LW Schedule of Events

Hi Wolves,
Thought I would post our upcoming schedule of events here too...just in case you accidentally deleted my email ;-)

Hopefully we can add a proper link to the blog sometime soon...

LOAN WOLVES Schedule of Events

Date	Event	Venue	Note
Wednesday 23rd August	Practice	Finsbury Pitch 2	Clapham is too busy
Tuesday 29th August	Loan Wolves vs Raiders B	Finsbury Park
Friday 1st September	LW Peter is celebrating – he’s finally finished his Masters degree in Ethnomusicology and can now focus on the Loan Wolves J	TBC
Wednesday 6th September	Practice		Lead up to the Tourney
Wednesday 13th September	Practice		Lead up to the Tourney
Wednesday 20th September	Practice		Lead up to the Tourney
Saturday 23rd September	Division 4 End of Season/Development tournament	Northwick Park (TBC)
Friday 29th September	Loan Wolves end of season/anniversary event	Cafe Espana (Tapas, wine, and dancing) O’Neils (more drinking – open to 3am apparently)
Saturday 7th October	GLSML All-Star Game/End of Season Party/Awards Ceremony	Finsbury Park or Regents Park
Sometime in October	1st game of the World Series	TBC	Game normally starts about midnight (I think)and finishes about 3am. So Loan Wolves get to stay out all night!
Winter practices	Practice	TBC	To be held every weekend – alternating venues, for whoever can make it.

Beer-fuelled softball insanity!

(Well, not really...)
Yesterday was "Beerball", a drinking-and-softball day at Finsbury Park.
The day was organised by Jackie of the Devil Strays. Most of the Wolves couldn't make it, but Ben was playing for his mate Seth's team, the Tecumsehs (named after this cool guy, I presume), and invited any other spare Wolves to come along. Now Ben's an all-star player, and I'm, well, more sort of not. Still, Seth and his side were very welcoming and supportive. I got to play in all four of our matches, in a range of positions, and got a lot of invaluable experience of playing with a high-standard side against some very strong teams, including one made up of Div 1 players.
I think more Wolves might have been keener to come along had the event not been billed as a slightly scary loose rules compulsory-drinking booze-fest. In fact, aside from "if you hit a home run, you - or your side's 'designated drinker' - must drink a beer", it was a proper, standard rules, tournament. Good atmosphere, anyway.
At one point, Ben and I found ourselves playing against Paul (playing on a put-together side called the Riff-raff or something). Inter-wolf rivalry! A close game ended 10-9 to the Tecumsehs. Sadly, that was our only victory of the day.
We retired to the pub afterwards (not having drunk nearly enough throughout the day...), and had a good natter with people. At one point, Duncan of the Devil Strays, who'd umpired one of our matches, came up to me apropos of nothing to tell me he'd been really impressed with my batting and base-running during the day. Which was nice of him, I guess.

Meet Jack ...my latest sidekick

Ok..so this is not a softball related email, however this is for everyone who has had to put up with me and my recent bike related tragedies :-(

I finally went out and got me a new bike....and here he is! Isn't he a beaut? :-)

I'll be bringing him along for "show and tell" in the near future.....

Softball Lesson #14

So okay it's not the Rolling Stones but the Beatles sang "It's getting better, A little better all the time" and indeed it is!

14.1 Out Front and the Pressure's On
At the top of the 5th we had our noses in front and could smell the sweet fragrance of victory, although it could have been my insect repellent. We couldn't hang on to lead so obviously we need to practice being ahead in matches much more often :-)

14.2 The Running Kings and Queens
An absolutely excellent job of base running. Our score wouldn't have been as high without the hard work everyone put in getting that extra base. Towards the end of the match we seemed to lose concentration a bit and often forgot to run when forced. We'll need more chocolate and bananas to keep those energy levels up.

14.3 Working in a Chain Gang
Great job in from all our 'Out Field Dynamos' who covered and got the ball back to the infield in record time. When chaining the ball home, one thing to remember is to throw it to the strongest fielder, rather than throw it as far as you can. It’s a shame to hurl a mighty throw for it to end up at Vic on second base expecting her to launch a blistering torpedo to home plate. Oh aren't I picky today :-)

14.4 4-4 5-5 6-6
Any formation where there are even numbers of gendered people means there are no automatic outs.

14.5 Julian’s Got a Rival
Manjiv's pitching was marvellous, walking only one person in 5 innings. Yet we can still get better! Where the ball is pitched strongly correlates to where the ball is hit. The male Hookers took good advantage of balls outside of the plate driving the ball out to Right Field, good solid base hits with little chance of an out. Keeping the ball towards the inside of the plate tends to keep the hits to the left field. (Blimey how technical are we getting now!)

14.6 The Chaos of the Catch.
Well I hope we all know the rules after the fun and frolics of Wednesday. If the ball is caught, as a runner you must ('forced' even) touch your original base. Once you have done that, all 'forces' are off and you can run to the next base and need to be tagged to be out. Indeed on a big monster hit to the outfield. You can stay on your base poised like Linford Christie waiting for the starting pistol, as soon as that ball is caught sprint to the next base (but leave your lunch packs at home).
The nightmare scenario. You are forced to run and the ball is popped up along your path. If it is dropped you must then get passed the fielder and the ball to the next bass, so you're looking to steal as many inches as you can. If it's caught you need to head back so you need to be close to your base as you can… yes it's Catch 22!!
I guess the only thing we can do is play safe and stop them getting two 'outs'. Of course from now on as batters we'll try not to put our team mates into such a position!

14.7 Touching Second Base
Rolling around in the grass on top of some strapping rugby hunk, doesn’t count as getting to second base! Unless you enjoy that kind of thing (Vic?) remember to ensure you out of the runner's path and possible slide. We really should try and finish the season without any more injuries!

14.8 Next Season it will be Different
We've had close games against the 4 teams above us (currently above us i should say). Next season we'll get to play thema ll twice. That will be at least 8 games where we'll be in the running and it will be even more fun, that's if it's actually possible to have more fun! Go Wolves Go


Well played... and we're getting close to a win!

RFU Hookers - High Point - Low Point

Low Point - Missing a tag on 3rd base by a millisecond. It didn't change the course of the game or anything, but after succesfully catching the ball whilst on base, and having the runner over run the base, it would have been a huge glory moment if I'd been a little quicker and got that out!

High Point - What can I say - my catch, of course! My first ever in a league game and for some reason all the sweeter because the ball was heading foul anyway.

RFU Hookers 19 - 13 Loan Wolves

Opening for the Stones.
The RFU Hookers are employees of, and sponsored by, English Rugby Union. Which means they play at Twickenham rugby ground (well, within its shadow, rather than on the actual pitch). The Rolling Stones are playing there this weekend, so I guess we're their warm-up act. Really bizarre going through the gates at Twickenham, and having the security bod say; "playing softball this evening?", and checking our names against a list of players. Like we were real sportspeople or something. Actually, I'd had a similar experience earlier, when I'd gone into an offy to buy a bottle of water and the guy recognised the team shirt and asked' "playing baseball tonight, eh?  More of your team were here before".
It was a close game, with the Wolves taking a lead into the fifth inning - at which point the Hookers got ahead, and they kept their lead from then on. Great performances from everyone, but luck just wasn't with us when we needed it.
Had the usual fun conversation after the game.  There was talk of a North London Wolves v South London Wolves friendly at some point.
I had a new toy to play with. David had been on holiday to the US (coming back with the requisite plastic bag with passport in it - though passengers are now being allowed one book each, too), He had kindly offered to bring back sports stuff for us, as the mark-up on imported softball kit is huge, so I asked him to get me a new glove. Spent post-game pub session (at the Cabbage Patch) playing with it - it's a nice piece of kit. Also got an umpire's clicker, to record number of balls and strikes etc. Kate and I are interviewing for part-time posts at work tomorrow.  I'm tempted to use the clicker in the interviews - a bad answer from the candidate and it's "STRIKE ONE!" *click*...
One achievement worth mentioning is that despite the game being out in the sticks, we still stayed in the pub longer than the home team. Another one for the Loan Wolves' roster of Little Victories.
[X-posted from my LJ]

Development Session at Clapham Common

Peter, Andy and I headed off to Clapham Common on Monday 14th August to get in some much needed practice before our "last chance of a win game" against the RFU Hookers. There was quite a good turnout, about 12 people showed up altogether. I was glad to see we were not the only League players to show up as several members of GMT were also present.

