Loan Wolves Softball Team

Voodoos 9 - 8 Loan Wolves

2010-06-16T10:43:00.002+01:00

Don't fear the Reaper
Libs had brought her new bat to the game, the formidably-named and heavy metal styled Reaper. It didn't prove a game-winning secret weapon, sadly, but the game was thrilling enough without being decided by a magic bat.
I took the London Overground out to Gospel Oak, then made my way to Parliament Hill for the game. It was a crisp, sunny evening, a welcome change after the deluges of recent weeks. The field was attractive and well-tended, but with a marked slope which caused more than one player to stumble running up to First or misjudge their downhill run to Third.
With the Voodoos a houngan down, an automatic out helped our cause somewhat. Still, we knew they had some strong players and we had to be at our best. We had a good First inning, getting four runs on the board. Sterling fielding saw us shut them out, and though they returned that favour, we had held onto that 4-0 lead up to the top of the fifth. We made three more, but they made good on the threat which their batting had hinted at earlier and a few key hits saw them narrow the lead to two. By the end of the Sixth, they had drawn level.
So the weather was good, the evening still young, and the ballgame was poised 7-7, with all to play for in the final inning.
One Wolf made it round. Just one. We were defending the slightest of leads, with our opponents in the middle of their batting order. Could we close them down, make the outs we needed? Two would probably have done it, with that automatic out coming up. Sadly, the Voodoos kept their nerve and batted well, good base hits pushing players towards victory. Inexorably they drew level. The pressure was on us now. The automatic out came and went, but a fine hit saw them bring one more round to end what had been a thrillingly close match in their favour.
A fine showing by the Wolves, without costly errors or fumbles. Solid batting, good backing up, and an overall excellent team performance. If we stay as sharp as this, we should get some good results out of this season, which has effectively started afresh after the rain-enforced break.
The Voodoo sorcerers can take the pins out of that cuddly toy wolf now. Though doubtless they'll go back in again when we meet them again in a couple of weeks' time.

Loan Wolves 4 - 31 Comets Yellow

2010-06-05T11:32:00.003+01:00

It started so well...
A close first couple of innings, with the Comets' batting giving them a slight edge, gave way to a bit of a disaster as we made unforced errors which let the game get beyond our reach.
Still, on the positive side we made some good plays interspersed with the fumbles and misjudgments, and there were good performances by both Kate and Julian as pitchers. We were playing a good team, we just didn't give our best performance against them.

Superball 2010

2010-05-17T09:56:00.002+01:00

Early start on Saturday, as I headed to Richmond Old Deer Park for Superball 2010. The journey was delayed by having to find an alternate route after some poor soul went under a train at Richmond. I arrived in time to join the batting line up for our first match, against our friends the Meteors. An enjoyable game which we lost 12-9. then onto the next match - the schedule was full with only a short lunch break. We went on to face the Dazzlers, the Mob and Comer's Homers, then the Voodoos. Sadly, we lost each time despite some good performance. To be fair, they're pretty much all higher division sides with good batting and some very sharp fielding. And we weren't shut out in any game.
I missed our play off final for fifth place due to a prior engagement. I've heard how it ended, but I'm hoping someone who was there will post about it in more detail.

Loan Wolves 19 - 8 Strayz

2010-05-13T12:04:00.001+01:00

The Devil Strays were the other development side in our first season, and there's always been a friendly rivalry to our games. With the league reorganisation this year, they split up - some of them became the Spartans, competing in Div 2 of the Majors, while a core of recreational players formed the Strayz. Who we were playing last night.
A close game for the first four innings, despite a depleted Strayz side playing with two automatic outs. Then a virtuoso fifth inning saw us turn from trailing 6-5 to leading 19-6. The very opposite of our "one bad inning" curse of yore saw the team batting and base running at its Wolfish best. The Strayz didn't give up, but we held an unassailable lead by the seventh and posted our first win of the season.

Raiders Orange 25 - 13 Loan Wolves

2010-05-07T11:05:00.000+01:00

A sunny afternoon was followed by a chilly evening at Wandsworth Common. The Raiders colour-code their various teams, but they all play in navy blue. So it was "Orange" by name v "orange" by shirt colour.
We had support again - Gaz's daughters were off school due to it being used as an election polling station, and they were happy to cheer for us and act as bat girls. Sadly, they didn't get to see us win - though there were some fine performances, not least from Gaz himself. It was reassuring for Tigger and myself on base to see him coming up to bat to hit us round.
Raiders built a lead in the first inning, and though we fought hard we couldn't close on them. Kate pitched a good game, despite taking a nasty hit to her foot from a batted ball halfway through the match. One inning saw Libs take three outs at Third, and Donnacha had a good game with bat and playing Second. Nice home run from Blasey. Aside from getting caught out once, I enjoyed batting and base running. But then I always do.

Loan wolves 17 - 17 Werewolves

2010-04-29T09:39:00.002+01:00

Dog Soldiers

Our first opposition for the new season were the London Werewolves, who had been last year's league development squad. We'd played them in a tournament last Summer, and won, but they were a stronger, more experienced side now . And yesterday was the night of the full moon...
It was great to be back on the field. Finsbury Park looked lovely, the softball grounds had been newly-mown, and the weather was good - a mild, slightly cloudy Spring evening.
The Werewolves had a good first inning, putting five runs on the board. I had the honour of leading off our batting. Which I promptly threw away by hitting straight to the shortstop. The Werewolves extended a lead in the first few innings, but we managed to keep in the game and start a fight back. Some fine batting and clever base running kept us in contact with their lead. Determined fielding, spearheaded by Kate's pitching, held the Werewolves in check. We suffered a shut out inning, but returned the favour thanks to two back-to-back strike outs. Our spectators, former Wolves Paul and Joel, were gripped by the thrilling game.
The sun had set now, and the light was failing for the last two innings. Our opposition seemed to be hulking larger in the gloaming, light glinting on fangs and claws. Of course, it's harder to throw a ball or hold a bat with claws, so perhaps this helped us. Tense play led to us facing the bottom of the seventh with a five point deficit to overcome. We made three by the time welost our first two outs. Julian came in to bat, with captain Michael's orders to take a walk if he could. He kept his cool and did. We walked Tzippy next, bringing Gareth up to bat. This could be the decisive moment. All was silent and tense in Finsbury Park. Then the pitch - and a strong left-field hit brought two runners home, tying the game! The werewolves managed to get the next out before we could get another runner round, and light meant that the umpire wasn't going to call for a tie-break innings. So the first Wolf v Werewolf match ended honours even. We retired to the pub along with the Weres who turned out in fact to be Warren Zevon fans rather than lycanthropes.
[X-posted from my Livejournal]

Were Wolves @ Loan Wolves 28th April 2010

2010-04-29T08:52:00.002+01:00

Low Point: My batting - or rather my judging of the pitches. Swung at completely the wrong pitches and just didn't get any power behind it.

High Point: My last at bat! Finally a good hit and easily getting on base...in fact, if I'd not been going so fast I might not have overshot first so much and been able to try for second... (next time!)

Nice day for a Wolf wedding

2010-04-18T20:01:00.001+01:00

Loan Wolves' redoubtable Second Base fielder Victoria got married yesterday. The Wolves, as well as Tainted Glovers, were invited to the reception. We had co-ordinated our journeys to Strawberry Hill, so I joined the train at Clapham Junction to find a large party of Wolves already aboard. We all assembled at the Prince of Wales for a couple of drinks and a chance to sign the card. We sat outside in the sunny Spring afternoon, had a good old natter, and posed for pictures. Never had so many Wolves been seen together so smartly dressed. The Wolfettes were all stunning, and we guys didn't do too badly in our jackets and ties
We made our way to the reception venue, the attractive but warren-like St Mary's College, where we congratulated the happy couple and posed for further pictures - Vic had insisted there be a photo with the Loan Wolves on her wedding day. There was a buffet laid on, and the delicious home-made wedding cake was probably the best I've ever tasted. The atmosphere was good, and a great time was had by all. There was a live band fronted, apparently, by one of the girls from B*Witched. They played for the first dance - Vic and Mike had gone for an excellent old school choice of song:

We all had a dance, and the band reprised the Andy Williams at the end of the evening as we all formed a ring for the bride and groom to dance in. Things wound down after they left, and of course the Wolves ended up being the last ones to leave the party, loading up on the last of the cake to fortify us on our long roads home. I managed to cadge a lift into central London from Garry, and I was lucky with my bus connections, so I was home by half past two.
We'd had a great time, and it felt good that Vic had wanted us to be part of such a special occasion.

2010-01-28T11:29:00.002Z

Our team won last night's dodgeball match. I say "our team" rather than the Loan Wolves, as the dodgeball team has a new name. For a change, and as we have three non-Wolves in our ranks, we have a new identity. Kevin and Garry finally unveiled the team name and colours last night. For dodgeball purposes, we are now...

Crouch End Tigers, Hendon Dragons!

Everyone got a film title shirt name, punning on their real names - Magnificent Kevin, The Kate Escape, etc. I got "Ghandy", though I think they missed the opportunity to go for something like "Freebie Andy Bean". The shirts, designed by Garry, are pretty cool.

The Four Dodgeballers of the Apocalypse (Or, Winning Hearts and Minds)

2009-12-13T19:07:00.003Z

Went to a dodgeball tourney yesterday. Garry had found out about it at fairly short notice. We nominally had a team of seven or eight up to Friday, when it began to dwindle alarmingly. We picked up Julian as a replacement for some of the people who couldn't make it, but I arrived at the venue yesterday to find that Libs wasn't well and we were going to be down to four players for the day. Now a dodgeball team usually consists of six people, so we were going to be a bit short-handed. The surprised refrain: "are there really only four of you?" greeted us at the start of practically every match. Luckily, it isn't as much of a disadvantage as it would have been in most sports - fewer of you on the court means more dodging room for each of you.
It was a "fun" Christmas tournament, with fancy dress expected. Most teams had turned out in an impressive array of costumes. F*ckin Chuck Norris were in T shirts with Chuck on the front and a different CN fact on the back of each one. The Santa Claus-es-es-es were all in Santa suits, except for their Elf girl in pixie hat and curly-toed slippers. there was a big crowd for their festive match vs the Penguins, an almost all-girl side in matching black costumes with penguin-beak baseball hats and little gold bow-ties. One side were in dinner suits (I heard one of them ask his mate before their first game: "don't you think it might be a good idea to take the jackets off when we're actually playing?"). The best fancy dress prize deservedly went to the team who came as KISS, in full war paint and silver cloaks. Our team were meant to be 80s-themed, but Julian had had no time to get a costume together. He was wearing a Handel T shirt, though, so there was a 1680s, if not 1980s, connection. Kevin had a mullet wig and Frankie Says T shirt, and Garry was in full Hulk Hogan regalia - blond wig, padded muscle shirt and all. I went as John McClane from Die Hard. Was sad enough to draw Bruce Willis's tattoo on my arm in Sharpie, along with his tally of terrorists despatched. I had a cardboard cut-out gun taped to my back, and wrote "now I have a dodgeball - ho ho ho" on the front of my vest.
We set out our stall early, winning the first two group matches. Then we had a long gap between games, and came back to lose the next. The last match was against Team Oval Exiles, who'd won all their first three games. We rallied, kept our heads, and our tactical sense such as it was got us through.
I think it was just afetr the group stage that Matt came along - still not allowed to play till his injury heals, but a most welcome (and enthusiastic) supporter.
Our quarter-final drew us against a friendly bunch who'd come over to have their pictures taken with us earlier. We won the first set, lost the second, and had to play a decider. Garry chose this moment to Hulk up. The crowd went wild as he tore his T shirt off to reveal his fake muscles. We were inspired, and pulled out a victory to take us to the semis. Where F*ckin Chuck Norris put paid to our progress. We bowed out gracefully, watched the final and went to the pub with many of the other teams.
It was a good day. We'd more than punched above our weight, with Julian peforming brilliantly in his first outing, and could hold our heads up high. And we made some friends too. A lot of people from other teams congratulated us on our plucky outnumbered and outgunned performance. "You won our hearts!" one girl said,which was nice of her.

