Inning-by-Inning

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

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

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

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.

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

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

[ 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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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'

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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]

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

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...

…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

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

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

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

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.

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)

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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.

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

The Fight at Finsbury

Low Point, High Point

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!)

We rock!! TriBiold 21 - 25 Loan Wolves

We rock! Today was a well deserved victory - and I'm proud of everyone who played, everyone who coached, and everyone who kept us together on the sidelines. Onwards and forwards....or something like that.

Well done Wolves - we certainly do Rock!!

Sunday = 12 hours of Softball

As Mr T said... I pity the fools... but yes 3 wolves and one dev girl turned up at Clapham at 11 for a quick practice but before they knew it they were involved with a full on 4 team tournament. After 2 hours of drills and batting practice, Kevin, Matt, Paul and Alana stood in line like school kids waiting to picked by one of the other teams. I was lucky enough to be picked by Super Ben's team and wasn't the last person picked.... Matt? Kevin???

So off we went to play 3 round robin games and Kevin played 3 won 3, Matt played 3 won 1 drew 1 lost 1 and me in glorious wolves fashion played 3 lost 3 !!!! Regardless on how well our teams did (shut it Kevin) we all played 3 great game in teams from higher divisions and had so much fun. We all played well and did the Loan Wolves proud .... especially me by refusing to let good players win a game.

We'll probably be there next week and who knows what will happen?

Low Point, High Point

Low Point: My batting was awful. Out at first, then made it to first but got Andy out.

High Point: Watching Manj drink her first ever tequila slammer.

Loan Wolves 2 - 43 Devil Strays

Sometimes you're the windshield...
... and sometimes you're the bug.
We were sadly unable to repeat last week's glory, coming up against an on-form bunch of Strays in the evening sunshine. we didn't field as well as last week, sadly. I was playing second Base again, and was painfully aware of all the balls that got past me or which I didn't get to quickly enough. I did take two catches though, which was something. The frustration we were all feeling as the match got away from us was exemplified by Peter's "berserker" axe-like swing of his bat at the ball in our last inning.
Pub afterwards, where Matt treated those of us still there after the first round to tequila slammers. From that point, we cheered up a bit.

[X posted from my LJ]

Low Point, High Point

Low Point: My pitiful attempt at being 3rd base coach. I dried up like a big old dry thing.

High Point: Winning the pitcher-batter duel and so getting a walk that converted into a run!

Raiders Red 11 - 12 Loan Wolves

Having lost to one Raiders team last week, we were away to their other side this.
We emerged from the Tube at Clapham South into a rainstorm, but it dried up before the match started.
We batted first, as away side, and posted four runs before I hit the ball straight to their pitcher to end our inning. Then we fielded, and kept them to one. In the second inning, we made no more runs, while they chipped away at our slender lead. This set the pattern for the game – not many runs scored, with all ours coming in three good innings and theirs consistently in ones, twos and threes throughout the match. The sides were closely matched; both played well, both made good plays, both made a few errors. The Wolves benefited from Julian’s excellent pitching – nerves of steel, striking batters out, all through seven tense innings. We also had some good moments in the field – I think it was the second inning which saw three outs for no runs, all catches, all from different fielders. But then, so did they; we were shut out for four innings, after all.
The scores were levelled at nine all by the top of the seventh, and we knew we were in a ball game. With the home advantage, they would only need to score one more than us to win. We needed to score at least once to have a hope of victory. We made three. Would it be enough? Their last inning began. Soon there were two outs to us, but two runs scored for them. Runners on bases. Nailbiting stuff. It would only take one good hit to get them round. But then, it only needed one more out to end the game. And we made the out.
And so we had a win. For the first time ever, the Loan Wolves had won a competitive game. And it was a good win. The forfeit vs triBold doesn’t count, and the walkathon vs the Tornadoes would have been a hollow victory, but we played for this one, against a side we’d lost to before, and we earned our win. We played well, we played as a team, and we won fair and square. Everyone played their part, which was great. Due to lack of options, many of us were at unfamiliar positions, but we coped. I was at Second Base for the first time in a long while, making outs there and getting a tag on a runner.
After the game ended, we were in a euphoric yet numbed state (possibly helped by the trip to the pub afterwards). It hadn’t really sunk in yet. But by this morning it had. We have won a game. Remember today, little brother - today, life is good.
[X-posted from my LJ]

Washing instructions for the single man

For those hard to remove stains, can I recommend the following:

First turn your shirt inside out
Place in a white cotton pillow case
Use only pure soap flakes ( I suggest Dreft)
Wash on a cool wash
Iron when still damp

Following these steps will ensure that next weeks match we will smartest freshest smelling most victorious team in Div5.