Two lessons learnt:

Lesson 1: How to put the speed in your throw
Did you know that a ball which is thrown straight has more speed than one which arches high into the air? I'm sure this is something we were taught in last years development sessions, as well as during the winter practice sessions with Darren. But, obviously I wasn't paying attention. Oh, this drill also invoked memories of the famous plastic bag incident from last year as we started the drill knealing on the ground (Sorry Ben). I put this drill into practice yesterday when I ran out for a quickie practice, and was quite surprised by the noticeable improvement.

Lesson 2: 3 stage process to calling the play
We were split into two groups, one group to practice infield drills and one group to practice outfield drills. Although, normally an outfielder I managed to find myself practicing infield drills.
Basically there are three things to remember for each play

1. Before the ball is pitched - ask yourself where is the play and what will I do if the ball comes to me?
2. During the play - where will I throw the ball after I make the catch?
3. After the play - where else can I be useful?

Oops..I may have messed this one up slightly!

Anyway, after the session it didn't take much to persuade us to head down to the pub for a quick one.
We had a very deep and interesting conversation on topics such as the team constitution, the Loan Wolves Mafia, end of season party, marketing merchandise for our fan base (grand total of 2 so far!), theme songs for individual wolves...and the "late night peppy email" tradition which I have to uphold, unfortunately things become a bit hazy just about here........

Chillin' with the Kamikazes

Andy and I headed out to watch some fascinating softball being played at Riverside Gardens on Saturday 12th August. And chilly it certainly was – at one point I was wearing my scarf, gloves and four layers of clothing. The only way I could get warm was by lying on my tummy close to the ground, eating chocolate.…oh, and playing some catch with Andy helped too… Anyway, softball tournament…right.

Ben had originally suggested that I may like to come along and watch the division 1 and 2 teams play softball. As he put it “it would be nice if you saw some softball as a spectator. It normally is a bit higher standard than GLSML Div. 4, so you might pick up something that you can use when you play for the Wolves” – and he was so right. Thanks Ben.

Ben was playing for the Kamikazes, a 3rd division team who I think held up really well against some of the Division 1 and 2 teams they played against. What was also impressive was watching them play two games, have a two hour break, and then play a further five games in a row! Now, I wonder if the Wolves would be up for a challenge like this next year. I certainly hope so.

I won’t pretend to be knowledgeable about the technical plays etc. – as you know I’m not a details person. I like to keep my eye on the bigger picture.

However, I will briefly mention that:

We need to play more tournaments next year.
We need to play more tournaments next year.
Oh, did I mention we need to play more tournaments next year? Ok, just shoot me now…you know you want to.

My point is that you cannot compare the experience you get from playing one game a week, with the experience you get from playing 6-7 games in a single day. Plus, it’s all good fun.

Practice

As our game for last night was postponed, and we had the pitch booked anyway, we had a practice session. And very good it was, too.
We assembled a pack of fifteen Wolves, laid out the bases, warmed up and doused ourselves liberally with insect repellent. Then Paul took us through base-running (taking the pressure off other runners by "looking for" the next base, and sneaking extra bases when you get a chance), base-fielding, and the art of advancing threateningly on a runner with the ball in your hand, to keep them honest and on their base. Then we played a practice game to concentrate on hitting, running and fielding issues. A lot of fun, and productive too. Then we went to the pub.

It's that time again - Low point, high Point

Right, time to reflect on last night. I'll get the ball rolling -

Low Point - Striking out. Darn it, when I finally decided to swing I made the decision too late and missed the ball!

High Point - My 2nd swing of bat and first hit - which batted a runner home and got me to second - I'm very proud of stealing that extra base.

Woo hoo!

Softball Lesson #13

Number 13 unlucky for some but not for us. Another game, another weather front, another loss but another awesome amount of fun.

13.1 It’s good to have Richard back.
In at the deep end, well played and with a lovely home run (which prevents Mark from winning the prize as the only Wolf to hit a home run, good job!). And obviously someone new for me to shout at :-)

13.2 Wolf Spirit.
After a difficult first innings, not one Wolf chin hit the floor and everyone bounced back and made a game of it... fantastic.

13.3 You don’t have to play to shout
Somewhere I read that supporters aren’t allowed to coach but after a quick word with the Ump and opposing Captain, I discovered that even if not playing I can still shout enthusiastically from the touchline, Woo Hoo (although I can’t shout, score and take photos at the same time)

13.4 100 runs is on!
Last week I made a comment about us needing 32 runs from 4 games to make the magic 100. Unfortunately we got shut out making the goal unlikely. However, after the excellent batting performance, suddenly scoring 100 runs this season looks easy! Great running, batting and 'good eyeing' everyone.

13.5 Base coaches don’t care about personal safety
The base coach watches the ball, spots which fielder the ball is heading towards and remembers their throwing ability and experience level from previous innings, monitors where they are looking, listens to the play being called and waves runners on to get those vital match winning extra bases. What they don’t do is worry about if you're going to be clattered into or hit with the ball. Sorry Vic… but you got two runs in under 2 minutes!!

13.6 No Prizes for getting the ball to the Pitcher.
No runs, no prizes, no Brucey bonus and no cuddly toy either. If you’re in the infield and have the ball there is no advantage of throwing it to the pitcher quickly. Hang on to the ball looking any opposition runner in the eye let them know who’s boss until someone from your team comes over and wrestles you to the ground and takes the ball from your hand. (see 13.8)

13.7 Time Gentlemen Please
So sometimes the umpire won’t call time if you just hold the ball up. In fact sometimes the Umpire won’t call time at all but do a subtle hand gesture! (see 13.8)

13.8 The Last Piece of the Jigsaw
Everyone is easily going to pass their end of year GCSE softballing exam but before the Wolf class of 2006 can graduate, there’s one more piece of Softball knowledge to learn. Yes it’s the "dreaded unforced runner containment strategy plan 9 from outer space". But that’s one for the next practice!

13.9 It's fun to watch
After watching the Her Majesty's Baseball team, followed by the Loan Wolves, it’s fun to watch. Although far it’s more nerve racking watching than playing.

13.10 It’s good to have Manjiv back too.
We definitely lacked Tiggs over the last few games and good to see Tiggs back on top form. At one point I thought the Umpire was going to stop the game so we could mop up some of the excess pep off the pitch!