Christmas party

2009-12-13T19:05:00.001Z

Friday was the Loan Wolves' Christmas party. We met up at the New Rose, and after a few drinks headed to a Brazilian restaurant. All-you-can-eat buffet, and waiters bringing joints of hjgh-quality meat products to serve at your plate. I fear the vegetarians among us didn't get to enjoy the experience to the full. We had the usual tongue-in-cheek end-of-year awards - mine was for the time I absent-mindedly went to the wrong park for the Tecumsehs match. As we left the restaurant, we discovered that Tzippy had somehow acquired a souvenir from the buffet cart...

Baseball movies

2009-11-12T09:31:00.001Z

After a conversation with Blasey at rthe pub last night, I looked for a "definitive" list of baseball or softball movies.
This one's pretty good - how many have you seen?

Dodgeball update: "I'm gonna take that dodgeball and..."

2009-10-15T15:25:00.003+01:00

After a shaky start last week, where despite winning three of the seven games we ended up 19 - 7 down in points to Who Let the Dodge Out at the end of the match, we picked ourselves up ready for the Dodgeball Furies.
Gabs was a welcome addition to the side, giving a much-needed option to rotate female players and also her lethal throwing arm. We had enough men to rotate complete half-teams of three, with Kevin and Gary as strikers in each. We managed to win most of the games, and even when we were on the losing end we held onto a couple of points thanks to a heroic display of dodging by Olivia and Tzippy.
Here is the last game, where we cemented our first dodgeball victory:

Dodge, duck, dip, dive - and DODGE!

2009-10-01T09:38:00.001+01:00

Went along to the inaugural session for the Softballers' Dodgeball League last night. The Tecumsehs had decided to start an off-season event, and picked a game which could be played indoors and where everyone would be a novice. They picked dodgeball.
The venue was a church hall, so we had all been warned not to blaspheme or anything. I kept thinking of the phrase: "holy ground, highlander!".
There was a rules explanation, a couple of demonstration/test games, then we started playing to get the hang of it. It was interesting to see how quickly people picked it up. Dodging tends to come easier than throwing, especially as the balls are football-sized solid foam things quite unlike softballs. Which is as well if you get hit by them. Doesn't really hurt, and most hits tended to be scored on the legs or when someone failed a catch. Matches are made up of seven three-minute games, and you get a bit of a workout in that three minutes of running, throwing and dodging.
We had a mini-tournament, in which the Loan Wolves came fourth out of six. The game's fun to watch as well as play - lots of manic action, turnaround plays, close escapes and exciting finishes. Afterwards we went to the pub wher the draw for the tournament proper was held.
Oh, and of course, everyone there last night had seen the film...

Raiders Green v Loan Wolves - Highs and Lows

2009-08-27T14:42:00.002+01:00

Inspired by Gabby's emails I am going to kick off the highs and lows of the last game of the season. Remember, finish on the high point!

Low Point - A classic ground ball fumble from me which, if taken well, could have been an easy out at first and prevented quite so many runs getting round on the next big hit. It also really hurt my thumb :(

High Point - Despite striking myself out it was my best batting performance ever with two sweet hits to right field, one of which certainly alarmed the Raider's first base. Onwards and upwards I hope.

Lesson Learnt - warm up with the heavy bat.

Raiders Green 12 - 11 Loan Wolves

2009-08-27T11:40:00.000+01:00

Our last match of the 2009 season was the rescheduled game against Raiders Green. Sadly, we weren't able to maintain the initiative from that abandoned match, where we were seven up after our first inning. This was a close match, with neither side managing to dominate with their batting but errors in the field keeping the scores ticking round. Kate pitched well, and we had some great base hitting from Julian and Vic (hitting to right field to avoid the strong fielding at Third and Short Stop). We'd managed to post a three-run lead by the bottom of the seventh, but the Raiders had home team advantage and managed to get runners on bases without losing any outs then made the runs they needed to take the game.
This leaves us on the same points as the Tornadoes, but they played fourteen games and we played fifteen, and if I understand the cobbled-together league rules for this season properly we are going to have a 14/15ths multiplier imposed on our final points. This would leave us in the bottom three of eleven by .8 of a point, so if there's a Division Six next year we'd be relegated to it. Well, technically, it would be Division Three due to the planned splitting of the league into two.
It hasn't been as successful a season as we'd all have liked. There are areas where we have all improved, but game after game could have gone our way and didn't. Sometimes umpiring decisions went against us - this time, Matt ran into First, was called safe by the field umpire, who was then overruled by the plate umpire on their judgment call. Sometimes we had personal matters intrude into our softball - three of the Original Wolves, including one of our starting pitchers, going through redundancy through the season, for example (well, that's my excuse for turning up at the wrong park the other week). The heavens themselves intervened when we were on our best form all year in the match that was rained off. Still, though, we have to look at ourselves and how we could have done better. Batting overall is coming along well, but we need to make more of it and build the big innings that bring wins. We need to be able to have confidence in each other in our proper fielding positions, and to keep cool heads to make the right tactical choices quickly and decisively. As Michael says, when we play to our ability and work together as a team we can be a force to be reckoned with. We have the Winter ahead of us, with bi-weekly indoor training lined up. We are going to practice, to build up on what we've already achieved, and take it further. This was the toast at the pub after the game: "next year, whatever decision we end up in, they are not going to know what hit them - HERE'S TO NEXT SEASON!"

Loan Wolves 4 - 9 Meteors

2009-08-13T12:20:00.000+01:00

Sociable softball
The Mets are a team we've known and liked since we started playing softball. Tonight's game was hard-fought, but entirely good-natured. Determined, effective fielding from both sides kept the score low, and for three innings it stood at three all. Then the Mets nosed ahead by one, and in their sixth at-bat they managed to increase the lead to five. We still didn't waver, though, and refused to let it turn into a rout. Sadly, we didn't manage to pull that lead back, and the match ended as it grew dark. Considering our relative places in the table, though, we can be proud of our performance.
The Mets had advised us beforehand to bring food, and as the match ended they fired up the barbecue. A picnic table was soon groaning under the weight of food, and the satisfying smell of burgers, sausages, chicken and salmon being cooked over coals filled the air. Wolves and Meteors gathered together to break bread and toast each other, and the sound of laughter and friendship rose into the summer night. The Meteors were celebrating the eighteenth birthday of one of their number, and bidding farewell to Di, stalwart of their team and a credit to the sport, who's off overseas for a while. It was a lovely occasion, following a great game. And somewhere above our heads, hidden by the cloud cover, our friends' Perseid namesakes were streaking through the heavens...

Lastball

2009-08-10T09:38:00.001+01:00

On saturday, the Loan Wolves entered the Lastball tournament. Which, for some reason, is nowhere near the last tournament of the year. Lovely sunny day in Richmond Old Deer Park. By the time our first match, against the "Werewolves", a new development side, was due to start, we only had seven players. Most of the others were still on their way in Michael's car. So we were taking our time at bat, letting strikes get past us to give ourselves more time, and praying for rescue. We had just run out of batters when we spied the others, running across the field to our rescue like the Seventh cavalry in Stagecoach. Despite the chaotic,. unprepared start, we won the game comfortably. Next up were Comer's Homers, who defeated us solidly. Then the Thundercats. The Sword of Omens must have been working overtime, as we started with our worst ever fielding inning in a tournament game. Although we got our act together by the end, we were never in contention. Only a sterling base hit by Donnacha prevented their pitcher from achieving a perfect game. We were wilting in the sun by that stage, but we still should have done better.
As there was a plate as well as cup competition, every team was assured of a semi-final. We found ourselves playing a mixed Meteors and Marauders team, and though we started better this time we couldn't quite force the win. We then had a warm-down practice among ourselves and including ex-Wolf Ben, while a couple of our women players filled in for the Mob who were short of girls for their final. It was a fun end to the day, and I noticed we were the only team not in the finals to have stayed around en masse. Which was good, because Ben had set another quiz - this one much harder than the last - and we had won once again. As we had a tournament victory of sorts, we went to The Sun to celebrate. Nice place, but a bit pricey.

Tecumsehs 19 - 5 Loan Wolves

2009-08-02T08:22:00.002+01:00

I was a bit distracted last week at work. Came late from the library to the game, having calculated that I'd be there for ten to seven. Which I was, only to instantly remember that we wer not playing at finsbury Park and I should have turned right rather than left from the Tube station to go to Clissold Park. Oops. I hurried to the correct venue, but the game had already started when I arrived at five past seven. We were fielding, which meant we must have already batted and got out. I hunkered down at Catcher in my jeans (had only had time to change my top before setting off) for a match with Duncan Devil Stray at umpire, giving his usual running commentary on the game in progress. We were unable to repeat our early season win vs the Tecumsehs, I'm afraid. Some great plays by our outfield were let down by us not keeping a tight enough control in the field overall and not having the batting strength to keep ourselves in contention. After the match we went to the Brownswood, a pub I'd never been to before, for a beer.

Loan Wolves 6 - 17 Finsbury Dazzlers

2009-07-23T13:15:00.001+01:00

You've come a long way, baby...
Our first ever league match, in May 2006, was against the Dazzlers. We lost 25-1 in four innings, and had a player taken to A&E afterwards. This time, though that final scoreline doesn' reflect it, things were very different. We were 4-2 down after one inning, but took the lead and were 6-5 up at the top of the fifth. Sadly, their strong batting brought them enough runs to regain the lead and put the game out of our reach at the end.
so we lost. But looking at us as a team, you can see the difference those four seasons have made. Our offense still isn't what it could be, but everyone's batting's so much stronger than when we started, our judgment of what to swing at and how to time our hitting has come on so much. Birthday girl Kate was pitching excellently, and we were fielding well to make the outs we needed. We didn't make every play, but we weren't making silly mistakes and our tactical sense was fantastic. we were putting one of the strongest sides in the division under real pressure, and for a time it looked as if the game was going to go our way.
The Dazzlers beat us again, but this time they weren't playing novices, tharn like rabbits trapped in headlights. They'd had a fight against a pack of WOLVES! And they knew it.