Go Wolves

Gaz

Northwick Park Softball

I went along to the batting cages at Northwick Park on Saturday.

http://www.northwickpark.com/baseball_softball.html

Though it can't replicate the conditions of a real game, it's pretty good fun. A token of 15 balls pitched from a machine costs £2 (I went for 75 - I was feeling greedy). The pitches vary somewhat; some were knee height, some nearer the shoulder, which you'd leave normally (unless you're me), but required an overhead smash to get away. Because there's meshing all around the cages, sometimes it's hard to tell how well you've hit it, unless it goes quite flat and far. Also, they're quite pedantic about helmets, even if you're playing slow pitch softball....it's really not in their interests for you to get injured though.

It's quite a trek to get to but worth it, I feel, if you need batting practice between games.

Low Point - High Point

Low Point - Not keeping my eye on the ball enough:
Missing a high catch when I was in the outfield and mis-fielding a ground ball when I was on 2nd. Instead of landing in my glove, it bounced off my toe and veered off into the outfield. Ooops, sorry guys.

High Point - Patience is a virtue:
Holding my nerve and keeping my patience for two walks.
My second one came when I had got to full count, but I had been watching him with his fancy "wrist curling round his back" technique and noticing that he had been getting a lot of balls so I went for it, watched the ball as closely as I could, and put all the pressure on him.
It took nerve as the umpire was calling balls and strikes slightly erractically at times. Both the pitcher and I were convinced that I had been pitched a strike at one point but it was called a ball.
I know that not everyone is convinced by the "leave the first pitch" idea, but I personally think that it works, especially the first time you go up, as it gives you the chance to see how the pitches are coming and how the umpire is calling them. Plus, my batting isn't the strongest so I need all the extra edge that I can get!

Laminated!

After last week's rain-sodden match in which our score sheet became pretty soggy and smudged, we'd thought ahead. We had laminated score sheets, with permanent markers. As Richard said, we are the geekiest team in the league. And we proceeded to get laminated - in the sense of squashed flat, smothered, and put through a heated mangle.
It wasn't that we played badly. It wasn't our finest performance ever, but RB are leading the division and it shows. They just outclassed us in batting. And fielding. And pitching. and base running. Apart from these few areas, we were actually quite close to them in skill level.
I faced my first pitch right-handed, then stepped across to the other batter's box and shifted to my left hand. cue minor agitiation from the opposition; "he's a switch-hitter!". Sadly, your classic switch-hitter is as deadly batting left-handed as right. Whereas I'm just not that much worse with my left... I gave them an easy out at first. Next time up, I was on a full count and lost the head-game with their pitcher - "will he pitch a strike now, knowing that if I leave it I'm out? Or a ball, 'cos he thinks I'll swing at anything? But he knows I'd know that...". Struck out.
Some great moments from us - Julian struck out two of their people, and there was some great fielding - at one point Gareth heroically flung himself at a ball, risking life, limb and finger, rolling over and emerging with it as a catch.
We retired to the social club, where my Doctor Who earworm was cleared by hearing the Raiders women singing along to 'Jolene'. Bring back the Scissor Sisters...

[X posted from my LJ]

Blasey's match report....

Thanks Matt for the peppy email... you aren't a touch on Manjiv but it put a
smile on my face this morning. Some how there is a fault on my broadband
so I have no internet at home till the weekend....

Mavy says that she enjoyed the game and she too has a bruised ankle but
failed to pull off a sicky.

I know I should blog but here's my highlights and lowlights of yesterday...

HIGHLIGHTS
Vic to Alsion to get an out at 1st
Gareth and Andy's out at 3rd
Julian's first time pitching this year
Alex almost being knocked out by a Paul fly-ball coming off the tree as he
cycled in late
Pete's slip at first but valiant attempt to catch the ball whilst on his
back
Faustina batting in Kevin
Kev's casual catch off the first delivery of their innings
Gareth slipping over but still getting the ball to Kevin
My slide to second to prevent the girl throwing Alsion out.
Paul unable to pitch to their girls.
The confusion caused by having 11 players in the line-up (including 2 guys
in a row)
Olivia trying to score using a soaked sheet or paper and a BIONIC finger.
Matt, Alex, Julian, Paul and Kev's confusion when we changed everything in
one go.
The Kev, me and Paul attempt to get an out at home plate.
Val looking like a drowned rat but there and playing well as catcher.
Mavy and Faustina in the outfield stopping ground balls.
Watching Paul slide as he tried to pitch in the mud.