Loan Wolves 23 - 46 Oblivion

Wolf in Shadow
After the hottest July on record, the weather has decided to skip August and go straight to September. So it was windy, overcast, and downright raining on occasion.
We had a great turn-out, with Wolves to spare. Richard made a triumphant home-run hitting return to the side, and our batting performace overall was phenomenal. Lots of "good eyes" and self-restraint to take walks when available, but also some good hitting. I led off again, which was fun.
Some fine performances and a lot of bravery in field and in running - Vic heroically "took one for the team" when she ran in to Home and was hit in the back by a cannonball of a throw from First. Got her run, though.
Ben's experimental outfield, with me in "Shallow Centre Field", ended up mutating into a more standard arrangement, especially as the opposition's first inning was demoralisingly high-scoring. When Tigger took over pitching from Julian, I moved to Catcher. Which is a great position for shouting from. And also seeing the whole of the field. Which became harder as light started to fail. Oblivion play in white, and our side in bright orange, but by their last inning I was losing sight of our guys in the rain and gloom and Oblivion were like wraiths. We had one inning to bat out before the game could be called, and there was a certain thrill in batting and baserunning in the wind and rain and darkness. more so than fielding in it when you can barely see even an optic-yellow ball. I made a second run near the end of the inning.
Good natter at the Finsbury afterwards. A couple of the Oblivion people came over and had a word - they're a friendly bunch, and were very encouraging.
[X-posted from my LJ]

Loan Wolves (23) Oblivion (46)

I love the Loan Wolves - that says it all!

Her Majesty's Baseball Team

Despite IS Friday night drinks forcing a monstrous hangover upon me; I got to Finsbury Park to find a pack of Wolves watching the UK baseball team play a double header against the Lucky Irish. It really was great fun and we all showed great a depth of knowledge and were discussing the plays and differences (when not eating Pringles).

The US commentator was most excellent and congratulations to the big tree for winning the supporter of the series

I’ve put some photo’s up on Flickr.

GB v Ireland - Finsbury Park

A handful of Wolves made the trip to Finsbury Park on Saturday morning to watch GB take on Ireland in an international baseball match. Conditions were perfect for spectators: It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, warm but not boiling, with a cool breeze and plenty of baseball action to watch.
I had never seen a baseball match before so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but I ended up really enjoying myself. The play was fast and furious but at times confusing as there are some major rules differences between softball and baseball. I wasn't always entirely sure what was happening and why, but I was happy to go along with the ride! I particularly enjoyed the rule on base stealing. In baseball you can begin to edge away from the base that you are on before the pitch is made, and as soon as the ball is pitched, you can make a run for the next base. However, if the pitcher see you doing this, he can throw the ball to the base you have just left. If the baseman cathes it before you get back, you are out. Cue lots of comedy creeping and wild dives into bases. GB did well to get one of the Irish runners out this way. You gotta be quick! The pitcher really did need to have eyes in the back of his head.
It was good being able to appreciate the double-plays and fantasic catches and throws. They made them look so easy. There was one home run, hit out the park, but other than that it proved difficult for either team to score runs. The fielding on both sides was strong and accurate (most of the time - it's not just wolves that wobble) and the batters struggled to find holes. There were quite a few foul balls hit. We had to keep alert as many of them got hit in our direction, but the gathered kids loved it, running after every ball. The only ones that got away were the ball that was hit out the park down a side street and the one that got stuck in the tree!
The pitchers came under lots of pressure during the match. There was several walks and pitcher substitutions, but also lots of strike outs. The speed of the pitches was amazing.
Best thing of all?... The crazy American commentator who called the names of each batter as they stepped up to the plate in the way that only Americans can. I'll demostrate the best that it can in print. Please imagine the next bit said in an American accent and with much gusto:
"and stepping up to the plate next it's Vic-tooor-eeeee-a Eeeeeee-ves"
definitely something we should have next season.

Oh yes - the result. A tie. It was a double header. GB won the first (sorry can't remember the score), Ireland won the second 6-5. I'll leave it to someone else actually talk about the match. I'm not really a sports commentator :-)

Can anyone tame the Tiger?

This was one of the news headings displayed on my new phone today.

For all who doubted me and my commitment to the team, I am definately back to my peppy hyper self (although a limping and hobbling one) - hence the barrage of emails this afternoon.

During the past couple of weeks I have neglected my treasury duties, messed up in outfield, not been an active participant in recent games, and in general have not been my normal enthusiastic self. I blame the heatwave :)

Tonight's pub night proves that I am back, hopefully stronger than ever (please please ignore the limp) and full of ideas for the remaining season and of course - our winter training programme! Personally, I can't wait for the cold wintery sessions to begin once again - why on earth is softball not played in the autumn/winter seasons? The Wolves are well equipped for it!

My only question arising from tonight is.....how can a pack of wolves get together for over 6 hours and only talk softball (allowing 10 minutes for a Big Brother discussion of course).

p.s. this late night blogging is due to the Gobfather who claimed I was not in a position to debate on the issue of the "blog/BSUK link" debate as I had also neglected my contributory duties to the blog.

p.p.s the girls are going to watch the boys play baseball tomorrow at Finsbury, so come along Wolves!

Softball Lesson #12

Another week, another game, another defeat. But as well as remembering that softball is great fun we still learnt some new things!

12.1 We only need 9 Wolves.
The best fielding display of the season and quite possibly the best performance of the season. We ran, we covered, we formed chains, we backed up, we caught, we were a team with a psychic connection and all this without the need for some big loud mouth know it all idiot shouting instructions at everyone :-) The fact we played the with 9 wolves seemed to help as everyone knew they had to play with 111% effort and everyone did. Go Wolves Go!

12.2 Mercy isn't always Mercy
It wasn’t mercy. They won. The rule is actually known as the 'run ahead' rule and after 5 innings they just managed to get enough runs ahead to scrape past the winning post :-)

12.3 It's tricky choosing the Most Valuable Player
Excellent to find that every player on the team was a contender for MVP. There was no clear leader until Vic shouted out and as you know if you want it, you call for it and you get it! So Vic is this weeks MVP for her usual sterling work on second plus getting to 3rd for the first time ever and for wanting it most!

12.4 We can catch in the outfield
Yes we’ve proved it, we may drop the ball but if you go for it, it will eventually stick. Well done Peter and great job Michael and Kate… "9 wolves, we only need 9 wolves"

12.5 We can hit the ball
Good hitting from everyone, forcing the fielders to make the plays which they annoyingly did 99% of the time. The team was let down by the lack of bats. In future we need to ensure the heavy and light bats are available for league games. And the keys to the club house would be handy to!

12.6 We look good in Orange
But wearing Orange in a very Irish area of London during the Marching Season did raise an eye brow or two!!

12.7 The Finsbury pub closes really late
and then they carry on serving!

Wednesday 26th July 2006 Low point, high points!

As discussed in the pub last night, here is my 'low point, high point' entry for last night's game.
Everybody please feel free (nay, compelled!) to add yours as comments to this post. A few ground rules:

• Each person is only allowed one low point and one high point. No more, no less. The purpose of this is to acknowledge our mistakes without dwelling on them, and force us to draw a positive from each match.
• The low point must be covered first - we must finish on a high.
• Each point must involve the author - i.e. you can't say, 'my high point was watching Peter take that great catch!' ... (unless you are Peter and you had some sort of out-of-body-experience.)

So, here is mine:

Low point: Fumbling my attempt to back-up an overthrow - which resulted in an extra base being stolen by a cheeky wanderer!

High point: Stopping a very fast ground ball and fielding it in to hold their captain at 1st - setting up the force so he was out at 2nd next play.

Now you all go!

Eastlea Wanderers 17 Loan Wolves 0

Although we didnt get any runs this was an encouraging performance as we fielded well to prevent a skilled opposition from running away with the game.

There was some stalwart out-field play from Kate and Michael and Peter made a superb catch. Alison played nobly at 1st base. Ben made some good catches and Paul was his usual livewire self. I think the fielding is really coming together well. We came close to getting a run when Vic was on 3rd - Julian unfortunately hit a dead ball and we were doomed to nil runs.