Fat Cats 21 - 15 Loan Wolves

2009-07-14T11:59:00.004+01:00

I'm still in the team. The softball team at least, if not the library team...
Was glad to have something to do this evening. A match with the Fat Cats, who were promoted as Div 6 champions last year, with us on their coat tails. A warm evening with plenty of sun, in the really rather splendid setting of Finsbury Park softball fields. Don't know if I've ever mentioned how nice it is in Summer. A quiet green oasis in North London, with tall trees swaying in the breeze. We had spectators, for once - Val who used to play for us turned up to watch a last game before she moves out of London, and some friends from other teams showed up to cheer us on.
The game started well enough, with runs on the board in our first inning and two quick outs to us at the start of theirs, but the Cats rallied on the second and took a significant lead. The chase was on. We started to make some progress, never quite shutting them down as they had some good batting that kept the runs coming, but steadily narrowing that lead until by the bottom of the sixth we were only three behind. We restricted them to two from their inning, and set out to bat ourselves into contention. Perhaps we were too aggressive, too eager to take the fight to them, perhaps just unlucky, but the outs came before the runs we needed to make them bat again. Still, it was a good game with some great moments in the field and with the bat, and we were always in it. I was happy to be out in the fresh air, hitting things with sticks.
Afterwards we went to the Finsbury to drown our various sorrows.

Fat Cats vs Loan Wolves - Highs/Lows/Lessons Learned

2009-07-14T11:05:00.002+01:00

Lows: not all my throws from SS made their target, certainly one hit I should have dived for - it ultimately went between Matt and Claudia and for a home run.

Highs: home run first time round, bit fortuitous (think I scored another....), an ultimately pointless dive into 2nd behind the SS back, but it looked nice and hurt for a while. Took the force off too but unfortunately Claudia was just out at 1st next play.

Lessons Learned: base running was better but still moments where runners were not pushed on when they could have been. Base coaches be alert! If a throw goes home and you have someone safe on first, they have to go! When there's two on base, always shimmy and look to move. Make them think. Make them work. If we can sneak a few bases per innings, it's easy runs overall.

PS. We batted a lot better than we've done for a long time.......it'll be enough to beat most teams at our level if we field well.

It's International Loan Wolves Day tomorrow!

2009-07-08T11:26:00.003+01:00

Don't forget to wear your colours in celebration of the anniversary of our first ever league win!

Intellect 12 - 8 Loan Wolves

2009-07-01T12:53:00.003+01:00

Umpire of the Senseless

We were up on the hated high, sloped, exposed Pitch Five on Primrose Hill. Visibility was actually a little better than in the last game we were there, but it was sunny and pretty scorching for most of the evening.
With Gabs still injured from the weekend, we didn't have any spare women players.
I led off, but failed to convert a walk into a run. Our opposition did better than us in the first few innings, and we just couldn't get back into the game with the bat. The umpiring calls were really not helping us. Still not sure about that strike zone. I struck out looking, on three balls, when two flat pitches went past me and I confidently left them. Both were called strikes. Among other incidents, there was a rather confused play where the umpire changed his call repeatedly then made the point be replayed. Didn't do our cause any favours, it's true, but ultimately we still didn't manage to bat ourselves back into contention, even though we rallied somewhat as the sun went behind the clouds and made it easier to pick out the ball in flight.
Second quarter of the season hasn't gone as well as the first, but there's a long way to go yet.

By Invitation Only

2009-06-28T23:24:00.002+01:00

In what has now become an annual event, the Raiders held an invitational tournament for D comp teams, as an opportunity for the less experienced or talented among us to get vital match-play practice and sharpen our skills against sides of our own level. It's an extremely friendly, relaxed affair, but it's still a proper competitive day of playing. They field several sides of their own, and invite entries from the more clubbable lower division teams. Such as the Loan Wolves. This time it was being held as a fund-raiser for the GB Women's softball team ahead of the European Championships. So our entry fees went to this good cause, there was a raffle, and they had T shirts for sale. I can't resist a good T shirt, so am now the proud owner of a Great Britain Softball shirt.
The tournament takes place at Wandsworth Common. Each team had four games, which for us fell as two set of back-to-back matches with a break. Rules were slightly more relaxed than in the league, and there was the quirky "buy back" rule in effect. Each team gets one opportunity per game to buy the umpire a beer in exchange for rewinding and undoing a play which has just happened - a catch isn't dropped, a batter hasn't struck out or whatever after all. But the player who's got the reprieve does have to wear comedy bunny ears for the rest of the inning...
We were a bit short-handed, but we had Mark from the Homers joining us for the day plus a stray female player from one of the other teams each game. First up we took on the Meteors (heavily fortified with spare Raiders), and won. Then we came up against one of the Raiders sides and didn't do so well. After our hour off, we faced another Raiders team. This time we came up with the goods, even with a lot of us playing in unfamiliar positions. This was the game where Gabi got hit by a nasty one to the knee. She was moved to Catcher, to give her a chance to recover out of the line of fire, but was almost immediately hit in the face by a ricochet off the bat.
The final game was against the Tornadoes. The game went our way, as we batted ourselves into a strong position. The final inning saw them with three minutes to overturn a sixteen-point lead, and as a heavy shower started to fall the game came to an end.
We headed over the road to Dexter's, where negotiating the service and getting our two-for-one deal vouchers honoured was a bit of a trial, but we tucked in to our pub food and bottled beer happily as we discussed the day's play. We fielded and pitched well, but more importantly our batting was consistent throughout the team all day - that was probably the heart of our success.

Loan Wolves 11 - 36 Base Jumpers

2009-06-25T14:03:00.001+01:00

A couple of plays missed by the umpires maybe did us no favours last night, but I think Kevin was right when he said we were mainly undone by not having played a game in three weeks. We didn't manage to capitalise enough on a sterling pitching performace from Kate, Wolf batting wasn't strong enough overall to keep us in contention, and the Jumpers' lead crept up inning by inning. By the time the seventh inning came around, and the Finsbury Park mosquitoes came out to feast on us in the twilight, it was too late for us to rally.
Still, we aren't even halfway through the season and we can take what we've learned from this to help ourselves prepare for the games to come. There's a Raiders' Invitational tourney on sunday, which should be a good opportunity to clean the rust off and take a whetstone to our competitive edge. There's a lot of the summer ahead of us, and a a lot more games to look forward to, before season's end.

Base Jumpers 36 vs Loan Wolves 11 - Highs/Lows/Lessons Learned

2009-06-25T13:39:00.002+01:00

While we wait for Andy's match report....

Low Point: Loads of big high hits in right field which went way over my head. Not much I could do about those, except run faster to get to the ball.It was that one line drive that went past Donnacha that I'm really gutted about though. Clearly in the right position and right place....but it dribbled between my feet. Pooh!

High Point: Managing to get to base on every hit (Kate pointed this one out to me whilst in the pub, thanks Katie). Also my line drive which went somewhere towards 3rd base...obviously I wasn't looking ;)

Lessons Learned: Back up, back up, back up!!!!!

Training day

2009-06-18T12:02:00.001+01:00

We had a really good training session last night. It's a week with no match for us, so we got together with some friends from the Meteors, and Mark and Paul of the Homers, for a training session. Excellent coaching from Ian and Dan of the Meteors' highest level team, and a good atmosphere as we spent several hours throwing, catching, batting and doing lots of running round. Which, obviously, raised a bit of a thirst. So we went to the pub for a cold beer or two afterwards. I found myself talking wiith tigger and Julian about the restructuring at work. It's ironic that the only remaining Wolves in the library are at risk in this restructuring when the team's done more than any management initiative to foster inter-site communication and staff team bonding.

Raiders Red 26 Loan Wolves 2 - Highs/Lows/Lessons Learned

2009-06-04T10:30:00.002+01:00

Raiders Red are a good side, as they ought to be when they're top of the table with six straight wins. Their infield is very tight but we never got to see how the outfield played and I think their hitting was smart and consistent rather than big. Still....they'll beat every other team they play, some by a greater margin than last night.

Lows: not a great game at SS. If throws aren't caught, it's probably my fault.
Highs: an outfield catch, realising the hit was too shallow to be taken by Joel/Libs.
Lessons Learned: my batting has been atrocious since the Tecumshes match. An obsession with RF perhaps? How many foul hits have I done in the last few weeks? I need to take my batting back to basics and start from scratch.

St Urbain's Horsemen 11 - 7 Loan Wolves

2009-06-01T12:57:00.002+01:00

Blinded by the light

Last week's match was a bright and sunny occasion. No, literally. The sun defined how this game went. We were on that dreaded Primrose Hill pitch again, and the clear, hot evening meant that the setting sun was right in our faces all night.
the Horsemen played their home advantage wisely, setting an unorthodox outfield to intercept runaway downhill hits, and a couple of Wolf slips in the field let them build a small lead in the first inning. We tightened our grip in the field, but we kept finding ourselves undone at bat by the ball falling unseen out of a blinding red sun. Anythign you could hit, you couldn't see. anything you could see, you couldn't hit. We made runs somehow, including Kevin riding his luck around the bases on a series of overthrows, but couldn't quite score enough to get ahead.
Still, it was no doubt a character-building experience, and we're all looking forward to the rematch at Finsbury.

[Sorry I didn't post this earlier - was away from a computer till today][

St Urbain's Horseman 11 Loan Wolves 7 - Lessons Learned

2009-05-29T09:51:00.003+01:00

Whilst we're waiting for Andy's match report......

Lows: the female shortstop dinked a hit high, to the side, which maybe I should have dived for, just in case any amateur photographers were around. If I'd missed it, and I probably would've done, it would have been a home run hit.

Highs: bit embarrassed about the home run, I assumed I was only getting 2nd from a dead ball. But they threw it and the gloves were off so to speak. Couple of reasonable outfield catches.

Lessons learned: we'll beat these guys at Finsbury easily, if we'd fielded as we could have all game, it'd have been hard for them to have scored all game. It's not sour grapes either, but something has to be done on that pitch when the sun's up - can't they switch it round and have a makeshift diamond?

Silver for the Black and Gold

2009-05-24T11:01:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was the annual Superball softball tournament. Split into two parallel tourneys, for A and B competition (the top end) and C and D comp (teams like us). Early start at Richmond Old Deer Park, as the lower-grade competition starts early and is mostly over by the time the hgher division teams start. I got up early, packed my bag, dashed into Sainsbury's to buy whatever random snack food was on special offer on my way to the station and set off. Getting as far as Streatham Hill before train delays put an extra half an hour on the journey.
I got there just in time for the first game, aganst a combined Meteors team. We had a great start, and won it 11 - 4. It was fun and set us up for the day. All the teams we played were stronger than us, on paper at least. Some of them were defnitely out of our league. In both senses. But we did OK, punching at least at our own weight. The group stage is followed by a semi-final - for the Cup or the Plate, depending on if you finished in the top or bottom of the draw. We faced off against the Squares for the Plate semi, and worked together for a deserved victory. We were in our first ever final in a tournament. Vs the Mets again, as it happened. The Homers (who wear black and orange to our orange and black) were in the Cup final. Paul from the Homers said: "let's make it an orange and black clean sweep!". Which basically put the mockers on the thing, as we both lost. But still, we were in a final. Admittedly we had a couple of ringers from the Mob, playing in some games. But still, at least 80% of the team in every game was Wolf. And we were filling in the fund-raising quiz that our ex-Wolf friend Ben had put together throughout the day, which was a bit of fun. More so when we were told that we'd got 100% right and won first prize of a new softball bat. We may be D comp on the field, but we're A comp when it comes to trivia.
It was a fun day with lovely sunny weather, a beautiful setting, lots of laughs. I think we tired by the end of the day - we haven't had to reserve our strength for a final before, though. Sadly, Matt took another visit to Purple Heart Corner, needing stitches in his hand after getting hit in his ungloved hand going for an outfield catch. He made it back from A&E to cheer us on in the final, though.
Some of the team stayed around to watch the A comp final, but I made my way over to my friends' place for a meal and a DVD. A very civilised and much appreciated end to a day which made a good break after last week at work.