LOWLIGHTS
Missing Tiggs and Kate...it's not the same without you.
The Rain
The long walk back to my car because we went to the other pub.
The Rain
So many illigal, too high and too low balls
Gareth's frustration in the outfield when we mucked it up
My underarm pass to Pete
My handing, not throwing, the ball to Alison.
When we make simple errors
When we aren't as tuned in on what is actually happening.
The umpire calling some questionable decisions on Vic.
That girl catching Gareth in the outfield when the bases were loaded and we
had 2 outs.
Not being able to move off 1st due to the mud.

Please can everyone let Manjiv know today or tomorrow if you can, can not or
might not be able to play on Wednesday as we are at home to Raiders Blue and
it's payback time.

One last thing....
Thanks guys. It might have rained, we might have been wet, we might have
been able to play better but it was still FUN.....

Lets get ready for 11th August when we will beat them all in the tournament.
Keep that date free.

Blasey

Seriously considering dressing up as a woman

I think the above may be the only way to get some match play in this team, and being 100% gay it wouldnt be too traumatic for me anyway

Anyone still without a nickname?

Sports nickname generator.

Andy "The Hammer" Horton

Only PG - is that the best we can do?

Mingle² - Online Dating

Softballing in the movies

This Saturday night I sat down (with low expectations, it has to be said) to watch "Employee of the Month".

My expectations were not exceeded - harmless film, but just NOT VERY FUNNY!

However, towards the climax of the nail biting, edge-of-your-seat plot, there is a softball game - and what is more it is co-ed slow pitch!

Here is a short clip from the film - it's bad quality and out of sync... but you get the idea.



Huddle huddle huddle.

Snatching fun from the jaws of victory

So the wolves are 21-0 up. There's 2 out and the bases are empty. One out and the Wolves mercy a team!!! But no, somehow the killer instinct and desire for a crushing victory desert us and we become good sports.

Obviously after a good 3.666 innings my pitching went astray and apologies, I'm as baffled as anyone why? (Everyone should have a go at pitching to see exactly how small that pesky strike zone is!) The Tornadoes were quite happy with their one home run when 21-0 down but somehow that got them going and they enjoyed the comeback of the season.

I think the Wolves batted superbly. And the double play in the last innings to catch the ball and get the "winning run" out at 3rd was most excellent. We lack that killer instinct and the desire to take as many walks as we can, but that's cause we want to have fun and play softball...

well done everyone!!
Paul

p.s I forgot the other excellent double play from Kevin's catch in the outfield and an out on first... awesome!

What a terrible game L. Wolves versus Barracudas

I feel so guilty about this evening's game I can only say I wasnt in the zone. Matt or Alex would have made a much better job of catcher. I could hear the shouts telling me to get on 4th base but tried for throwing to 1st and hit that poor girl in the back

I will have to go along to some Development sessions for improvement

Picking up strangers in the park...

[From my LJ]

Russell Investment Group v Loan Wolves

Russell Investment Group do not play in our division. Or even our league. So, how did we come to be playing them?
Well, there's this team called triBold... [snipped text explaining the sorry saga of yesterday's "postponed" game]
Anyway, we were up for playing last night. triBold had booked a pitch, and it seemed a shame to waste it. so we turned up in Regents Park this evening. Where we met the aforementioned Russell Investment Group team, who it turns out had also been stood up by their scheduled opponents, in a banking league. So we got the beers in and had a friendly with our new friends.
It was a really good match. We turned out to be pretty closely matched, and we had a great time playing on a well-kept field in the evening sunshine. Lions (we think they were lions) were roaring in London Zoo nearby, and long shadows fell over the pitch as the game went on. Atmosphere was good, and we had fun - both sides probably played better knowing that nothing depended on the result. We weren't really keeping score properly, but after a 1-1 first inning the Wolves broke away then had our lead clawed back in one inning due to a second-out rally (which was aided by Paul's sportsmanlike gesture in refusing to accept their third Out), finally going into the last inning a few runs up. The final result was somewhat uncertain, but definitely close. I made the last play of the game with an out at Home.
Afterwards, we joined a few of their team for a couple of drinks at the Edinboro Castle. An all-round successful and convivial evening.