It was a very good effort - the Wanderers didnt give us any slack on the fielding when we were in bat

Another FAB evening

Joined FAB (the finance department's ad hoc softball team) last night, for one of their occasional softball games in Regent's Park. A few of us Loan Wolves were there, for the game and for the start of Kate's 30th birthday weekend. We were playing TNT, a team mostly comprised of South Africans from the estates management company. Their pitcher was a girl who'd played fastpitch in the US, so her pitches were flat and quick (and would often have been illegal in the league we play in), but this did mean that the ball went quickly off the bat when you made contact. Rules were loose and fluid, and the level of competitiveness varied between the different contingents. Our side won (the scorecards got lost, so I don't know what the result was), and I enjoyed baserunning, getting a few runs. A good change of pace from the formal matches, and a lot of fun.
Regent's Park looked lovely in the evening sunshine, and our game attracted a few casual spectators. It's funny, but I think going out and running around playing sport a couple of times during this heatwave has been better than staying indoors, wilting next to an electric fan. Psychologically, at least, knowing that the heat hasn't beaten you gives you a bit of a boost.
Went on to a succession of pubs in Camden afterwards. The Edinboro Castle was too packed to get served, next place (the Camden Mixer, I think) turfed us out on the stroke of eleven, and a few of us went on somewhere for one more after that. Good bar, but I can't remember what it was called.
Paul had got Kate a birthday present T shirt, with her "real men don't walk" pitching motto on it. We discussed variations on the theme for the rest of us. My suggestion for my one was; "real women dig scars".

Softball Lesson #11

Well we know we look good in orange but what else did we learn this week....


11.1 Wolves don't like the sun either

Anybody would think we don't like going outdoors but yesterday's blistering temperature (it must have been at least 110 in the outfield), combined with a nuclear furnace hanging low in the sky shining directly into our eyes and the rock hard lunar surface South Clapham folk call a pitch, made fielding a bit of a struggle!

11.2 Finding our legs

Just like Bambi we're getting the hang of this running malarkey.
Both Andy and Jane A impressively "stole" bases to get our two runs. (Of course none of that would have been possible without me sacrificing myself hitting the ball towards first and getting myself out creating two unforced runners :-)

11.3 Tagging and Unforced runners

A picture paints a thousand words and even drawing a thousand pictures isn't going to help us improve in this area. As Julian says a practice is needed and we'll come up with some drills.

11.4 It's a competitive League

As Jane A pointed out we're in a competitive league.
And the middle of the league where the next years split will happen is the most hotly contested area. Perhaps they were a little more competitive than the game required but we have to not let it effect our game or get us down.... then again it was nice to get the pub early :-)

Useful to remember as hopefully one day we may be the experienced team playing a new team!!

11.5 MVPe

Lots of contenders for Most Valuable Piece of Equipment.
A tasteful collection of baseball caps and straw hats kept us from frying.
Shine pads however while very useful didn't get much of look in (as Jane C pointed out the ball hit the back of her leg, quite how we'll never know)
Sun Glasses were a must but didn't actually appear to help much.

I'm going to nominate my Glove. Thanks to its years of abuse it's well worn and regularly treated with leather softener and if I can get my glove to the ball, it normally flops round the ball and sticks firm. Hopefully next season everyone’s gloves will have worn in more and I'm sure those 'oh so close' will turn into outs. If you can get some leather softener, give your gloves a helping hand.

11.6 We came second again

And there’s no shame in that.
well played everyone.... and good cheering from the sidelines Manjiv :-)

Barracudas 31 - 2 Loan Wolves

Too darn hot!
Very very hot day and evening - the two teams' home areas were on the same side of the pitch, contrary to the usual rule, as that was the only place with any shade.
We assembled, practised a bit, slapped on the insect-repellant and sunscreen. Due to the weather, the usual array of baseball hats (I found my lost BC cap again, I'm glad to say) was complemented by some natty straw stetsons and suchlike.
Clapham South - a change from the currently insect-infested Finsbury Park.
I got to be lead-off batter, getting a base hit and a run. For the second week in a row, I made it to Home just in time to avoid a tag out. From then on, though, things didn't go too well. The heat made the unforgiving discipline of pitching harder, and we couldn't stem the runs the Barracudas were making. I spent a lot of time chasing after balls in the leftfield, and the heat was really telling. Paul's view on my field placing was; "it doesn't matter where you stand - they're hitting the ball wherever you aren't". Meanwhile, their attacking field stopped us scoring further. At my only other at bat, I made it to First, then got forced out at Second.
The heat didn't suit us. We're Wolves - we belong on the Arctic steppe, or up above the timberline, not baking in this sort of temperature.
Meanwhile, the carnivorous, cold-blooded fishies were doing fine. They were very chatty with the umpire, while acting as if we were beneath their consideration - an irritation to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Sad to say, but they just weren't very nice. They also were in breach of the rules at one point, at least - they had a base coach who was calling to the batters as the ball was in the air whether they should swing or not. The ump had a word with them about that, at least. We've played other good teams who were quite friendly, respecting us for trying at least, and offering encouragement, but these guys just didn't want to know.
Ah, well. We had a good natter at the George afterwards, morale restored by a few beers and some rambling conversation - our idea for a "novelty Disney-themed softball range" would, I'm sure, be a big seller.
[X-posted from my LJ]

Loan Wolves 2 Barracudas 31 at Clapham

We were hammered by this obviously very well organised team. They had a number of good batters both men and women. The Wolves tried hard. Paul made a very good catch and Vic tagged someone. There was some good batting from Andy and Jane C. and Jane A. was excellent at First Base. I was struck out rather ignominiously.

I think we should practice getting the ball back to home base - it would be good if we could stop a few more people from getting home after leaving 3rd. Having said that there was a good bit of fielding when Kate caught a ball on home base thrown from in-field.

Well played everybody and there is always next week

Sun, Sand (well at homeplate anyway) & Softball

Five Loan Wolves (Peter, Olivia, Jane C, Alison and I) were at practice in Clapham common today, taking advantage of playing on the pitch we will be playing on against the Barracudas.

A new training tool was in use today, a cheap tennis racket (designed for kids- it was the best I could get at 9.30am in Clapham High Street, on a Saturday morning)! It was used to launch tennis balls high into the air so that we could practice fielding fly balls. I think it proved useful, although it certainly is different catching a (small) tennis ball versus a softball. A few times, people managed to get the ball in their glove, only for it to bounce out again! Each of us had multiple times at bat, and practiced running to first base. I think we all learnt that it is a very bad idea to hit the ball straight back to the pitcher. Next we did some throwing and catching drills basing ourselves on the marked out softball diamond. After a while it seemed to really improve both our throwing accuracy and strength, plus our ability to catch the ball whilst standing on a base.

It wouldn't be a proper Loan Wolves practice in Clapham if a number of things didn't happen.
1. Like always, the ball managed to roll into the main road by the common a few times today. My softball got run over again (I think that it has as many lives as a cat), but at least it was only a car. Near the end of the practice, the ball rolled in the road again only for it to just miss being run over by a huge 12 wheeler truck. Even after Andy's recent comments about how tough a softball really is, I'm not so sure that it would survive being run over by such a vehicle.
2. As we haven't had huge numbers coming to practice, we usually do without a catcher. This proves problematic, especially when doing batting drills, as when the ball is missed/left it normally at the very least goes way behind the plate, or at the worst (see point 1). We have tried to stop the ball in a number of ways with bags, but it seems however they are positioned the ball always bounces over them. Today I found some spare traffice cones, and so we used those, to make what looked like a makeshift wicket behind the plate. It did actually stop a few balls, so I think that we might have found a solution.
3. Lack of Softball equipment. We had 4 gloves between 5 people today, and only 2 softballs, although we did have 2 bats. I can only stress once again how useful it is to have one's own glove. The phrase 'Beg, borrow or steal' (well maybe not the last one!) comes to mind.