Team picture

2009-05-21T13:53:00.000+01:00

After last night's game:

Loan Wolves vs Intellect; Highs, Lows, Lessons Learned

2009-05-21T10:01:00.003+01:00

Lows: awful, awful batting. The worst I can remember. Didn't hit past the infield once, surprised I never got out more than once, though I think I got others out.

Highs: first catch of the game. It was pretty simple though. Also, anticipating a deflection from Joel to pick up an infield hit, then throw it hard to Vic. Thumping their runner going to 2nd on the head for a tag was neat too.

Lessons Learned: The positional changes worked; the infield just need to calm it down. Usually there's plenty of time to make the throw with the forced runner.

Loan Wolves 15 - 10 Intellect

2009-05-21T09:34:00.003+01:00

At lunchtime today, one of my colleagues was going out to the shops and asked if I wanted anything from Marks and Spencer. I remembered that they do some rather nice up-market wine gums, and asked for a packet. Figured that the team would appreciate them this evening.
The Loan Wolves' relationship with wine gums goes back to our first ever league win. They've been our favourite sugar-fix pick-me-up and morale booster ever since. M&S ones are especially good as they have that extra colour, the grape flavoured white ones.
Anyway, on to the game.
Intellect, a new side, turned out to have some big hitters, and their fielding was of a very high standard for an inexperienced team. Their pitcher did them credit too. But we were able to use the three years' experience we've picked up to take the win, scoring consistently and making the outs when we needed them. We had the confidence that came from having a good pitcher - Kate did a great job.
After not the best start to a week at work, I really enjoyed being on the field in the sun and batting. And eating wine gums.

Base Jumpers versus Loan Wolves May 12 2009

2009-05-13T10:14:00.002+01:00

Low Point: My batting - not choosing the right one to hit

High Point: Some strikeouts and throws to first

What I have learned: Try not to lose heart. Make sure I go for the pitch that is right for me

Highs/Lows/Lessons Learned - Loan Wolves vs Base Jumpers

2009-05-13T10:13:00.002+01:00

Low: coming up to bat once, hits straight off the top of the bat. I get to 1 but Olivia's out at 2.

High: simple outfield catch, a 'cat and mouse' game with 2nd base that apparently got our runner to 1 - I don't remember the second part of this.

Lessons Learned: we need to shrug this one off, put it down as a bad day at the office. But there's plenty to improve - batting, in particular. Maybe we're not doing something right with the order, I don't know.

Base Jumpers 21 - Loan Wolves 4

2009-05-13T09:50:00.002+01:00

Some days are better than others

We were away to the Base Jumpers, a new but not inexperienced team, at Primrose Hill. It's a pitch we've done badly on before, slanting away downhill and with the setting sun in the batters' eyes. Sunglasses don't help - they just make everything that isn't the sun look darker.
And it was a dark evening for the Wolves. We didn't manage to read the pitcher's deliveries, and time and time again we didn't manage to parlay base hits into runs. Fair play to a Jumpers fielding side which made five double plays over the course of the game, but I think we all felt we'd not done our best work last night.
There were still some positives - sterling commitment by Julian, pitching in adversity, some good hits to keep morale up and keep us in the game. And there was a nice moment when a little dog wandered up and Kevin threw a ball for it to fetch.
It's easy to blame the "unlucky" pitch, but I must admit when I saw carrion crows pecking around the outfield after the match it summed the whole thing up for me.

More Wolves good news...

2009-05-07T21:33:00.001+01:00

Mike and I got engaged whilst we were on holiday in Spain!! Expect a very bouncy Vic at the next match.

xx

Loan Wolves vs Tecumsehs - Highs and Lows

2009-05-07T10:00:00.003+01:00

Can't think of another game where as a team we had so many highs. Everyone played really well, everyone contributed.

Low: attempting to beat their left-hander to first with the ball in hand; not realising he was lightning quick.

High: the winning hit. Talk about pressure! Though I have to thank Andy/Manjiv for getting on base in the first place.

Loan Wolves 15 - 13 Tecumsehs

2009-05-07T09:43:00.001+01:00

"Winning is the most fun you can have in sports!". Kevin, after the match.

Was at a management course today. Brought my kit and bat with me, and attempted to nonchalantly stow it in a corner.
Changed into softball gear and headed to Finsbury Park afterwards for our match against the Tecumsehs. We warmed up and practised for a bit beforehand, and prepared for the game.
And it was quite a game. Close, low-scoring start, with us building a reasonable lead. Good fielding and steady, effective batting did that for us. Then the dreaded One Bad Inning saw the Tecumsehs score seven and take the lead, due in part to our fumbles. Then we had a 'mare of an inning - three up, three down, no more runs scored. Short Stop Kevin rallied us, though, and we returned the favour next inning. But we still couldn't claw the lead back from them in our turn at bat. Another tense defensive inning ensued. Another shut out. So it came to our turn at bat again. Nail-biting tension as we lost two outs. Manjiv kept her head and batted her way onto base. Then Kevin came up to bat. And did us proud with a big hit bringing two base runners home with him and ending the match.
A great team performance, with Julian's pitching at its heart. I think we all played up to our abilities and, though we sometimes fumbled, we didn't make many tactical errors. For myself, fielding at Third I didn't have an outstanding game - I let myself be wrong-footed by the shorter distance to the batter than at Second, and misjudged a couple of balls. On the other hand, I batted 1.000 and made three runs - so that went pretty well. Looking forward to tomorrow's e-access meeting at the main library - news of a Loan Wolves win always seems to spread fast...

Moment of the Match

2009-04-29T22:18:00.002+01:00

Moments:
Kates superb pitching - 1 walk, 1 strike out
Blasey's outfield catch
Kev's home run (including 2 slip ups)

3rd - Vic's base hit
2nd - Don's throw to 2nd to get the out
Winner - Kev's Gary-esque catch

Good game but we hit too many to the pitcher, SS and 3rd causing many to get out at 1st.
Ground fielding was difficult due to the wet grass.
The look on Liz's face when she found out as Gaby was late she'd be 1st base.

My best game so far

2009-04-28T20:32:00.003+01:00

The training over the past few months obviously paid off, as yesterday's game was definitely my best so far. Some great catches, no strike-outs and a couple of really good hits.

Of course, this meant I was in the game a lot more and made some really stupid mistakes! Catching the ball and forgetting to step on the plate at third. Running hell for leather for second with the ball still in the air, only to see it caught and finding myself out.

And then there was the wet grass - slipping and sliding all over the place and falling sideways like a tree going for a low ball to my right (and missing it as a result).

Bring on First Ball and some more game practice I can take out on Intellect (alas, due to next week's Devo concert and a union meeting the following week, I miss the next two matches).

Raiders Red v Loan Wolves - Low Point, High Point

2009-04-28T12:26:00.002+01:00

Time to resurrect our tradition of reflecting back on the night before with our highs and lows. Remember, finish on a high!

Low Point - missing a ground ball as it bounced past me missing the opportunity to get one of their speedier runners out. I knew it was going to come my way but I wasn't able to stop it. Oh, and getting cold and wet. This is a summer game darn it!

High Point - Getting a monster hit and finally making it to 1st after two failed attempts.

The most-impressive-dive-of-the-night award must go to Kevin for his superb catches and the grace and skill displayed when he got his home run despite falling over at 1st and having to dive head first to home.

Go Wolves!

Raiders Red 19 - 3 Loan Wolves

2009-04-28T11:38:00.001+01:00

Welcome, ballgame fans, to the first match report of the 2009 season. It's going to be a long one this year, with a whole twelve teams in Division Five scrapping for promotion or to avoid the drop.
First up for us was this away game to Raiders Red. We found ourselves facing a stronger side than we'd been expecting - Raiders are a big club (130 players now, I think one of them was saying). They picked up a lot of top-flight players over the off season with the effect of strengthening all their sides as good players get demoted to lower division teams within the club.
The weather had turned cold on the weekend, and yesterday it turned wet too. Drizzle most of the day had eased off, but as the match started a steady downpour began. This may have actually helped us - as a wise man once said, nobody's very fast when they're knee-deep in mud. Certainly, we can be proud of our performance in the first two innings, holding onto a 1-0 lead. The rain stopped though, and that's when it all went a bit askew. Sadly, our fielding was good but our batting let us down and they managed to get away from us later in the match. My hoped-for Good Season With The Bat (tm) has singularly failed to begin yet. I saw quite a bit of action at Catcher, but failed to make any outs from it. Among the high points I noticed were Kate's consistently effective pitching, good fielding at Third from Donnacha and excellent co-ordination between Kevin at Short Stop and Vic at Second. It was a friendly match and both sides had fun.
We accompanied the Raiders to the pub - the George is now the Avalon - and had a beer or two to drown our sorrows. They had Doom Bar, which was a bonus.

Back in the field

2009-04-21T11:18:00.000+01:00

After a rainy Friday, the weather turned dry and sunny for Saturday. Which was just as well, as softball time is here again.
The Meteors, one of the bigger clubs, had invited the Loan Wolves to play a pre-season friendly tune-up game. We assembled mid-afternoon at Finsbury Park, and played them twice in a double-header. We played against sides mixed from all three Mets teams, including some really good players from Mets 1. So it's perhaps not surprising that we lost both matches - but it wasn't about the score, it was about waking up after the long winter and remembering what it feels like to play a proper match outdoors in the park in the sunshine.
I led off our batting, but was a bit too keen and struck out swinging. When my turn at bat came round again, though, I managed to get my act together and hit my way to base. Then a good clean-up hit let me get safely round, and I posted the first Wolves run of the season. It was good to be playing again, and we rounded the day off with a practice session of our own after the Mets had headed off to the pub to catch some of the Chelsea-Arsenal game.
The only football match I was interested in was the Wolverhampton Wanderers game. Three points would see us back in the Premiership next season. After the practice, Olivia kindly looked it up on her mobile phone for me, and read out the result:
"Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 - QPR............... 0".
I looked around at the other players as we set off for a well-earned beer in the evening sunshine, and smiled.
The Wolves are back.

[X posted from my Livejournal]

2009-03-11T12:40:00.002Z

Julian and I attended the league AGM last night on behalf of the Wolves. Here are my notes from the evening.

Darren’s still league director. Kim Comer’s left the committee. Ben is now Secretary. The Squares’ captain is on committee as a General Officer.

The league split (Comp/Rec) from 2010 onwards was voted on and agreed, by about 80% for, 10% against, 10% abstention. Lots of interesting points raised, including Jen from Tecumsehs asking for assurance that the “Rec” sides would still be supported.

This season, the scoring system will change. Instead of 3/2/1/0 for win/draw/lose/forfeit it will now be 3/1/0/-1. Net effect is that wins are considerably more important.

Umpiring training coming up again – April 19th-20th for 2 day BASU course, and there'll be some 1 day training. From this season, the 1 day training is sufficient to umpire Divs 3-. They want more people to do two-day and get referred to BASU for full qualification – BASU umps get paid double (half paid by league).