Final hand-in of the year on Thursday. So the library was busy all day, until the deadline, after which it was dead quiet.
I was working till the deadline at six to provide extra cover. Actually there till about a quarter past. Then I had to leave and rush over to Regent's Park to umpire a softball match.
I was delayed by Tube hell, and arrived to find Tigger and the two teams waiting expectantly for me. No pressure, then.
It was easier than the first time - posssibly because I'd just come from a library full of stressed-out law students, so twenty keyed-up softball players seemed much less frightening. I still made errors as plate umpire, and wrong calls, but the teams accepted them and the match played out (it was decided by one run, in the very last inning), and we left the field without being lynched by the losing side. I managed to project a confident demeanour, according to Tigger. She did sterling work as base umpire.
Wolves met for drinks last night at the Cittie of Yorke. Paul's back from his travels.

Scientology

I was hoping for a more mental reply than the one I got, but Silvia's surname made me laugh:


From: AOSHUK [mailto:aoshuk@scientology.net] Sent: 24 May 2007 20:34To: Waller, MatthewSubject: RE: Scientology Question

Dear Matthew,
Hi, my name is Silvia. I am writting in response to your e-mail you sent a few days ago.
You are absolutely right, Scientology can most definitly help on the things you mentioned about your team so you can really take off!
First of all I need to know where you are based so we can work out what would be the easiest for you to find out how Scientology can help.
Please contact me on 0800 587 5277 to arrange so.
All the best,

Silvia Fani

Saint Hill Foundation
Saint Hill Road, East Grinstead,
West Sussex, RH194JY

-----Original Message-----From: Waller, Matthew [mailto:M.Waller@city.ac.uk]Sent: 22 May 2007 11:57To: aoshuk@scientology.netSubject: Scientology Question
Hi
I play for a softball team and I wondered if Scientology could benefit us both individually and collectively.
In competitive matches there are always one or two innings when doubts set in, we lose focus and undo all the good work we’ve achieved in the game so far. What we really need is consistency.
Some of my team are thinking of turning to sports psychologists and self-help manuals, but I thought that Scientology may provide better answers. After all, you’ve helped Tom Cruise become a major star despite his diminutive stature, and pulled John Travolta out of troughs (Look Who’s Talking, Look Who’s Talking Too and Look Who’s Talking Now spring to mind) that threatened to destroy his career. Perhaps Scientology could stop the troughs in my team’s games.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Matthew

Smug bastards

Discovered this linked to the results on the league site:


The entire Devil Strays squad showed up to take part in the first win of the season, a comprehensive victory against the Loan Wolves on May 21st.The sky over Finsbury Park may have been grey, but the Strays’ mood was sunny and team spirit was high, with seventeen keen players present and hungry for victory.The Strays got off to a fantastic first innings, keeping the Wolves down to one run while scoring 12 runs themselves. The batting highlights, to list but a few, included a zinger to centre right by Jen, a shell-it-outta-the park smasher by Dan and a disrespectfully cheeky infield hit by Kim.After this imposing start, the Wolves were unable to get back into the game, being shut out in the next innings by staunch Strays defending, with outstanding performances from outfielder Mike, shortstop Dan and first basewoman Rebecca, not to mention fantastic pitching from Seth, who struck out several anguished Wolves. Sharon made a crucial catch at home plate to stop the runner on third scoring and Paul made an instinctive and impressive catch at second base.The Wolves only managed to score a further four runs during the game, while the Strays scored another eight to make the final score 20-5. All the official Strays present played at some point during the game and each and every one of them made a positive contribution to the final result. Paul and Dan were joint MVP winners for their outstanding performances on the field.

Written by Devil Strays captain F Herdman-Smith, 24th May 2007

High/Low

Low: My hitting.

High: Obstructing their first-baser.