Softball Lesson #10

So our 10th game and what did we learn this week.

10.1 Not a lot really

We should be pleased with our improvement. Everyone did well with good knowledge of their positions’ responsibilities and some good coverage and backing up. I’m struggling to think of many things to point out!?!

10.2 Wolves don’t like water

That nasty stuff that falls from the sky and makes the ground slippery and accelerates the ball. You have to feel sorry for the Devil Strays who have played nearly all the games in damp and wet conditions while we’ve had the pleasure of sunny dry weather.

10.3 Wolves have good eyes

Well done everyone for keeping cool heads and “good eyeing” a lot of pitches. We took a lot of walks which helped our score despite the desire to hit that pesky ball.

10.4 Tag outs

Trying to get non-forced runners out is tricky. When the Strays really went for some serious base stealing, despite a lot of close calls and good tagging attempts we only managed one tag (well done Jane C, who would also like to apologise after catching a devil stray in the chest Zidane style with the glove). We don’t really have the experience or infield speed to attempt tags as WELL as keeping the forces on. Currently it’s most important to keep the runners forced and road blocking any attempts to create holes which unfortunately means letting a few runners home. If you see someone thinking of stealing... look them in the eye and stamp your authority on the situation gggggrrrrr and move towards the next base, hold the ball up and the umpire will probably call time.

10.4 Do I need to Tag?

If you’re on a base and the play's in motion how can you remember whether you need to tag or just stand on the base? One way that might help is to remember what “the play was”. If the play was “on first” and you’re fielding second or third base, any runner coming to you must be tagged as we’ve missed the forced tag on first. Or listen to me whispering "tag tag tag"

10.6 Ready Steady Go

A few times we (which includes me) were slow off the blocks and could have made some of the outs a bit tighter and maybe caused some errors or over throws.

If you’re FORCED and;

a) the balls on the ground.... go go go.
b) it’s in the air, you have to think but you can steal a few steps in case it is dropped.
c) we're on two outs, run on any contact.

And if you’re not forced (which we had quite a few this game)

d) you don’t need to run
e) if the fielder commits a throw to first etc you can take off for the next base
f) you need to be tagged :-)

10.6 We like the Devil Strays really

Our sparring partners from last winter's snow covered practices have done well, and are a most friendly bunch. Good luck to them making the top half of the league, of course if not we'll be waiting for them next year :-)

Devil Strays 41 - 12 Loan Wolves

The big "grudge match" against the other development team from last year turned out not to be too bad. They were a better side than us - they'd been playing all last summer, while we only started in August, and they had recruited some experienced players over the Winter. They're comfortably mid-table at the moment. But it wasn't too bad a result. Their second-string pitcher walked a lot of our batters (I had four at bats, and took a walk every time), and we were, at least for the first couple of innings, in contention. Some great pitching from Julian, and good performances from our infield, kept the pressure on them, and we made, by our standards, a decent total of runs. Eventually, their big hitters started to pull the score away from us, and an eighteen run final inning led to that one-sided scoreline. But that was after a full game, without "mercy" being called.
I fielded at right outfield, and made one run. Very satisfying running in and feeling my boot contact the plate just an instant before I was tagged, then hearing the umpire shout "safe at Home!".
Many of the Strays were actually quite friendly. Unlike the footballers who started a game in our outfield, and took against the polite but clear warnings that they weren't allowed there, and that the pitch was booked for softball. Some of the Strays were a little hostile to the footballers, things grew somewhat heated, and in the end the umpire had a quiet word with our captains to suggest that we try not to antagonise them. Even though they were in the wrong, getting two dozen testosterone-fuelled teenagers angry at us might not have been wise. Though admittedly, we did have bats...
Talking of batting, a bonus Wolf Point must surely go to Paul, for hitting a big foul ball which came close to beaning the Devil Strays' macho "God's gift to Short Stop".

Loan Wolves 12 Devil Strays 39: But Still 3rd (from bottom) in Table

Loan Wolves 12 Devil Strays 39. The result sounds like an almighty beating, but the match was reasonably close until the last inning, where a tired Wolves let the Strays get 18 runs. It was good that the team avoided being mercied for the second match in a row, which was a great effort against a very strong Strays lineup.

Positives for the game.
Once again the team batted well, getting good contact on the ball, and being extremely patient, taking walks when they were available. It was great to get batters/runners walking in runs, especially with the less than ideal ground conditions. After my comedy slip on homeplate, I was pleased to not have to do much running for my two runs. Needless to say, my (studded) boots will be in my bag for the next game.
Peter did very well at First base, making some solid catches from good accurate throws from Paul and Julian, as well as preventing any overthrows. Paul and Kate covered second base well, getting some important outs there. Julian's pitched very consistently again yesterday, especially considering that the pitch wasn't exactly set up correctly (I thought that the pitching and home plates weren't in line) It was a great effort from Alison to hit it hard enough for her to get to first base. Jane C. got a nice catch in the infield. The outfield was very slippery, meaning that once any ground balls touched the grass they literally rocketed away. Also, we had new part time wolf, Katia, playing her first ever game out there too. Taking those things into account, I thought that we outfield did okay. Andy worked diligently covering the Pavilion in right field (although unfortunately it didn't go out there very often), Katia stopped the ball a couple of times, I made a catch, and Manjiv stopped a few tough ones. I hold my hands up for not covering/backing up left field well enough. I think I was preoccupied with helping Katia get through her first game.

A interesting thing happened yesterday outside of the game. A group of 30 or so youth footballers, started playing a match across the back of pitch two's outfield area. The Wolves asked them to move, the Umpires asked them to move, the Devil Strays asked them to move. The result? We managed to get them to move over a small way, but they were a bit of a menace for the whole game, with them shouting and distracting us outfielders, having some of their players walk (very slowly) across the middle of our pitch and their football came on the pitch during the game too. What with the dodgy home plate, and the litter from the previous weekend's music festival/concert strewn across the ground, it sometimes amazes me how they can charge so much for such a pitch.

Finally, a couple of things (pleasantly) surprised me during the game.
1. Julian's rocket boots that shot him to first base on a number of occasions. Good running.
2. Andy's 'fire in his belly' passion, when he forcefully exclaimed in the affirmative that he had definitely made it home after a close call.

Loan Wolves and Englishmen...

...practice softball in the midday sun.
Five of us got together for a practice this morning at Clapham South, for about three and a half hours. Hot and sunny weather, and no frisbee-throwers to distract us. We practised throwing, catching, hitting, base-running and outfielding. Ben came along at eleven and had some good ideas for drills. It was a fun session, and I think we all benefited from it. Good to see last year's MVW Alison moving steadily towards complete fitness after her injury, and Olivia, a relative novice, improving all the time. Tigger has come on in leaps and bounds due to enlisting her nearest and dearest for throwing/catching practice. For my own part, I'm better than I was, but still pretty dire, except maybe running bases with the wind behind me.
For some reason, at least six balls ended up going out of the park and into the road, leading to various Wolves having to play a kind of real-life Frogger to rescue them from the traffic. One important object lesson from this came when we saw a ball survived being run over by a car with no ill-effects at all. It's no surprise, then, that when one hits you in the hand, or shin, or face, the ball's not going to be the one coming off worse...
The team will still need to be extremely lucky to win any games this season - but then, as Gary Player said, "the more I practise, the luckier I get"....

Softball Lesson #9

So our 9th game and what did we learn this week.

