A Forfeit and a Movie

Yesterday was the first time that my team has forfeited a baseball game this year. I think we had to let one go last year as well, but this was unexpected. Apparently we had too many people on vacation this week and a few that didn’t come for family reasons, and at 3:45 (for a 4:00 start) we had 7 guys standing around.

The other team only had 8, so it wasn’t even looking like a scrimmage was happening. We called a few people, but eventually the umpires said we would have to call the game a forfeit. Apparently we can’t play 8 on 8, only 9 on 8 for a real game, and they can’t be present for anything else. So we paid them, they left, and we decided to get on with a scrimmage.

The other team was good enough to loan us two fielders for our turns on defense, swapping them around with people to bat. So it was a pseudo normal game, except there was no energy, and everyone felt it. At least, everyone except the first batter. He led off with a home run to left center. A couple more hits scored a few runs, but we did manage to get three outs without being embarrassed.

At bat, we went down 1-2-3, with their ace throwing hard and blowing by people for the most part. We had a better second inning at defense, not giving up any runs, and then came to bat. I was up second and caught a nice low fast ball and drove it high to right center. I thought I hit it harder, but it was mid-depth, and a fly-out. Still it felt good and I was happy. My second at bat wasn’t as good, though I approached it poorly. Three balls, and no intention of taking a walk, so I swung at the end one, which was a little high, but center plate. Couldn’t catch up. The next two balls were a little outside, but I didn’t want a walk, and I swung, but didn’t reach out enough. I was thinking fast balls, and should have been slapping at the ball with an outstretched bat, not swinging from the heels.

In the field, I had third for a few innings, and then spent a couple in the outfield so the other team’s players weren’t running so far. I got one fly in left that I pulled down easily. That was a little weird after not having seen a fly ball in months.

We knocked off by 5:30 and headed back, so I called Tia to see if I could catch her and the kids. They were planning on seeing Captain America, and I managed to meet up with them for dinner, a pick-up of Kyle, and then the movie. The show was pretty good, lots of explosions and excitement, and a good job. Looking forward to seeing more of the Marvel/Avenger series when they come out.