May 25, 2013 - Game Recap

A-Man vs. Paul vs. Pace
Score: 11-15-26
Location: Patrick Henry Elementary School (Arlington, VA)

In Memorium
In memorium we play
We recall the fallen this Saturday

It goes beyond mere hits and pitches
Something deeper in us itches:

To wield the bat most worthily
and bring honor to the family tree

What we are we owe to them
We stand here now we sons of men

We offer up our very best
In peace dear fallen may ye rest

We convened for a 7:00 a.m. game on a cold and windy (16mph) Memorial Weekend Saturday.  The field is really taking on its own wiffle identity by doing something most good wiffle fields do: occasionally surprising its patrons with new twists -- in this instance supplying us with 3 orange cones, which were put to excellent use.

Right at the start it looked like it was going to be a pitcher's park kind of day as everything A-Man was hitting was dying in the wind and hooking left; the grass was also thicker than usual.  As the left fielder I over-corrected for one AB by charging in and playing A-Man at about 8 ft from the plate and about 5 feet outside of the 3rd base line.  He promptly hit a dinky RBI single towards left field and I resumed my original position.    He ended with the one run.

Then I pitched to Paul and managed to get all 2 outs on him with just 2 pitches.

Then A-Man pitched to me and I "drove" in 2 runs, although I really need to give all the credit to Paul and his shaky fielding -- I think he had 2 bobbles on soft grounders and 1 dropped pop-fly.  (He would tally up several more bobbles and a few dropped flyballs over the remainder of the game.)

In the 2nd inning the bats started to come to life a little bit as the wind would occasionally pause or shift directions.  A-Man put up 5 runs, and then Paul put 2 on the board.  Then Paul pitched to me, and after rolling over one for a groundout I really started to hunker down and put on a rally.  Paul didn't help his cause by walking me about 8 times in the inning and setting up 2 grand slams, after the 2nd of which Paul dejectedly said aloud, "Oh man... Joelle told me to win today."  I started to discover the trade winds down the line in left field -- if you hit it straight down the line the ball would ride a wind tunnel and you could sail one over the playground equipment; but if you hit it too far to the right it would die in the outfield.  I ended up with 17 runs in the inning.

In the 3rd A-Man put up a few runs to bring his tally to 9.  Paul got up to 6 I think, followed by a bat toss.  I drove in 7 for a total count of 26 runs, thanks to what A-Man called my best bat speed since my prime.

Then in the final inning A-Man got 2 more runs to end his day at 11.  Paul started putting on a moon-shot clinic hitting several solo or 2-run dingers at such a height that, with the wind and the playground obstacles, I got so turned around out there in left that I commented to A-Man that you really need to just dart for a spot without looking for the ball, and then when you get there look up and hope the ball is there.  He added 9 runs to his score, but it wouldn't be enough to extend the game.

Self-toss batting practice

Game Highlights:

• Paul took a bean ball directly in the nose; possibly a record
• Paul proposed that hitting the left-field foul pole / table on the fly should be counted as a double.  A-Man seconded the motion.  The motion was ratified with a 3-0 vote.  

Game Report and Poem by Pace Barker