year, but was swept in a best-of-five semi-final series by the eventual league champions. I believe the new guys make us a little younger, but that's not saying much for a team whose average age would be right around 40 if not for last year's addition of the 21-year old son of one of our teammates.

Of course, since it was Friday night, and our sponsor is a bar, the evening ended at the Goal Post Tavern, which meant I had to watch Jason Bay's coming-out party with its South Shore brethren. I suppose it could have been worse...I could have been at Fenway. Is it just me, or is David Ortiz now no better than the fourth-most feared hitter in that lineup? That statement's not meant as much as an endorsement of the Red Sox offense—although it is pretty impressive—as it is an indictment of Big Papi's rapidly eroding skills...not that you heard that hear first.

The night also ended with a few bets among teammates about the upcoming season, mostly involving the aforementioned double-play trio...hardly Tinker to Evers to Chance, I must add. I'll get to those wagers later, though, as it's going to be a long season...or at least that's what my body is telling me. It's time to go take a couple Advil.