Devil Strays 20 - 5 Loan Wolves

We played our traditional rivals last night. Scheduled on Monday so as not to clash with the football tonight.
Went into the game with captain Michael just back from a knee operation, and needing a runner. Also, Matt's hand is still stitched from cutting it open on a smashed rice jar. And Olivia has her broken finger splinted up, so she was scoring rather than playing.
The Strays have acquired some good new players to replace their losses, but then so have we. Sadly, this game went their way.
We had a poor first inning, in the course of which I tangled with Kevin running for a catch, and twisted my ankle. After that we got a lot sharper, but still couldn't pull the lead back.
Tigger was hit repeatedly by thrown balls. she also pitched to a guy who shot a rocket-like line drive towards her head. she almost caught it, but it smacked into her pitching hand instead of her glove. She still gritted her teeth and pitched the game out though.
Gareth pulled a quadricep running. Dunno how many other people took minor knocks, but after the game Michael looked around us and asked; "is there anyone here who isn't injured?".
We limped off to the pub for a healing beer or two.

[X posted to my LJ]

high point - low point of last night's game?

In my case, high point was that dodge past the tag out.
Low point was then getting out for not tagging up.

Loan Wolves 10 - 23 Raiders Red

This week’s game was against Raiders Red. They’re a big club, with three teams, two of which are in our division. This time we were playing Little Billy Goat Gruff.
Rain and drizzle had restored Finsbury Park to its usual state of muddiness. We were short of spare players, but managed to field a full team and thankfully didn’t need to make any substitutions. I was catching, so spent much of the match squelching around in the afore-mentioned mud. Also called a few plays.
The Raiders didn’t make life easy for our pitchers, looking for walks rather than chances to swing. A strong first inning for them gave them a lead we couldn’t overhaul, but our performance with bat and in the field was highly creditable. Plenty of runs, two innings in which the opposition failed to trouble the scorers, and some fine individual performances. Alison’s fielding on third, and Kevin’s diving catch stood out for me, along with Mavy at bat ducking under an errant pitch. Some fine batting and base-running from everyone. I took part in the double play that never was – batter hit the ball short, pitcher Tigger got to the ball, threw it straight to Peter on First who made the out then threw it lightning fast straight to my glove, I pivoted, tagged the runner out coming into Home. However, as the out on First had been the third of the inning anyway, our stunning teamwork was irrelevant.
I took the team’s first walk of the season (which gives an idea of how sharp the pitching we’ve been facing has been), and got a real kick from base-running. At one point I dodged a tag-out between Second and Third, then dived headlong (into that mud again) to reach base safely.
Duncan DS was umpiring, and I’ve never heard a more talkative blue. Running commentary on every pitch, every play. We play the Strays next week.
After the game, we retired to the pub in the hope we could catch the West Br*m – Wolves match. Sadly, there was some unimportant European game on, with three Spanish blokes watching, and the bar staff wouldn’t change channels for us. Maybe it was as well to be spared the sight of my side losing, but it would have been nice to watch the game with all the Wolves cheering for their namesakes.

Vic's moonlighting for another team...

This week I will mainly be spending my evenings in a dark, hot, stuffy theatre helping Geiods put on their musical 'Calamity Jane'. Geiods are a musical theatre group, well that's a sort of team. Fortunately for the Wolves, these shows only come around twice a year, once in May, once at Christmas, and fortunately for me too: it's exhausting rigging up a theatre!

I spent most of Sunday lugging heavy lights up and down staircases and playing with lighting desks and walkie-talkies... that is until the batteries died on walkie talkies and we had to resort to shouting.

I was a proper 'techie' armed with electrical tape, string and an adjustable spanner. This piece of kit was essential as I'm such a girl that I couldn't unscrew the light clamps without resorting to using the spanner. They are screwed tight for obvious reasons... they are big and heavy and high up and would certainly give someone a good clonk on the head if they fell.

The lighting desk was particularly exciting to have a go with as no one knew how to drive it. The instruction book ran to about 50 pages and once we did finally manage to save a light setting, we couldn't work out how to make come back on cue. I had never even seen a lighting desk until yesterday and so it was slightly alarming when it kept beeping at us. It was quite fun playing with all the buttons and sliders though. I'm usually only allowed to point spot lights and carry chairs on to the stage!

So I won't be able to join you for the game this week, but I will be thinking of you and I sing along to the show and point my lights.

High Point - eating many sweets and biscuits and finally getting the lighting desk to do something that we wanted it to do.

Low point - having my foot run over by a stage block (it's OK, I survived) and nearly dropping a big light off the balcony.