The Development Officer is looking for assistant coaches who want to gain coaching experience.

The “courtesy runner” rule is no longer an official rule – it’s a courtesy, at discretion of opposing captain. But then, who’d be the kind of ******* who’d refuse it? "No, let him crawl to Second! Bwahahahaha!"

There was a debate from the floor about players playing down or across teams (started by someone from a lower division who felt penalised because they'd had trouble getting a competitive team together).

Tournament costs - will probably include an “admin fee” (refundable if tourney goes ahead?) as two rained out tournaments cost the league a lot of money this season. If that happened in future, it could scupper the league’s finances.

BSF fees are fixed a bit higher for lower grade teams. Our league fees will be £285.00. Up by £10 on last year.

Date for application to play this season will be Monday 30/3/09 (teams can apply online) and fees will be due within one week of that date (6/4/09). Bit of a quick turnaround, and due quite soon.

Div 5 looks like:
Loan Wolves
St Urbain’s Horsemen
Finsbury Dazzlers
Tecumsehs
Mets 2
Raiders Red
Tornadoes
Fat Cats

Atheism?

2009-02-17T09:01:00.001Z

"That" metaphor explained.

2009-02-06T12:14:00.001Z

Courtesy of XKCD webcomic.

Happy New Year - 2009

2009-01-02T15:12:00.002Z

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all current and ex-wolves a wonderful 2009 and may it be a successful and rewarding year. If we all try our best, have fun, enjoy games and training then nothing can stop us. Bring on our first challengers. Lets go Wolves!!!!

Blasey

2008-10-23T16:26:00.000+01:00

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
and hold their manholes cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

All stars and awards

2008-09-22T17:25:00.001+01:00

On Saturday it was the annual "All Star" game for the softball league, followed by the awards ceremony. For the third year in a row, the Loan Wolves turned out in droves to be the team with most supporters. no beer prize this year, though. We watched Olivia, Michael and Gareth represent us at the Div 5/6 game, and they did us proud even if the other team did win.
afterwards, we retired to the community centre for the awards fiesta. As runners-up in our division, we now have our very own trophy. 2nd place in Division Six doesn't sound like much, but for us it's a heck of an achievement. Worth it for the respect we got from the other teams there, too. "Been a long time coming", as Darren said.
We made it a hat-trick of sorts by getting second place in the pub quiz which ex-Wolf Ben had written for the occasion, so there was even more to celebrate. Our prize was a book on softball skills, which, so many of us being librarians, we were very pleased with.
We stayed in the pub for a while, partying and dancing.

Things I learned on Sunday: don't try to play City of Heroes with a hangover.

[X-posted from my LJ]

End of an era for baseball

2008-09-22T10:22:00.002+01:00

Nice nostalgic piece from a friend in the US about the demise of Yankee Stadium.

Wolves of the Sea

2008-09-19T13:20:00.001+01:00

Tenuous wolf link for International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Loan Wolves @ G & T

2008-08-13T09:11:00.003+01:00

This was the big one. The winner of last night's game at a stormy Regents Park was assured a place in Divison 5, the loser was looking at another season in Div6.

G & T had started their season slowly and initially looked to be one of the weakest teams in the division. However, they certainly got their act together and have been clocking up the wins in the middle and latter part of the season. In contrast the Wolves started well, had a bit of a wobble in the middle, but have picked it up again for the last few games.

The skies were blue as we started out. The first few innings were very tight. Neithe team conceding much, and runs were hard to come by. As the Wolves came up to field at the bottom of the third the score was 1-1. Then, as they say, down came the rain. With the wolves fielding into torrents of rain, G&T started to pile on the pressure. Two rain (or rather lightning) breaks saw the opposition go through their batting order in one innings and put 5 runs on the board. It was starting to look like weather was going to scupper our hopes of promotion once again. 1-6 to them.

However, Wolves are wet weather animals. We may have wobbled with the wet conditions, but we took advantage when it was our turn to bat, putting on an impressive 8 runs in one innings and taking the score to 9-6. The girls consistently got on base, and they guys moved them around and brought them home. Everyone was batting to their potential and things were suddenly looking a lot brighter. G & T still had a batting turn in hand, though, so it was important to shut them out. This is just what the wolves did and repeated for the next innings whilst adding another 3 to our tally at the top of 5.

It was pretty clear that the light was only going to give us 6 innings, and so the Wolves focused on adding as many runs as possible to set G&T a decent run chase. As the opposition came up to bat the score was 15-6. The wolves knew that they had to get three outs before conceding 10 runs to win. Playing the odds we went for easy outs at first, letting a couple of runners get around in the process. As the plate umpire declared 'Ball Game' the score was 15-8 to the Wolves! Divison 5 here we come!

Fair play to G&T they made us work for it, and they were a very sporting bunch. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.

Inning-by-Inning

2008-08-07T12:55:00.000+01:00

As requested last night, here is the match inning by inning, X-posted from my LJ:
1st Inning
Three runs to Tribold, none to us. Not a great start, but could have been worse.
2nd Inning
Tribold made one more, but their inning didn't last long. We went round the order, getting seven on the board.
3rd Inning
Four for Tribold, two of which were directly sue to a misfield from us. But we got five round, so our lead started to creep up.
4th Inning
Sharper fielding all round here, and each team only made one more.
5th Inning
A shut out in their inning, followed by a decent start to ours saw four runners go round before the game ended. Bad light stopped it after the fifth, which leaves us only one match to play.
That match, next Tuesday, will be against G&T. They have games in hand, but a win will put us in a pretty strong position.

Loan Wolves vs Tribold: Highs/Lows

2008-08-07T09:10:00.002+01:00

Low: still can't explain what I thought I was doing when I messed up in the outfield. It cost us two runs which I had to earn back......

High: two home runs. Both looked catchable once I hit them, especially the second. That was a lead off home run, but I think the first brought two runners home.

Lesson learned: good, aggressive base running works, and not just for their captain!

Chevy Chasers 1 - 32 Loan Wolves

2008-08-01T13:08:00.002+01:00

Last day of financial year at work, followed by leaving drinks for Simon and Thomas. I had to leave early and hotfoot it over to Hampstead for the softball, though, as I'd learned late in the afternoon that we had no male subs.
I arrived to find the game in progress. The Chasers had asked to postpone the game earlier, but had managed to cobble together a team of sorts - for which, fair play to them. They came and gave us a game when they must have realised the odds were against them with inexperienced players and missing their starting pitcher.
As it was, we played well and made some extra runs by intelligent base running. Pitching and fielding were strong, too. The Chevies did hit a consolation home run in their last inning, but soon after that the game was called by the "mercy rule" due to the lead we'd built up. first time we've been on the winning side of that rule, though we lost by it a fair few times when we were starting out.
It was a strong performance, but the nature of the win left a slightly flat feeling - for me, at least, there wasn't the buzz that we've taken away from our wins in close matches.
One sour note on the evening was that Kate was practising pitching before the match and had been hit by a ball smashed into her hand. She'd been taken to A&E, but returned to the pub after the match having been treated for a finger broken in two places. She was really brave about it, but once again our season features a hospitalised Wolf.

[X-posted to my LJ]

Wolves v G & T 23rd July

2008-07-24T13:23:00.002+01:00

High points: 2 Home runs, 2 hits to 3rd base and informing the umpire of the guy leaving base early

Low point: Running past Manjiv at 3rd whilst running home and being given out.

Points leaned: Ignore negative comments before a game if you don't want your confidence knocked.

2008-07-06T22:33:00.000+01:00

Softball tournament on Saturday. Advertising industry league, but they were short of teams so we got to play. Early morning in order to get to Barnes Bridge for nine. I had my new pull-along bag, a bargain at £12.00 from Sainsbury's. And when I scraped a hole in it the first time I lugged it down some stairs I realised why it was so cheap. But it did a good job otherwise of carting bat, glove, chair, rug, food and all the other necessities of a day spent in an exposed field in unpredictable weather. Once again, our team for the day was short a few Wolves so bolstered by Meteors. Who brought their own bats, which meant a fair number of bats between us. Averaged to one bat for every second player. The other ones were given some ammunition and told to pick up bats when they could from their fallen comrades...
We won our first game, lost the next three, and ended up in a play-off vs Comer's Homers. We didn't manage to beat them, so our tournament ended there. We stayed to watch Kevin play for the Digitas Devils who were a man short vs the Homers in their final

Loan Wolves versus Fat Cats July 2nd Finsbury Park

2008-07-03T09:11:00.002+01:00

Low Point: Missing a tag out at 4th (Home) base. Think I dropped it

High Point: Getting an out at 3rd

Lessons Learned: Keep running as fast as possible to 1st - the umpire told me I might have made it on one occasion if I hadnt slowed up. Also put on my insect repellent - dont forget!!!

National Loan Wolves Day

2008-07-02T12:28:00.000+01:00

[ X-posted from my LJ]

Last year on July 9th, we achieved our first ever victory in a softball league game. At some point in the pub afterwards, we decided that 9th July would forever be National Loan Wolves Day in celebration of this glorious turning point in our sporting history. All Wolves are to wear their team shirts that day, whether we're playing or not. All friends and fans (do we actually have fans?) of the Wolves are likewise invited to wear orange that day, in honour of the team's past (and future) success.
So, if you count yourselves among our fanbase, wear your orange with pride next Wednesday!
(And wish us luck against the Fat Cats tonight, too...)

Raiders Invitational Part Deux

2008-06-30T16:15:00.002+01:00

Sunshine, friendly people and softball - what more could you ask for on a Sunday afternoon?

Ten wolves made their (sometimes meandering) way to Wandsworth Common for the second of the mini-tournaments organised by the Raiders. This time the Raiders had put together two teams (Tea and Coffee) and invited along the Meteors as well, so it was three games each on two pitches.

The Wolves started off with a good strong win against Raiders Tea before deciding to mix up positions and try a few things out in the second match against the Meteors. Before we knew it we were 10-0 down! Much as we like to practise and experiment, we also like to win (now that we've got a taste for it) and it was back to our normal fielding positions for the rest of the match. From then on we started to field much better, and some great hits particularly from the lads notched us up a few runs. Olivia's fantastic catch in the outfield has to get a mention - even though they 'bought it back'. We took advantage of the very same 'buy-back' rule to make Alison bat again in red devil horns, and before we knew it, it was 'tied ball game'. Up we went to bat, and I was very exicted to find myself on base and in the position of being the 'winning run'. Despite Matt's comments that I 'run in slow motion', I made it around and victory was ours for the second time that day.

Off we trudged to the other diamond for the last proper match of the day. Another closely run game sadly slipped away from us and when time ran out we were down two runs. However, it was certainly worth it to see Kevin batting in bunny ears after we bought back this strike out.

As we all know, you can never have enough softball and so on we played - this time Raiders against the rest of the world. I'm not sure anyone was scoring all that closely by this stage, but I think it's safe to say that the Raiders won. Loads of people had a go at pitching and even with a ridiculously long batting line-up it was great to have a few more swings.

A hugely fun afternoon, topped off with the traditional trip to the pub - just for old times sake.

High Point - Low Point (Fair and Squares)

2008-06-26T14:18:00.002+01:00

Ok guys let's do it. Remember the format - low point first, finish on the high point. One thing for each and it must be personal. You cannot say that your high point was watching Kevin slide into home and take out 3 of their players - unless you are Kevin! (I know that didn't really happen, but it's only a matter of time!)