9.1 We don’t lose all the time

Sometimes we draw! Well played everyone. And we discovered that a 6 or 7 game innings lasts quite a long time leaving us with less time in the pub. (I guess there's more advatages to the mercy rule than we first realised)

9.2 Gloves

When fielding or pitching remember to wear your glove

9.3 Shin Pads

When buying shin pads for Manjiv remember to give them to her before she gets whacked on the shin, not after. Sorry.

9.4 Gloves

When fielding or pitching really remember to wear your glove.

9.5 Use your Head

Use your head except to field the ball. It is the least effective and most sensitive part of the body to use when trying to stop the ball

9.6 E.R

We thought we had an impressive injury record with 2 visits to ER and countless injuries. The Raiders B have had 3 broken legs so far this season. Please read the comment for an important safety notice.

9.7 Softball is FUN :-)

A fantastic team performance with very few over throws (The only one I recall was by me!), very few mistakes and nobody getting caught out.
Top marks go to:-

Olivia for practicing leaving the pitches and batting superbly getting to first at least twice.
Mark for two massive home runs and bringing 3 people home to tie the game.
Kate for getting her first run.
Super ‘safe hands’ Ben for catching everything at first base.
Michael for reading last weeks lesson 8.2 and performing a perfect 'crouching tiger spring'.
Alison for standing at bat and not swinging at anything despite every fibre of her body straining to hit out.
Alex for some quality base coaching.
And my nomination for MVP,
Julian who pitched awesomely and still managed time to run people out on first. At one point a batter was 3 balls and no strikes, and Julian produced three great pitches striking them out!

But none of that would have counted without a great team performance
Well played everyone,
We're number 3 (from bottom) we're number 3 (from bottom)
Go Wolves Go

Loan Wolves 18 - 18 Raiders 'A'

Battle without honour or humanity...
Actually it wasn't - it was a mostly good-spirited fixture. The above is just what I'd been playing to psych myself up for the long-awaited clash with the only other team in the league to have lost all their games so far.
The weather finally settled into warm and not too muggy, after a day of heavy showers alternating with sauna-like humidity. Illness and holidays meant that we only just had enough women to field a legal team, with Alison playing as catcher and stepping up to bat hoping for a walk rather than a strikeout. Scores were close all through, with the Wolves gaining then losing a slight lead, until a great fifth inning for us gave a renewed lead and a real shot at victory. It was at this point that Tigger started jumping up and down, shouting; "we've won! We've won!", until it was pointed out to her that the game wasn't over - our games usually stop after the fifth only because we're losing so badly that "mercy" gets called. We had one more innings (bad light was threatening) to play. A home run with bases loaded for the bad guys left us trailing by three in the middle of the last (see how I unselfconsciously use the technical terms, now?). We scored three. Exactly three. So the ump called "tied ballgame!" and honours were even. And it is no longer true that the Loan Wolves lose all their matches. Also, as the Raiders had forfeited a game earlier, we are still one place above them in the league.
Could easily have been a victory (probably what the opposition were thinking, too). A lot more fun playing a game through to the end with both sides in it.

Game 9: Two Points = Good Job!

The Loan Wolves played a great match yesterday, ending with a morale boosting first ever draw in the side's short history. 18 all, against London Raiders A. The score sounds straightforward, but so much went on during the match, the drama, the tension with it being so close, heck it was better than some recent World Cup matches that I have seen.

First mention must go to our pitcher, Julian, who had a brilliant game, not only pitching consistently throughout the match (including a couple of times when he had forgotten to put his glove back on!) but getting multiple strike outs and assists at 1st Base 'outs'. The infield was pretty solid again today, with some good throws and catches being made between Shortstop, and 3rd/2nd and 1st, to get the outs the team needed to quickly put the other side away. The team's outfield was certainly put under pressure by the some of the opposition's heavy hitters, but they did well (perhaps boosted by Paul's kind gesture of buying the team shinpads) Also, with most of the team electing to wear tracksuit bottoms rather than shorts, we didn't get attacked by the Finsbury Mosquitos union as much as last game.

As the score suggests, we managed to get 18 runs in the game, our highest ever total. Much of this credit must go to a certain Mark Davis, who after rushing from football practice, and being subbed straight into to bat (no warm up needed evidently) proceeded to hit two home runs from two at bats, batting in about 4/5 others runs into the bargain. Team wise, it was really pleasing to see everyone contributing to the offensive side of the game, constistently hitting the ball, although being very patient and taking the walks if they were available. I think I am right in saying that Olivia and Kate got around for their first ever runs (well done), and the rest of the team too can be proud of their 'good wheels', running between the bases. A final mention must go to Alison, who continues her Loan Wolves style rehabilitation programme, involving kindly turning up to matches to play catcher, being extremely patient when batting at the plate, and socialising in the Finsbury afterwards. Thanks again to everyone who played for making it such an enjoyable match to be involved in.

Softball Lesson #8

So our 8th defeat... and what did we learn this week?

8.1 "Illegal Ball"

If while batting the Umpire shouts illegal ball, that means in their opinion the pitch is so pants and rubbish that it's called a ball and you can relax and ignore it.
However if you decide to ignore the Umpires 'good eye' and hit the ball.... RUN !!!!
Andy thinks if you swing and miss it's a strike.

8.2 Over Running the Base.

If like Michael you are really fast or a juggernaut like Mark, it's sometimes difficult to stop on a base. The best way to slow down is to slide but due to our intimate relationship with ER i won't advise that (this season)
So you need to get back on the base. Most often the fielder will be standing on the base with the ball... if so, they have to TAG you. So get any part of your body on the base without them touching you with the ball. I demonstrated the 'crouching tiger spring' to a select audience last night
This rule also applies if running back to your base if the ball is caught.
Once the ball is caught, the batter is out AND all forces are off, so every runner must be TAGGED regardless of which way they are running.
I would point out that our queen of second base Vic applied such a tag out after the normally 100% efficient and accurate short stop sold her short. The runner over ran and Vic tagged her and despite the runner thinking they were safe, they were OUT!! well played "Queen Vic"

8.3 Finsbury Flies Bite

My beautiful legs have been badly bitten. So in future I will ignore any comments about me smelling like a toilet duck and liberally apply insect repellent. I suggest people do the same.

8.4 SuperBen's Kryptonite

While there is no doubting the Superness of Super Ben, he unfortunately also has his kryptonite weakness. As soon as the ball hits the bat Ben's entire audio sensory equipment shuts down leaving him completely deaf and unaware of the shouts of fellow team mates. Whether we need to hold up signs or buy Ben a hearing aid is for a future discussion.

well played

Loan Wolves v Richmond Swingers 1-20

Another heroic night for the Wolves, playing at home and facing not only a team from the top of the table, but also blinding sunlight and hard ground causing the softballs to going bouncing all over the place. Well that’s my excuse for getting a softball in the face anyway! I am very disappointed not to have a huge bruise this morning. Just a slight yet very tender, bump on my eyebrow.
Despite the difficult terrain, some fumbled balls and some shocking throws (me most definitely included. I was aiming for 1st, honest), we fielded well, not getting the mercy rule till the 5th innings and even preventing the Swingers scoring at all in one innings. However their big hitters proved difficult to stop. At times this was a good thing. If Manjiv had managed to get in the way of the one that that flew past her at high speed at head height having bounced off the ground in front of her, it would have certainly stung a bit, in fact it would have probably knocked her out. Ouch.
Overall it was another good team effort all round. Michael was a real asset in the outfield, all the cricketing practice paying off with some huge throws in. A good first outing as a Wolf. Alison made her return, stepping in bravely as catcher and taking out some of her pent up softball frustration on the ball by going up to bat, proving that she is raring to go once back to full fitness. Julian produced some great pitching and had a good batting innings too. Jane C stepped up despite feeling a bit under the weather and made a fantastic hit that dropped right in the sweet spot between in-field and out-field. Jane A proved once again that she is a very safe pair of hands on 1st. Alex showed up, was subbed in and promptly injured his knee. Not a great night for him. At least he looked good doing it, going out in style with a slide into 3rd. Peter managed to cause confusion all round when he was unable to stop the swing he had started on a ball from an illegal pitch. There were lots of bemused fielders trying to work out what our silent hand signals to Peter meant. It’s hard to tell someone to run without the opposition realising. New rule learnt and duly noted. Well done to Ben for scoring our only run. Paul would like it noted that he got Ben round with his hit!
My personal highlights – getting tagged out twice in a row in one innings (so harsh), getting to first base (hurrah! That’s twice now!), and managing to tag out the runner on 2nd who though she was home and safe. Just goes to show you, always stay on your base!!!!