The Loan Wolf Blues

Our first compulsory umpiring duty.
Richard and I were the umpires (or “blues”). I was to be plate umpire – the guy who calls balls and strikes. Our teams were Meteors 3 (you may remember them from last week) and the Barracudas (those with long memories may remember them from last Summer).
On my way to the match, I did what I’d done before the first University Challenge match – I took a moment for myself, to be well and truly terrified, and thus got it all out of the way. Well, mostly.
We began with the traditional talk with the captains, during which we defined ground rules (this became important later) and freely acknowledged that this was our first time umpiring (subtext: “please be gentle with us”). I’d forgotten to bring my clicker, but Kevin of Meteors 3 always has a spare, so I borrowed that. Didn’t show any favouritism for it, though.
The cliché is that you just have to be confident, and “call them as you see them”. To an extent this is true. I know I screwed up call after call, and that we must have missed some of the plays. But still, there was a huge store of goodwill, tolerance and understanding from even seasoned players towards their newbie blues.
But still – it was a bit scary. I realised that the blues don’t get the break that players do every half inning. They have to stand there. Alert and ready to make call after call after call. By the end I was praying for either the pitcher to fling the ball short into the mud or the batter to tonk it cleanly to the outfield so I wouldn’t have to make a close call. I also found myself reducing it to the pure mechanics, ignoring the personalities, the teams, the state of the game.
Richard was a great co-umpire. He looked the part making his calls in the outfield, and wants to have a crack at the plate next time.
In the end, Meteors were ahead and due to bat at the bottom of the fifth when bad light and appalling wet conditions made it wise to call the game. So I shouted “ballgame!”, and that was that.
My best call was probably when a ball hit the old clubhouse – thanks to defining ground rules, I knew that unless the ball ended up in the house it was still live, and called it accordingly.
Afterwards I had a beer with Richard, my fellow umpire, and Duncan Devil Stray. He’d turned up to watch us umpire and lend moral support – and also to pick up hints as to how we were going to umpire the Dev Strays’ game next week of course, competitive so-and-so that he is. He was full of praise – said we’d done a “storming” job. So he can’t complain if we call him struck out next game then, right?
I made some woeful calls, but at least they were consistently woeful. And the sides accepted the result without protest, and that’s the main thing. My only worry now is that “be gentle with us – this is only our second game” may not wash as well…

Mascot enquiry

Personally I find stuffed animals rather sinister and seedy...


From: Robert Sinclair [mailto:taxidermy@thegetstuffed.co.uk] Sent: 09 May 2007 16:04To: Waller, MatthewSubject: Re: Wolf Inquiry

Wolves cost £9500 plus VAT each. We can prepare one in any position. Robert Sinclair Get Stuffed


----- Original Message -----
From: Waller, Matthew
To: taxidermy@thegetstuffed.co.uk
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 10:30 AM
Subject: Wolf Inquiry

Hi
I play for a softball team called the Loan Wolves and we’ve been looking for a mascot for some time. Whilst walking past your wonderful shop I noticed two particularly fearsome and impressive examples of canis lupus. May I inquire if they’re for sale, and if so how much you would want for them?

All the animals you have on display are mounted in extremely realistic poses. Would it be possible to mount a wolf in a classic softball stance – on its hind-legs, wielding a bat, just about to strike a home run?

If this is indeed possible, could you provide a similar service for other animals? What price a cricket playing hippopotamus?

I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Matthew Waller

Raiders Blue 21 - 6 Loan Wolves

Weather has taken a turn for the worse this week – must be the influence of the Bank holiday. Despite cold and cloud, we were spared rain. Though one unnamed Wolf didget startled by “lightning” which turned out to be the flash from Manjiv’s camera.
We had a big squad with all female Wolves except Olivia, and eight of our male players, present.
Game started quite well, and we were definitely in contact until the bottom of the fifth, where eight runs gave the team from the 83-strong Raiders club a significant lead. Some great fielding, and good batting – including what must be the most home runs for the Wolves in a single game (three). A nasty collision between Matt and the Raiders’ catcher ended up with her missing the rest of the game (and therefore an automatic out on her turn at bat). This event did probably help us stay in contention, but our performance was still commendable overall.
My only contribution to our performance was to correct the opposition’s scorer when she added 13+4+4 and made 23. At least the agreed total is an accurate reflection of another loss with honour for the Loan Wolves. I managed to get cracked in the shin during throwing and catching warm-up, and narrowly avoided getting beaned by a pop-up foul ball which seemed to be actively tracking me, like a small round guided missile, as I tried to get out of its way.
Not the best scoreline ever, but still respectable.
Tonight Richard and I have the dubious honour of being the first Loan Wolves to officially umpire a match. Wish us luck.

