0-Fer

An 0-4 day at baseball today. When Delaney heard that I would return his game to Blockbuster, it was worth it for him to come along, so we packed up and headed to the North side of Denver at 10:30. It was a long drive, and we got to Arvada High School, which had a crappy field, no dirt on the infield lines, but a great view. Up on a hill off 67th St, we could see downtown and the rest of Denver falling away to the southwest.

We were playing one of the better teams, and they jumped on us in the first 1-0, but we came back and ended up with a good 3-2 game in the fifth when our pitcher fell apart. He hit 3 or 4 guys, walked in 3 runs and gave up a few more before we pulled him. The next pitcher walked in another before we got out of the inning. From there we stuck in the game, but never got closer than 3 runs down, losing 12-7.

I had a decent game, playing left, picking off a few fly balls and fielding a few grounders that got through the infield. Only one hard hit ball late got by me, and I had no shot. A hard foul down the left field line that bounced twice and hit the fence moved me over and then a left center hit landed behind me, though I held him to a double.

At the plate it was a decent day. Fouled off 4 or 5 pitches the first at bat and then swung at a wide one for strike three. This umpire has a wide zone, so I had to swing. Not sure if I could have hit it, but had to swing. The next two times I hit a slow curve and a fastball, both good hits, both deep to right, but too high. They hung up there and were easy outs. The last time I had the catcher drop a high pop up behind the plate and on the next pitch I ripped a grounder to first that almost got through. It hit his glove, hit the inside of his leg and then dropped behind him. Slightly less of a deflection and it's in right, but it was a good hit.

So no hits, but good contact, and a beautiful day. Delaney hung out in the dugout, alternately reading his book, cheering us on, walking around, and being bat boy, putting bats away. He also came out to greet me as I jogged in from the field most innings.

A good day, no injuries, and a fun time playing.