Practice at Clapham

Ben and I had some useful training on Monday at Clapham. Darren gave us some detailed coaching on batting. Also had us attempting catches in the out-field and the in-field. He is an excellent trainer.

Our thoughts today are with Richard, Tina, and Daisy Alice Hornshaw...

An argument with a softball...the softball won

I was roped into babysitting this weekend, and managed to cajole my brother in law to go out for a quick practice in return. I was feeling pretty good as my catching skills are slowly getting better...when the inevitable happened - I was ambushed by a softball in the face! Actually, scrap that...I'm going to say that I heroically managed to block the softball by any means necessary (sounds better). Worry not team - the ball actually deflected off my glove and hit me on the mouth. All I suffered was a slight cut and a swollen lip (which was looking very Daffy Duckish yesterday). There are lessons to be learnt here...and no doubt I will learn them sometime....Byeee

Loan Wolves 5 Cheetahs 39 - at Clapham

The score doesnt really reflect how hard the Wolves tried. The Cheetahs are an experienced team - they have been playing for 10 years.

The fielding and batting are both improving. There were some useful catches from Paul, Richard and Peter. Pitching of Kate, Manjiv and Julian is coming along well. Poor Andy turned up with his nasty injury just above the eye showing and did some scoring. Jane A. performed heroics on 1st base. New players Monica and Mark made great contributions in the batting department. Jane C. was a dynamo on 2nd base.

Afterwards went to the pub and had some interesting conversation with some of the Cheetahs. They seemed a very nice bunch.

In stitches (not for the squeamish)

Today, five Wolves took up an invitation to a training session and practice game with the Tornadoes (the side we only lost to by a point). Lovely day for it, and they were a friendly bunch. We practised throwing, pitching (Manjiv was doing well at that) and batting, then had a practice game. I was fielding in the outfield, and missed a catch. Well, didn't miss it exactly - it skipped off my glove I think, and cannoned into my face. I first noticed stinging pain, then blood, then realised that my sunglasses were somehow stuck to my head. I was thankful to find that I could see clearly from both eyes. The glasses had in fact smacked into my brow, opened a cut, and jammed the flesh between the frame and the lens (my sunglasses are impact-resistant plastic, and worth every penny of the extra I spent, as the lenses stayed intact and so did my eyes).
Now, as these things go, it could have been a lot worse. Not least that the Tornadoes had a qualified doctor and a paramedic among them, and first aider Jane was with us. I'd brought my first aid kit as usual, which was handy as no-one else had one. From the first, I could tell that aside from the nasty cut and inevitable bruising I'd suffered nothing serious. The paramedic and Jane freed my eye from the sunglasses, inevitably tearing the skin a little more, and dressed the wound, then Hoppo (the Tornadoes' captain) drove Jane & I to A&E.
We watched the Japan-Croatia game in A&E while waiting for me to be seen. Eventually, I was seen by a friendly practitioner nurse. She asked how it had happened and everything, plus a bunch of other required questions. "Any other sports or hobbies?". So I said medieval swordfighting. She insisted on putting that down on the form - "that's the only time I'll get to put that!" she said happily. The bleeding was still continuing, due to what PN Julie called "a persistent little bleeder" - a small blood vessel at the edge of the wound which wouldn't close. So I got sutures - five of them in total. Which meant that Manjiv won the sweepstake we were holding via text message as to who'd guess the number of stitches. It wasn't too pleasant an experience, but I didn't blub, and the little bleeder has now been stifled. It occured to me as I was being stitched that if I'd held on to the catch, it would have been the third out, and finished the other side's inning. We were winnning, too.
Jane used my camera to snap lots of cool pictures of me at different stages (face covered with blood, being stitched up, etc).
Interesting experience. Glad I always take that little first aid kit stuffed in my bat bag - I shall continue to do so, and the Tornadoes' professional medics said they'd be doing something similar from now on. They were great, and Jane's first aid and support, spending her Sunday afternoon in AE with me, were also really appreciated.

Loan Wolves 1 - 30 Glove Me Tender

The team was surprisingly up for this clash with the table-topping GMT. Manjiv in particular was so fired up and bouncing arund with excitement that she earned herself the nickname "Tigger" from Jane A. For once, we had no spare male players, and I was fielding at Second Base. I'd forgotten how much more involved in the plays the infielders are.
Weather was sunny, after a cold, damp, day (which meant that for part of the game, the setting sun was right in my eyes at Second), and the pitch had been mowed recently.
The scoreline reflects that the other side were better than us, but doesn't really do us justice. Our performace defensively was very tight for much of the game, and after three innings we were only 7-1 down. Sadly, their fielding, their infield in particular, was really sharp and we had a hard job to get runs ourselves. Then one big inning for them just about did for us. As Paul said, at higher levels it becomes very hard to get to First. I did at least manage that, but also got out at First from hits that in other games would have seen me safely on base. Meanwhile, GMT stole a lot of bases, and gave us plenty of work trying to keep the forces on and the run total down.
I managed to achieve one of my little goals for the season - tagged a runner out.
Darren's team were playing on the other pitch (they won), and we had a natter with him at the pub after the game. I got to wear my vintage letter sweater for the first time, too.

Regents Park Development Practice

A beautiful summer evening for our practice in Regents Park. Jane A. and Ben and myself plus others from various groups. The coaches were Kim and Ronnie. We practised our throwing and also did an exercise which involved one person running round the bases while fielders threw the ball from base to base - testing accuracy of throwing. Also had alot of batting practice using that pole like a golfing tee for hitting the ball off.

Practice

No game this week, but we got some practice in.
A bunch of us went to the Northwick Park batting cages on Wednesday. We booked three cages for an hour, and had a lot of fun hitting things with bits of metal. You press a button, and fifteen balls in a row are launched at you. I hit 105, I counted (well, I missed some of them, but I swung at them all). I think we all had fun, and it was nice to be able to experiment with trying to place the ball, or hit big pop-ups, without worrying about getting out. Shame that the machines tended to jam occasionally, though.

We also had a good practice on Friday evening, at Finsbury Park. The weather's been glorious, and for the first time I realised that it really is meant to be a Summer game. A nice evening wearing sunglasses, enjoying the heat and the park, hitting and fielding, and working on in-game situations.
I'm missing one of the softballs I had with me on Friday, BTW. If someone's picked one up marked "APJH", it's mine.

"I lettered in softball..."

I went to a really cool vintage clothing shop yesterday. Didn't expect to buy anything, but I am now the proud owner of an original 1940s high school jock's "letter sweater", complete with a baseball/softball badge (with original tiny wooden bat and glove). It's a bit moth-eaten, but it's in our colours - black, with orange letter and arm-stripes.