[X-posted from my Livejournal ]

Pics from Game 2 (Loan Wolves vs London Raiders Blue)

LSF Single sex tournament

On Sunday - I replaced my favourite orange t-shirt for a red one as I became a Vixen for the day. The Vixens made up the fifth team in the LSF single sex tournament which took place in Barn Elms Sports Centre (the same venue as the In2Touch tournament we took part in way back in April 2006).
The Vixens are a team formed of girls from different teams within the various divisions in the League...and needless to say, I found myself surrounded by players who were a lot more skilled and experience than I was.
The ball used in single sex games is slightly smaller than the regular softballs used for Co-ed. This actually makes it possible to bat the ball further...
The only low point of the whole day was playing in a team with players who all knew each other and being the only Loan (Lone) Wolf. However, it was a good experience overall, got some good pitching tips and a couple more tournaments should hopefully make some sort of difference to my softball ability :-)
A full write up of the day is available on the BSUK website

Loan Wolves 3 - 30 Meteors Three

First game of the season last night. We were all keyed up for it, I think. I felt quite proud to be part of our team as I changed into the old black and orange after work.
Lovely sunny evening, not too hot. We assembled at Finsbury Park and got down to some practice ahead of the match. Ben turned up to support us, which was nice of him. He soon ended up running a beginners' clinic for our newest players. See, we even lay on higher-division coaches for our team!
Meteors 3 are from a big club, with experienced players to support their newer people. The fact that they can field three teams is a bit of a clue. They had train whistles and rattles, which seemed a bit unnecessary.
The blues (umpires) were umpiring their first game. That'll be Richard and me next week, as we now have to fulfil umpiring duties like the other established teams.
We gave away a few runs in the first two innings, but tightened up a lot towards the end of the game. Sadly, we couldn't overhaul the Meteors' lead. We did some good fielding and pitching though, and for the first time ever we made an appeal against a rules infraction (due to confusing themselves by subbing in so many players from their huge squad, the opposition put two male batters in a row).
I was Catcher, in which position I managed to find the only pebble on the entire field - by kneeling on it. Mercifully, though, that was as serious an injury as any of us received.
Good performances all round, including debuts from new Wolves Faustina, Matt, Valerie and Kevin. Good debut by co-captains Tigger and Michael, also.
We retired to the Finsbury afterwards, and talked (mostly) softball till chucking out time.
Due to not conceding as many runs as some, we aren't bottom of the division, at least. And it's good to know that we've lost none of our enthusiasm for the game and the team. Darren came for a word in the pub (his Div 1 side had been playing), and when Tigger asked if he was surprised that we were back for another season he said; "No. I figured you guys would still be together".

Team Photo May '07

my first softball game

i played my first softball game last night and it was very exciting and the rest of my team were all very friendly and very good players and when i was fielding i stopped the ball quite well but i dropped some catches and that made me sad but i moved to catcher and i got someone out and that made me happy and there was a bossy spanish girl on the other team and she had on very tight shorts that made me feel funny inside and when i batted i always hit the ball but i got confused and got out at second base two times but the third time i listened to blasey and got all the way round and that was good and then all the loan wolves went to the pub and i drank some stuff that was thick like milkshake but black and bitter and it made my head feel funny and for the game next week i think i should work on my catching and my punctuation

1st of the season - Low Point, High Point

Low Point - Fumbling some catches and missing some outs on 2nd as a result.

High Point - hitting the ball and making it to first base each time I was up! Hooray. There is hope for my batting skills yet.

Go Wolves Go!

The final practice before the start of the season and the weather smiled on us. It was a beautiful morning, sunny with a light, cool breeze, and we worked our socks off. Michael led the session and got us running, throwing and batting. It was a good session and everyone was pleased to see how people had improved over the winter. It was however completely exhausting so we had to retire to the pub for a cold coke afterwards. Please note, it was coke, not beer! Welcome to Valerie who came to her first ever practice.

Message to the team from Michael - we need a chant. Something to psych us up. I suggested Go Wolves Go! Michael suggested 1-2-3 Wolves. What's your suggestion? Get posting!!