I'll start:

Low Point: Striking out with two swings. I haven't struck out all season!

High Point: Getting three strike outs in one innings.

Lessons Learned? If the fielder is standing aimless on your running line, make them get out of your way, or shout 'obstruction'. I ran around him, and then was out on the force at 2...only just!

Squares 18 - 15 Loan Wolves

2008-06-26T12:53:00.000+01:00

I left my joggers at home yesterday morning, so had to wear the trousers I had on at work to play in.
We were away to the Squares, a team of Americans. At Hyde Park - I didn't know there were softball pitches there. Not the best of venues - very crowded (sharing the outfield with other games, from a charities/museums league, though these games all finished early), and with an incredibly uneven and pitted surface.
It wasn't a good game for us. We didn't play as well as we know we can, and somehow let ourselves get too down about it. We missed outs we should have made, and our batting, despite some good hits, wasn't up to snuff. I was appalling - felt as if my batting standard had slipped back to where I started three years ago. I managed to take an easy catch (as Catcher). Kate, who pitched an excellent game, had told me before the match that I had to catch one off her pitching. Next time, please also tell me to hit a home run, Kate.
We're halfway through the season now, played six, won four. We're just in second place. Not a bad position, really, though it might have been better if we'd played to our full potential last night. In my case, I know I should have played much less badly than I did. I'm blaming my trousers.

Fat Cats 11 - 14 Loan Wolves

2008-06-17T12:42:00.001+01:00

Fat Cats are a re-formed team - the "Black Cats" of a few years ago, a very capable side. When they re-entered the league they had to start in our division. They'd played five and won five - easily - before tonight. Our run of wins had been ended last week, as you may remember. Could we pick ourselves up again and give a decent account of ourselves against the strongest team in the division?
We were playing at Finsbury Park again, so didn't have the wonky pitch from last week to contend with at least. A dark rain cloud hovered overhead, launching showers on us, but there were blue skies and ice-cream white clouds visible beyond it. At one point, looking out from Catcher's position, I saw a vision of luminous green grass, long shadows, raindrops like diamonds in the late evening sun and even a rainbow, which would surely have won us an Oscar for cinematography had it been a movie. But it wasn't a movie. It was a ball game.
The opposition were strong, but we were not weak. Excellent pitching from Kate gave us the framework we needed. Our batting was solid. I batted 1.000, with no walks all night, and made one hit fine inside the Third Base line out of the infield which I was quite pleased with. We ran extra bases where they were to be found without taking stupid risks. Our fielding was sharp. We kept them from getting easy runs and ended their innings quickly, which gave us a lead. Then they rallied and nosed ahead. But we reversed that, and went into the bottom of the final innings defending a five point lead. A couple of outs, a couple of runs to the opposition. Then Vic intercepted a hit to right field and tagged out the runner trying for second. And it was over. The Cats' five game winning streak was ended.
Over to you, Mr Kipling:
"For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf
And the strength of the Wolf is the Pack"

[X-posted from my Livejournal]

Loan Wolves 14 - Fat Cats 11

2008-06-17T10:56:00.004+01:00

It was feline versus lupine last night as the skies darkened above Finsbury Park.

Having umpired a couple of games against the top-of-the-table Fat Cats, we knew they could hit, and we knew they had a reasonable idea about the game...so it was some nervous, but excited Wolves who showed up early to warm up, run practice drills and settle into the pitch.

As the away team we batted first. A string of good solid base hits got us on the scoreboard in an important innings. We then held the Cats to nothing for the next two innings.

As is the way with us Wolves, we never do things the easy way - a dip in the middle meant that the Cats put on 6 runs in 4th innings. We then knew that we needed to keep it tight.

We stepped up to the plate literally and metaphorically - got those all important runs in and held their scoring to a minimum. It got a bit heated for a while there over a few close calls. I'm thinking we probably wouldn't have made the appeals if the game hadn't been so tight, but all those hours at umpire school have got to be worth something!

Anyhow, after the full 7 innings, by hook or by crook, victory was secured for Wolf-kind!

Personally I got a particular kick out of holding them to nothing in an innings by getting three straight outs at first, but it's indisputable to say that everyone played a part tonight. Batting sensibly and consistently, holding runners, keeping the force on and getting those outs!

Three cheers for the Loan Wolves!

Mix-a-lot Tournament - Finsbury Park 14th June 2008

2008-06-15T15:57:00.003+01:00

Some stray Wolves, a few Homers and a whole load of Meteors got together on a sunny Saturday afternoon for a mix-up mini tournament. The idea was that people get to play with and against some different people to their usual bunch. The three captains disappeared into the club house whilst we warmed up and emerged with three 'random' team line ups.

I was a lone loan wolf on the self-proclaimed 'best looking team', with the other orange shirts split between the other two teams. Each team played the other two teams in a timed match. It was great fun to play with all sort of different people and also interesting to play against our usual team-mates.

After the three matches, the sun was still shining and the beer was still flowing, so we decided to go for a 'Meteors v the rest of the world' match. I got to have a go at pitching, which was great, and I only gave away one walk - we got him at 2 anyway, so no harm done. I was particularly proud of my pitch and catch, and I have a pretty impressive bruise on my ankle from a particularly fierce line-drive. It was a close game, but the Meteors got us in the end and it was off to the pub for more beer and some table football.

Moment of the Match - Tribold

2008-06-11T18:32:00.002+01:00

Great team patience in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings to accept walks and hit good shots to put us in the lead with a chance of winning.

Moments:
Bad throw from Shortstop to First, then the throw to 2nd and Kevin tagging the guy as he went passed the base
Manjiv getting the last out in 4 of the first 5 innings
Matt wanting an extra centimetre
Kate wanting an extra inch
Kate suggesting giving a bit more arse
Blasey's home run hit
Manjiv striking out the girl who wouldn't swing
The double play at 3rd
Manjiv giving the ball to Donnacha at home to get the player out
Matt's out at 1st that wasn't given
Vic and Joel being struck out by pitches that never went over shoulder height and practically hit their ankles over the plate
The overgrown outfield where softballers go to die
The sun over the pitcher which made hitting difficult
The blue who made deciding which balls to hit difficult

Runner-up - Joel's Grand Slam that wasn't given as Vic allegedly (my arse) missed 3rd
MOTM - Matt's cheeky "Can I look at the ball" and getting the girl out for missing 1st base

Loan Wolves 25 - 26 Tribold

2008-06-11T10:30:00.002+01:00

Low Point: Losing to Tribold!!
Not being able to pitch within the very tight strike zone set out by the umpire.

High Point: Balling the umpire who must have been confused as to whether he was umpiring baseball or slowpitch softball.

Lesson Learned: Never listen to Blasey who insisted I only have 8 pitches to warm up before the game. Next time I'll warm up my way :)

High point and Low point

2008-06-09T15:53:00.001+01:00

High point:
Watching 4 innings where the side got the basics right and shut them out

Low point:
Being 3rd base coach and yelling at Manjiv once Gareth hit it to go home from first and revised to 3rd but she stopped at second as she was watching the ball and got out.

Yet again we made mistakes but managed to secure a win due to good teamwork.

Moment of the Match - Chevy Chasers

2008-06-09T15:47:00.002+01:00

Moments:
Andy scambling back to 3rd base after looking to go home
Manjiv staying at 2nd as Gareth caught up with her
Kate being chased down by Kevin
Shutting them out for 4 of 6 innings
Julian pitching "in the zone" says Kate
Every player getting on base
Kevin's 3 run homer
Gareth's 3 RBI hit

Shortlist:
Matt falling on his arse in the outfield
Kate yelling at the 3rd baseman to get out of the way
Kate informing the Blue that the players had left the bases early

2nd place:
Julian stopping a smashed hit on the shin and then chasing the ball to try to get the out

Winner:
Andy running after a guy and tagging him after he didn't tag up

No Mercy

2008-06-05T12:53:00.000+01:00

The weather has brightened up, so we had a sunny evening for the game. Too sunny, if you were an infielder, as throws from the outfield were coming straight out of the sun. Still, better than the rain. There was plenty of mud left over from this week's wet weather, though. We had a practice beforehand, playing in our designated fielding positions, which helped us in the game.
The Chevy Chasers were a player short, as one of them had been taken ill. So they had an automatic out every tenth batter, and were one short in the outfield. Which helped, but wasn't the only reason for, our win. We won because we did things right. Not always well, but mostly right. We made some errors, especially in our third and fourth innings, where we gave them easy outs due to cavalier batting. But we tightened up, and made twelve runs in the fifth, with some good hitting and hustling around the bases. Two more, and we'd have won by the "mercy rule" for the first time ever. But in the end, we kept that lead till the bottom of the sixth, at which point the game was stopped for light without us needing to bat again.
We were the more experienced side, and that made all the difference. Good captaincy from Short Stop Kevin, and steady pitching from Julian.
We celebrated in the pub, and I ended up needing buses home. Still, it was worth it.

Wolves 20 - 07 Chevy Chasers

2008-06-05T08:08:00.005+01:00

Wolves, can we make an addition to our weekly high point/low points? I suggest we add in a "lessons learned" item. Pick one error made by yourself (if any) or one thing you wished you had done better or want to improve next time around. For example:

Low Point: Getting stupidly caught out at third base due to not listening to the third base coach.

High Point: My best hit ever, a clean line drive straight between short stop and third base (not that I was looking of course) and not making a shambles at First Base.

Lesson Learned: Never ever watch the ball, always listen or watch the base coach for instructions :)

Over to you :)

Not so Bitchin' Pitchin'

2008-05-31T10:10:00.003+01:00

We may occasionally have problems with our pitching (especially in high winds) but at least we are never this bad:

Learning how not to throw like a girl

2008-05-20T10:32:00.003+01:00

A small number of Wolves met in Regents Park for another M&M training session last night and once again we concentrated on throwing and betting techniques.

I've always felt that I throw like a girl and as a result have never felt very confident in the outfield - I was pretty sure that if I made the catch or stop that I wouldn't be able to get it back in - however after a bit of coaching I was sending it over the head of Olivia (sorry about that!).

What I need to do is:
Keep my arm high.
Flick my wrist (I haven't quite got this bit yet).
Keep my leading knee straight.

Et volia! I just have to remember all that now...

After throwing the ball for about a hour, we moved onto a bit a ground ball fielding and batting. Everyone made some good hits and benefitted from some one on one advice. I lean forward too much and must keep my weight on the back foot!!

Left with a sore throwing arm and a head full of tips.

2008-05-19T07:36:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we were invited by the Raiders to play in their " round-robin" invitation only friendly mini-tournament. To let newer players and umpires get some practice in away from league game pressure, mainly.
Over at Wandsworth Common, so not too far from where I live. I took the folding bicycle to get to the pitch from the station.
We were up against the Raiders first, and I was put in at Centre Field. Only one ball came to me, which I stopped (though didn't catch). We were keeping careful track of the scores this time, and after the game was called for time and scores rolled back, we came out 10-5 ahead.
Next were Comer's Homers, who robbed us of a berth in Div 5. I'm not sure if this inspired us, or we were just sharper than them on the day in general, but we won this one too. 12-2. My batting was less wonky in this than the first game, and I played at Catcher. Kevin was pitching, and it was good practice for him.
As our two games were done, we were able to stand around and watch the final match between Raiders and Homers with beers in our hands and the Test match on the radio. Shame it wasn't very warm, though - a bit more sun would have made it a very pleasant end to the afternoon. Homers won, and Kate and Alison got some useful umpiring experience.
And as well as making us victors on the day, today's results put us on a four-game winning streak.
I bicycled off home early, as I felt I needed an early night and knew I wouldn't get one if I stayed in the pub.