Tornadoes 16 - 15 Loan Wolves

[X-posted from my LJ, as usual]

Well, we had our best game of the season so far.
One that went all the way to the seventh inning, with no danger of the "mercy rule" being invoked. One where we made more runs than in all four of our previous games put together.
Played in Wandsworth Park, on a newly-mown pitch smelling of fresh hay (and why is it that everyone else's home grounds are nicer than ours?). Finally, we were matched with a team we could compete with. Despite being ahead at one point, and a "3 up, 3 down" inning where we got them out without a run scored, we couldn't quite nail that elusive first win. Some good pitching, excellent fielding, but we just didn't quite make the runs we needed. Perhaps we were confused by the opposition also wearing orange - I don't know. Afraid my batting, until the final inning, was below par. I'd cleaned my bat yesterday evening, and now it seemed I couldn't do a thing with it. Did contribute to our seven-run final inning with a second-base hit and a run, at least. In the field, a big hit in my direction escaped me, but I was saved by the fact that the batter had stepped out of his box and was therefore already out.
Three minor injuries for the team, so par for the course there. But it was good for our morale to know that we can give a decent account of ouselves when we have to.
Batting practice at the cages in Northwick Park next week. Looking forward to that.

Loan Wolves 5 - Private Is- 33

For our fourth game of the season the Loan Wolves took their first 'professional' trip south of the river to Earlsfield and the Battersea Ironside sports ground. Despite the almost continual rain up until Thursday lunchtime the evening was warm and bright and the pitch looked good.

Contrary to what the scoreline may suggest I think we all came away from this encounter will lots of positives. We warmed up thoroughly and it showed with an uncharacteristically strong start - several bases hits in a row resulting in 1 whole run which I think raised everyone's confidence.

I've not played catcher before, and it's a strange position. You are active in nearly every play, but you're not out there with the team, you are the only one with a full on view of the whole field and you are privy to the umpire's mumblings and the other team's discussion whilst waiting to bat. Very interesting!

Our first innings fielding went pretty well. Some sterling pitching by Ben got the game moving and we got the outs in a reasonable time. There was a great moment later on in the game when Jane C took a big catch and was straight away looking around for the next out. If we'd had anyone on base I feel sure that would been our first double play!

It was great to have Darren there shouting tips and encouragement, and the support from Ben's family and Vic's sister all added to the atmosphere.

After game drinks were slightly surreal, as we were sharing the club house with a group of dog trainers and their untrained muts - but that's the thing with the Loan Wolves - expect the unexpected!

Softball on Broadway

Hi All,

Bought a size 12 and a half glove in Paragon Sports on Broadway. It was $50 which was the cheapest I could find. It seems to be ok. I am very pleased to have my own at last

FAB evening

I was the sole representative of the Loan Wolves to take up the invitation to play with the Finance department's side "FAB" at Regent's Park this evening.
Played in a friendly six-a-side game with a pleasantly relaxed attitude to the letter of the rules. My side won 16-15 (having slipped from our 16-2 lead before the last inning). I made four runs (it's a bit easier than usual with only one outfielder), didn't get out, and took a couple of outs at First (and if I was fielding at First Base, you know the side was short of players). Then had a couple of beers with the others, at the Edinboro Castle. Bit busy, bit trendy, but OK pub. Enjoyed usual rambling post-game conversation.
Looking forward to playing a proper friendly vs these guys with the rest of the Wolves in June.

Loan Wolves 4 - 28 Italian Suede

[X-posted from my LJ]
Third match of the season. Third time we lost by the "mercy rule". One day, one of our games will go the whole distance. One day.
We were at the pitch in good time, and got a lot of practice in. The opposition didn't turn up till 7.15, having been held up coming from South London.
The ground was soft and it had showered heavily about half an hour before the game started, which didn't help our fielding. Manjiv did a good job as pitcher, and Peter got a game, taking several outs at First. I came on after the second innings, got muddy and scored a run, legging it from Second to Home. Earlier, while scoring, I noticed an immaculately dressed figure approaching, somehow making a crutch look like a fashion statement. It was Alison, turning out to support the team. Great to see her back. Sharon and Jane A both played again, and seemed to enjoy the game. Alex arrived late from work, and took over the scoring. We played out a last inning for practice after the game ended, then headed for the pub. Unlike last time, none of the Arsenal fan regulars at the Finsbury took against our Wolves colours. Sat outside till we started to go numb with cold, then went in. Conversation ranged in that random way from softball to indexing for image libraries to the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon series.

Loan Wolves 4 - 28 Meteors

Loan Wolves were playing at home, at Finsbury Park (not that that counts for much, with most teams having the same two or threee grounds as their "home" pitches).
Lovely balmy evening, with London looking beautiful in the sunshine.
The Wolves lost, despite playing well. First time players Sharon and "New" Jane bravely stepped up to bat and took their place in the field. Their heads must have been swimming with all the advice and tuition we were trying to cram into them, but they both took to the game well.
Harsh umpiring calls did our brave and hardworking pitchers no favours, but I saw at least three strike-outs reward their determination. Some great fielding, particularly in terms of players backing each other up and working well together.
I enjoyed batting, getting my first run of the season on the board, and fielded at Centre Right Field, then took over as catcher. Being catcher really takes it out of your knees, ankles and back, but it's an interesting position to play. I tried to shout encouragement to Manjiv, in the manner of a wicket keeper to a bowler. Managed to field a short-hit ball and throw it to Ben for an out.
Then drinks at the Finsbury. Richard's wife turned up later on. They're expecting their first little wolf cub in July.
And no hospitalised players this week. Bonus.

First Match of Season

The Loan Wolves struggled bravely against the more experienced Finsbury Dazzlers. Ben managed to get round for our solitary run.

The team improved during the course of the evening. There was some fine batting from Alex. Ben made a good catch. Kate did some good pitches. I quite enjoyed being the catcher.

I think it was helpful for us to play a good team.

The team shirt looked impressive.

A great shame that brave Alison was injured - I hope she'll be playing again soon.

Wounded Wolf

First game of the season, away to Finsbury Dazzlers. We all had our spiffing new team shirts - no logo or anything, but in the team colours (black, and a nice bright orange). And we lost. Didn't play badly, but the other side's experience told. The "run-ahead rule" (aka the Mercy Rule, or, less kindly, the Slaughter Rule) meant that the game was stopped after the third innings, as the bad guys were so far ahead (25-1), but the teams elected to play on for practice. We ended up wishing we hadn't. Running between second and third, Alison fell suddenly. She had dislocated her knee. One of those situations where all first aiders can do is call an ambulance and try to stop people doing more harm than good (a woman on the other team who reckoned she was a first aider herself was offering her painkillers - that's a bit of a no-no). The ambulance didn't arrive within the first half-hour. Still not one available. I regretted not laying it on a bit more heavily, and claiming it was more serious than it was - then I thought that if I'd claimed she was going into shock or unconsciousness, they might have diverted an ambulance that could have been going to someone with life-threatening problems, so it was probably as well I hadn't.
Alison's knee fell back into position, and she wanted to go home, and it was getting dark, and the ambulance still hadn't turned up. Alex and David carried her off the park, and we tried to find a cab. Eventually, the ambulance arrived before we could find a taxi, which was perhaps as well. Brave soldier that she is, Alison wanted to go home rather than to A&E, but her knee still wasn't right. Jane, a first aider, was trying to persuade her to go to hospital just as the ambulance turned up. The paramedics turned on their bedside manner, reassuring her (as Alex said, they seem to be trained in babytalk, but in a good way), and looked her over. they saw the swollen knee, and took her straight off to hospital. At any rate, she'll have got proper treatment for her knee straight away, and that's a good thing. Rotten luck for her, though.