A new season.....

Wolves,
Less than a week until our new season begins. Let's kickstart this on the right note.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you hope to achieve this season....on a team or individual level...

Co-Cap'n Blue Tiggs

Spring training

Really thoroughly enjoyed yesterday evening's training session. Six Wolves, one bat, and "a whole ball full of bags" as Manjiv put it.
Throwing and catching drills, batting and fielding practice, and a bit of running around. Followed by a couple of beers.
Just the thing on a lovely Spring evening.
Really whetted our softball appetite for the new season.

Wolf meme continued...

I scored as a yellow wolf...

'Kay, you need to calm down, and lay off the crack. Slow down and take a breath. No more sugar for you.....

Wolf meme

You scored as brown wolf. You're a brown wolf. You're very self confident and you love to play. You're very deep into philosophy and you love to know what's going on at all time. Keep on the look out for potential fun, it will find you! brown wolf 80% Black wolf 70% white wolf 60% Silver wolf 60% yellow wolf 45% red wolf 45% Grey wolf 20% Blue wolf 5% what color wolf are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Yesterday morning was softball practice. Joint practice for Loan Wolves and Devil Strays. Finsbury Park far less muddy than I've seen it, but it was a pretty cold day. We did some infield practice - throwing the ball round the bases before the batter could run all the way round. When it was my turn to bat and run, I found that it's quite a long way round in one go for an overweight man with a hangover.
Then a practice game, with mixed Wolf-Stray teams. I tried batting with a 26 oz bat, and did woefully, so changed back to my trusty 30 oz club. Got to base a few times, got round, and did call and execute an inning-ending double-play, earning a high-five from Duncan Devil Stray. Sadly, though, it was Julian who I got out there, not a Devil Stray...
Faustina and Matt, new Wolves, enjoyed the practice and game I think. And the pub afterwards.
We went to the Faltering Fullback - we sank a few beers, chatted about softball and all sorts of other stuff, and watched the Ireland-Wales match. One of Matthew's friends turned up, having been at the new Wembley for the Under-21 friendly. We asked him for his impression of the new stadium. "Big", he said.

Umpire Course March 17-18 - Regents Park and Clapham

Had a very interesting weekend with Mike Jennings and Spencer our two excellent trainers.

The rules are as we know pretty complex - certainly the detailed knowledge that is required to become an umpire. Spencer has a rule book by his bed at night.

I took a lot of notes on a whole range of matters relating to the different calls made by the umpire, the Infield Fly rule, illegal bats, coaches and substitutes, removed and ejected players, The Run Ahead Rule ( another and better name for the Mercy Rule) etc. etc.

We are using the ISF rules ( International Softball Federation) for everything except which bats or balls are acceptable for which the ASA ( Amateur Softball Association) rules are used.

We did a drill up at Regents Park - practising being the Plate umpire. ie calling strikes, balls, illegals etc. Quite difficult reacting quickly and making the fine judgements.

On Sunday as there were only 5 of us we adjourned to Clapham to join up with some of the Raiders who were doing umpiring training as well. We did some drill on watching the batter-runner going to 1st and then making the call - Out or Safe. Also we practised doing some calls on whether a ball was in Fair or Foul territory.

At the end we concentrated on the coordination between the two umpires when they are both used. That is the Plate Umpire and the Field Umpire. Did an elaborate drill base on this coordination and how it is achieved

Those who participated on the course are being sent an email exam to complete

Back in the mud!

Yesterday morning I went over to Clapham South for first softball session of the year. Ah, the familiar squelch of cold wet mud on a winter's morning, how I have missed thee! On the way over, I'm afraid I alarmed a little old lady. I sat next to her on the bus, and she saw the baseball hat I was wearing, and my bat handle sticking out of my sports bag, and I could see her thinking; "oh no! This must be one of them ASBO hoodies the Daily Mail's always warning us about!".
Only four of us there, including new player Faustina. We ran an impromptu "softball skills: 101" session for her, which went well. She has a flair for batting, which is a good thing, and seemed keen to learn about the game. The batting tee Ben gave us as a parting gift proved to be a useful bit of training kit. We all went for a beer at the George afterwards, and I attempted to explain some of the rules to Faustina using a diamond laid out on the table, with coins for players.
[X-posted from my LJ]