Moments at Wolves v Raiders

2008-05-17T17:04:00.002+01:00

Each league match we will contribute suggestions and money towards the Moment of the Match, below is the short-list and winner for the game on Wed 13th May

* Catch of the day went to Gareth's diving catch behind 2nd
* Kate's two outs at home plate
* Julian unforced at second getting to thirds and slipping in a sly foot to touch third, giving Mo kittens
* Kevin's winning home run, sliding in at 2nd and on his bum to home plate - bleeding for the team
* Vic and Lucy both narrowly missing catches
* Blasey hussling through the bases to get a lead-off home run
* Lucy running to 1st without hitting the ball, twice
* Alison vaulting over 1st base
* Matt's quote to Frodo "Softball is Hobbit forming"
* Blasey and Kate's collison leading to an out
* Various subs for Joel when he reached 1st base
* Kevin stealing Lucy's catch
* Alex, Andy and Matt trying to sort out the scoring with an opposition who couldn't count
* Shutting out the opposition for 3 innings

Moment of the Match:
1st - Kevin's winning home run, sliding in at 2nd and on his bum to home plate - bleeding for the team
2nd - Julian unforced at second getting to thirds and slipping in a sly foot to touch third, giving Mo kittens
3rd - Catch of the day went to Gareth's diving catch behind 2nd

2008-05-16T13:10:00.002+01:00

I've got to post this report from the Chevy Chasers defeat by the Fat Cats last night coming after their 19-0 loss last week:

Thursday 15th May 19:00
Fat Cats 18 @ Chevy Chasers 1
Posted by Nat Coombs (Chevy Chasers)
A depleted Chevy Chasers squad gave the Fat Cats the game of their lives at a rainswept Hampstead Heath. In a nailbiting battle of wits, the Chasers took an early lead - one which they maintained for over 4 minutes. A significant amount of good luck - including powerful hitting, excellent fielding and expert leadership - enabled the Cats to claw their way back into it as they eked into a 9-1 lead after one innings. The Chasers, who've been battling disciplinary problems all season, maintained a typically low amount of professionalism - a fact borne out by top hitter Charlie Pearson failing a mandatory "beer test" shortly after the 3rd Innings collapse. Despite this, they kept in the game, and it was only after the Fat Cats declared an innings to enable the Chasers to post back to back outs for 4 innings in a row, that this game was decided. The Chasers, who hope to have starting pitcher Perkins back for their next match (subject to bail conditions), will need to pick themselves up, after losing in such cruel circumstances.

I kinda like this team. Looking forward to playing them on 4th June.

Gaz

Raiders Green @ Loan Wolves

2008-05-15T14:08:00.003+01:00

Low Point - missing what would have been a fantastic catch and letting quite a few balls go past me.

High Point - Winning!!!

That was the best I've seen the Wolves play in a long time and most importantly of all, we held it together and didn't collapse under the pressure, in fact I would say that our performance actually got stronger. We knew that we were near victory and were determined not to lose it. After a shaky warm up first couple of innings, our fielding was amazing and we held the Raiders well. Our batting and running performances were also good and we proved what a difference a bit of hustling can do to our score line.

Some of the highlights (as recorded on the back of an envelope):

Kevin making his home runs and spilling blood for the team.
Julian's cool pitching and death defying base running.
Kate's outs at home plate.
Gareth's diving catch.
Lucy almost making the fly ball catch and missing but recovering so quickly that she got the ball to 3rd and made the out anyway.
Matthew's "COME ON WOLVES" from the sidelines.
Moe nearly choking on a cigarette with the excitement.

What other ones have I missed? There were so many!

MVP went to Kevin who was duly presented with a celebratory packet of ready salted.

GO WOLVES!!

Summer Training

2008-05-08T10:20:00.003+01:00

When I arrived in Regents Park last night for a spot of training I was slightly alarmed by the rather large Royal Navy helicopter, police cars and ambulances that were parked in the middle of the softball pitches, but they soon moved on and we managed to have a rather successful training session.

We were a little short of space but somehow found room to work on our throwing and batting actions in between the games going on around us. I was surprised at how much difference learning the proper technique had on my throwing arm. I was practising with Kate and although at first we weren't quite sure that we doing it right, once we got a little one-on-one instruction, the ball was soon flying through the air and connecting with the glove with a satisfying 'thump'.

With aching shoulders we moved on to batting. It turns out that I have been standing all wrong and holding the bat in the wrong place all along. Doh! All the girls had a chance to practice their swing using the 1-2-3 method (hips-arms-follow through). I feel more confident now and as long as I remember to 'squish the bug', I should be able to do an alright swing. The proof in the pudding will be when we actually get to hit the ball - that must be step 4. Bring on the pitchers!!

... I just hope I remember everything that I learnt - practice makes perfect I suppose.

Colours

2008-04-28T11:02:00.001+01:00

Last year at the All Star game, a comment about how easy the Loan Wolves are to spot because of the bright orange tops led to "nobody else wears that colour". Which was followed by responses and suggestions from various people about who else wears orange...
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (technically Old Gold)
The Dutch national football team
Lifeboatmen
The Denver Broncos
Air-Sea Rescue helicopter pilots
Railway engineering workers
Orangemen
Buddhist monks
Guantanamo Bay detainees

Anyway, we have new shirts now. We've kept the black and orange colours, of course, but now we have the team logo on the front and our personal nicknames and squad numbers on the back.

They arrived in time for a tournament yesterday, and we had a little presentation ceremony where they were handed out. Then we had our first match in the spiffing new shirts - which we won. We actually came ninth out of twelve in the end, which wasn't bad going against teams who were often two divisions higher than us.

[X-posted from my LJ]

2008-04-24T13:19:00.001+01:00

Went to leaving do for Director of Information Services at City yesterday afternoon. Ended up staying till they chucked us out of the function room with Julian and Tigger (and Tamsin, who was an honorary Wolf for statistical purposes). Did think of yet another motto for us (not that we bneed another): "First in the field - last out the pub!".
"Primus in campo, ultimus ex taverna"?

Playoff Sunday - High Point / Low Point

2008-04-14T12:51:00.002+01:00

Low Point: Ending up with my face in the mud after my slide at the plate. However, at least we know a new rule now - if the batter's on the floor it's called as a foul ball*

High Point: I need hardly say it. Taking my first big catch in the outfield and taking Paul's scalp with it!

*this is not the case if the batter fails to run due to a pitch invasion by rabid dogs!

If it weren't for bad luck...

2008-04-14T12:24:00.000+01:00

…we’d have no luck at all.
Ball-game fans might remember that the Loan Wolves ended up being relegated to Division Six at the end of last season. We learned only a few days ago that two teams had dropped out of higher divisions, so there were two places in Div Five available. And three teams who were willing to play for them. We all had till Sunday to arrange to play each other for the two higher-division spots. As soon as Tigger sent a message out, all available Wolves volunteered unhesitatingly for play-off duty. Frantic organisation set up a mini-tournament yesterday at Regent’s Park.
So, as the first London marathon runners were coming in to the finish, we were heading out to decide our softballing fate.
We assembled and did some warming up and practice. Then on to our first game. Each team played each of the others, and we were drawn to play first and last of the three games. First against Comer’s Homers, then the Meteors 2. Not too bad a draw on paper.
Day not helped to a good start by Duncan Devil Stray popping his head up (he was watching a higher-level play-off) to tell us we had no chance. Thanks, DDS.
And then, as we set off for the pitch, the heavens opened with a torrential rain shower, with high winds thrown in. We’d been drawn to field first, and our poor pitchers had to contend with wind and rain and poor visibility, which let the other side take more walks than they might have been able to otherwise. And our fielders had the problem of trying to throw and catch muddy and soaking wet balls in a rainstorm, so we had a hard time of it. They made a lot of runs in that first inning.
Then, as soon as their inning ended, the sun came out. The game ended 16-11 to them. Ten of the opposition’s runs had come in the rain-drenched inning from hell.
The Mets then took the Homers apart while we watched, trying to work out what was the best result for us. We decided that things weren’t too bad – run difference would mean that a win against the Mets would get us through with the Homers dropping out.
Sadly, it was not to be. It was a close game, and we managed to get two runs ahead by the bottom of the fourth inning. But it was late in a long, tiring, gruelling day, and they got ahead again. Ten minutes till “no new innings”, and we just couldn’t get the third out to finish their inning in time to bat again.
So we came away from the day with nothing. Still, we did play well through both games, and the experience of playing for real stakes might help sharpen us up for the new season. When we’ll be looking for promotion. But we were all a bit gutted. As Kate put it, there being two places for three teams meant that instead of there being one winner, there was one loser. And that was us.
A few beers helped cheer us up a little.

[X-posted from my Livejournal]

Some pre-season revision

2008-03-31T15:34:00.002+01:00

A refresher for most of us, but for our newbie players here is some softball vocab...and what it really means:

The Vocabulary

One of the interesting things about the game of softball is the strange things the participants say to each other. Here are some of the common ones and what they actually mean:

Good Eye
One more than either you or the umpire have, otherwise she would have called that a strike.

Wait for your pitch
Yes, you eejit, that WAS a strike. You better hope she throws another one.

Now you've seen it
That was the one you should have hit.

Gotta be good now
If it doesn't bounce before it reaches you, you had better swing

Take the walk if its going
Hope that the pitcher messes up, cause you won't get on base any other way

Good contact
You have managed the not inconsiderable achievement of hitting the ball into the 5% of the available space that has a fielder in it.

Good swing
Good god, the ball is the size of a grapefruit. How can you miss?

Pick your spot
Nothing to do with acne, this is a wish that the ball ends up somewhere useful.

Make her pitch to you
God help us if she can.

The pressure's on her
No reason why this run of good luck with the umpire’s calls can't continue.

Concentrate
Everything else has failed, lets just hope.

One out at a time
What has happened to all our batters. Now let’s see if we can get any of them out.

Feeling Blue

2008-03-31T15:03:00.002+01:00

This weekend four intrepid Wolves braved the early mornings, clocks going back and tube engineering works to spend two days learning all about the noble art of softball umpiring. Tucked away in The Hub in the middle of Regents Park, Alison, Julian Matt and myself - along with a few familiar faces from Comer's Homers completed the BASU two day course.

I went on the one day introductory course two years ago but as a rookie at the time most of it went straight over my head. Things seemed to fall into place a little more this time. From judging fair and foul balls to dealing with appeals, from delayed dead balls to the infamous infield fly ball - we covered them all.

The practical drills were really useful and good fun - knowing where to position yourself seems to be half the battle and of course remembering to not only to make the right call but to do it with confidence.

The cold, wind and drizzle hampered our practice a little on the Saturday, but by Sunday afternoon the sun had come out and we all had a proper go at umpiring during a very enjoyable, albeit muddy game to finish off the weekend.

I'm quite keen to give my umpiring skills a bit of a testing out now, and I'd recommend the course for anyone - it's great for learning the rules, understanding plays and meeting new softball pals!

Beerball and boat drinks

2007-10-08T13:36:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was Beerball, a friendly softball tournament, invitation only. The Loan Wolves were invited for being so friendly - and also, I suspect, 'cos the organising team, our rivals the Devil Strays, were sure we'd lose to everyone. I could only make the first game, vs the Meteors, before I had to go on somewhere. Our squad was augmented by people from the development sessions, along with Ben who'd wanted to play in Beerball again (he and I were there last year, playing for the Tecumsehs). I was at Second, where I made some outs and also committed some fumbles. Borrowed Ben's 26 0z bat and got out at first twice. Changed to a heavier one and did get to base, though only because their pitcher was tiring and I took a walk.
The Meteors started by gaining a lead, but not a decisive one, and we managed to gain runs back while restricting their scoring. The score at "no new innings" was 12-10. to us. All we had to do was keep the game going for another ten minutes, and that result would stand. We couldn't stop them making enough runs to get ahead, but we kept our innings going long enough that time was called and it reverted to that 12-10 scoreline. A win in our first game of the day! Ben's first ever win in a Wolves shirt.
My work was done here. I said goodbye and good luck to the others, then headed off to Uxbridge...
A friend of mine has moved to a narrowboat for the winter. She'd invited people to her boatwarming voyage yesterday, and it was for this that I was leaving the tournament early...
I was texted by both Matt and Ben to tell me that we'd ended up in the third place play-off - against the Strays. Then, as I was on the boat, waiting to go through a lock, came the news that we had beaten them! 23-11, I think. I would dearly have loved to be there for that.
[Taken from my LJ]

Last ball of Summer

2007-09-03T21:38:00.000+01:00

The Lastball softball tournament was held yesterday. We played in the afternoon competition, against other Div 5/6 sides. We were a bit short of women players (again), but a hard core of women Wolves were there, along with a couple of extra people dragged along for the day, including one of the Mob who'd played in the morning tournament already.
Five games in a row, no breaks. All batters came to the plate with an assumed 1/1 count already, so the outs came more quickly than usual to speed play up.
We held all our opponents to close games, except for the Raiders Red game, where the umpire's calls favoured their pitcher a little and the game got away from us. We came close to a win vs the Devil Strays, losing in the end by one run. Ben, who was watching that match, had asked if he could join in the cheer if we won - he remembers playing "the old enemy" last season.
We managed one win, and our good fielding kept runs against us down enough for us to end up in fourth place, which was pretty good by our standards.
We played Meteors last, finishing just before the light started to fail. Stepping up to bat for the last time this season, I felt the wind freshen, the temperature drop, and could taste the oncoming rain in the air. That was the very moment Summer ended.

2007-08-24T13:18:00.000+01:00

I sent the following email to a few right-wing websites I found on the net (I used a made up name/email) :

Hello

Im into softball and I want to start up a team to play in the west midland leagues but I want it to be a proper English team. I think Im going to call the team The Bears or The Wolverines or after some other mighty hunter in the Nordic forests.

Ive got some mates who are up for it but theres not enough of us so Im gonna have to advertise. But i dont' want any forigners. I only want white English men and women. But how do I go about this without getting into trouble from the usual gang? I'd be grateful if you could give me some advice about how to go about forming a proper English team.

Ive got another problem to. I got this mate Gareth and hes the best softball player I know. But the problem is hes a Taff. Would it be OK to let him play even though he was born on the wrong side of Offas Dyke.

That brings me to my next question. Theres some gay teams in the league and dont laugh but theyre very good. It would be bloody embarassing to lose to them. Do you know any boys and girls who are good at softball who could play for us or coach us a bit?

Keep up the good work

Tom

******************************************************
I got a couple of replies. Sadly the BNP and UKIP didn't bother. I was going to trawl the web looking for more places to send it to, but I found right-wing sites so weird and dispiriting I soon gave up:

Dear Comrade
Much as would like to help our knowledge of the game is slight so we have little advice to give. Good luck with your project.
14 Words BPP

Hi,

thank you for your e-mail and for trying to keep England for the English! Try advertising in whiter sections of your area and put emphasis on ENGLISH. May go as far as to say English heritage softball. List your phone # and when you get a call, ask the person what his heritage is....if he is non-white/english then tell him you will call him back and of course never call back. As to letting in a Welsh player join you, I see no problem with that. White is Right. Also, I honestly dont have any English contacts.
Axl

Development Sessions (Monday August 13)

2007-08-15T09:37:00.001+01:00

Several male Wolves attended the penultimate development session of the season this Monday. Kim and other coaches ran the twenty or so attendees through basic warm ups, throwing/catching techniques, ground ball fielding, and culminating in a four innings match when the teams were split. Close game too with the team featuring Blasey (who scored a booming home run) and Matt emerging victorious by one run. The last session is next Monday and maybe in the absence of any more league games this season, a larger Wolves contingent might turn up - especially as we might have a friendly against the Dev squad in a couple of weeks.

Low Point/High Point - Superball 2007

2007-08-12T23:30:00.000+01:00

Low Point - Not being with the Wolves but Manjiv said if I upset her I'd be kicked out and sure enough it didn't take long. We spotted Manjiv in her orange top easily on arrival. I said that I liked her new hair cut and was misunderstood, it really wasn't a sarcastic comment!

High Point - Hitting a Home Run on two strikes in the first innings of the final with two people on bases. It added to the score and the Devil Strays heads went down for a bit after that. Maybe I should try hitting a home run for the Wolves one day!

I also won this GLSML Champions bottle opener which I'll bring to every game. I'm sure it will mean I get the respect I deserve.... or more likely if it will be useful opening bottles of beer :-)

Superball 2007

2007-08-12T13:34:00.000+01:00

Yesterday the Loan Wolves shrugged off defeat in the league and headed out to Barnes Bridge for the Superball 2007 tournament. We had a large contingent of blokes, but were short of women players - only Tigger and Faustina made it. Luckily, Matt's networking among the development squad had recruited five more women for the day.
We were in the 'D' competition, but still outclassed by some of our opposition. Paul had decided to play for the Mob, the eventual winners of the tournament, but the rest of us stayed loyal to the Wolves.
It promised to be a long, hot day. I had packed as much kit as I could comfortably carry - softball gear, food, sunblock and mosquito repellent, folding chair, picnic blanket, food, and a five litre water bottle. Which was empty by the end of our day spent running around in the sun.
Our first game was against the Finsbury Royals. And we aced it, 22-1. After this promising start, we sadly found ourselves unable to get the better of the opposition for the rest of the day. The Mob, a Div 3 side before they dropped out of the league (they're only playing tournaments this year), were tought opponents, though playing them did give us a chance to sledge Paul. We let the Dev Strays post a high score against us, and both Meteors teams also got the better of us. Though we were ahead against Mets 2 till the last inning, when they overturned our lead. For a while it looked as if the "rollback" rule meant that the score at the end of the previous innings stood and we'd won, but on consultation with another umpire, the blue awarded them the win. Only fair, really.
It was a tiring day, and it was good to have a large squad. Everyone got one game off, and we fielded a 6 / 6 line-up with designated extra hitters. Everyone got a share of the action, with varied field placings. I most enjoyed the base-running, and managed to get to base switch-hitting in the last game. Annoyed myself by getting out when I rightly judged that I could dodge a tag so ran, then the fielder threw it to the Third Baseman who got me out as I ran in. Also nearly caught a rocketing line drive at Second, but narrowly missed and got smacked on the shoulder instead. One of several fresh bruises this morning.
we played continually from ten in the morning till after six, with one break for a late lunch. We tucked into our packed lunches and shared snacks. There were sun-dried tomatoes, olives, hummus and wholemeal pitta, and similarly refined treats. I attempted to redress the class balance with my black pudding slices and Mr Kipling cherry bakewells. It was as hot a day as predicted - my wine gums had melted.
The final "play-off" vs the Finsbury (*not* Jersey) Royals again ended in a loss for us, sadly. We then headed to the Ship, where we continued the Wolves' proud tradition of staying in the pub longer than anyone else.
[From my LJ]

Low Point/High Point (Wolves vs Tornadoes)

2007-08-10T09:36:00.000+01:00

Low point: a fumble in the outfield during their first innings. Never hitting anything beyond first (besides when I was walked).

High point: got on base and got round every innings. Also threw twice to Paul on 3rd from the outfield for outs.

It was a strangely uneventful experience in the outfield this week. Nothing was really hit out there apart from a couple of screamers.

Loan Wolves 25 - 32 Tornadoes

2007-08-09T16:45:00.000+01:00

This was the decider, effectively, for which of the two teams would be relegated. We had mustered support for our big game, with the whole side present, plus David who played for us last year and Olivia's colleague Will. My mate Iain had turned up too, which was really good of him, to watch his first softball match and take some photos. Looking forward to seeing the results of his foray into sports photography, mate. Sorry he didn't get to see a better game, though he did say it had been really exciting.
The opposition started well, but we soon clawed back the lead, and at the end of the fifth innings we were ahead by two. At this point it was getting dark, and we expected light would be called. But it wasn't. And so the last innings began. In increasingly dark and murky conditions, the Tornadoes, largely by looking for walks, made 12 runs. In even darker conditions, we could only make five. By now it was nine o'clock and well and truly dark. So ended our season. We trudged off with our supporters to drown our sorrows.
I think it is mathematically possible that we could still be in a play-off against the Tornadoes, but only if they lose both of their games in hand, one of which is against triBold who've lost every match so far, often by default for not fielding a team.
Still, there are a couple of tournaments to look forward to (first one's on Saturday). Let's see if we can get something out of those.

[X-posted from my LJ]

The one that got away

2007-08-01T18:47:00.000+01:00

write-up of last night's game in my LJ (because I'm too lazy to cut 'n paste).

In other news, I picked up a copy of the Simpsons softball episode on VHS this morning from a charity shop. Anyone not seen it and wants to, let me know and I'll lend it you.

Low Point - High Point for Barracudas versus Wolves

2007-08-01T11:29:00.000+01:00

Low Point : Batting into foul ball territory twice to be miserably struck out

High Point. : Getting some strikeouts and making a throw to first plus watching those wonderful catches in the outfield from Gareth and Kevin

Loan Wolves 16 - Barracudas 17

2007-08-01T10:08:00.001+01:00

It was a very exciting game last night at Clapham Common. Some excellent batting from our big hitters and heroic catching from Kevin and Gareth. Plenty of enthusiastic support from Ben and his Dad and Matthew and Alex with Peter keeping score. Paul of course was in his element - with his base coaching - a great trooper as usual.

It was a great shame we couldnt quite make the win - really touch and go at the finish. We have come along way since last season.

2007-07-27T11:06:00.000+01:00

I make no apologies for this, guys. You were heroic on Wednesday...

The Fight at Finsbury

Low Point, High Point

2007-07-26T12:03:00.000+01:00

Low Point - Worrying about the count too much whilst batting then losing my concentration and my nerve and wildly swinging at pitches so that I struck out.

High Point - Making a great catch to get the batter out and then managing getting another batter out at first despite missing the catch. Somehow I scooped it up and got it to Peter with a scrappy under arm throw... oh and making my highest number of runs of the season!! (I know it's meant to be one high point, but I couldn't choose!)