Loan Wolves end-of-season party last night.
The Wolves had put on our posh frocks for the occasion. We assembled for drinks at Bar Soho. I was first Wolf there, so was our leadoff drinker for the night. After a couple of beers we went to Bistro1 for a good value meal and several glasses of wine. I had the spicy sausage salad starter, followed by the Cumberland sausage and mash. I like sausages.
After dinner, we had the awards ceremony. Everyone got a joke award (complete with certificate) for something. I was the recipient of the "Florence Nightingale" award for player with the best first aid kit - and most need of it. Most Valuable Wolf was a deserved joint award, to Paul and Ben.
We then went on to O'Neill's in Wardour Street. first we were up on the top floor, which was a bit too noisy for most of us (and the playlist was aimed at people with the musical attention span of a goldfish - the DJ considered "Seven nation army" to be "an old classic"). On the first floor, though, we found a table by the window, with a brilliant view out over Chinatown.
Lots of laughs, dancing, drinks, with a fun bunch of good people.
Sadly, I forgot one of the golden rules on my way home. Never fall asleep on the night bus. 'Cos some chav nicks your mobile phone if you do that. Arranged a new one from Vodaphone, but I'm going to have to get everyone's numbers again.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
End of Season Party- Low Point, High Point
Low Point - getting home. I wandered around for a while and my beer compass eventually got be back to ICSL. Then a hours nightbus trip around the whole of North London got me into bed just after 3am!
High Point - What can I say - all that dancing! We may not be all that coordinated on the field, but we sure can move! Love Shack, baby love shack!
Photos now on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjscott
High Point - What can I say - all that dancing! We may not be all that coordinated on the field, but we sure can move! Love Shack, baby love shack!
Photos now on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjscott
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Hope we have a practice next Saturday
I hope we can have a practice next Saturday as I may very well be around for that one
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Go on then... Low Point, High Point
I can't believe no one won. I can't believe we managed to miss that rain! Special mention should go to all those in the bar who suggested the name Target for me. I'm sorry I can't remember who said it first, it may have been Richard. I like it. I feel that it sums up my cunning ability to be hit by both balls and runners (but only when they are going at full speed) and also the fact that everyone kept hitting the ball straight to me last night - more of that below.
Anyway, shall I get the ball rolling?
Low Point: Not winning :-(
High Point: Generally having a cracking time at second base. Due to Paul's misguided tactics (as if every ball would get pass me and Andy!) loads of the balls came my way allowing me to make some nice outs with some dodgy throws to first. Particularly pleasing was still managing to get Paul out when I missed the tag by gently throwing the ball over to Darren who had run over to second. Sweet!
Over to you...
Anyway, shall I get the ball rolling?
Low Point: Not winning :-(
High Point: Generally having a cracking time at second base. Due to Paul's misguided tactics (as if every ball would get pass me and Andy!) loads of the balls came my way allowing me to make some nice outs with some dodgy throws to first. Particularly pleasing was still managing to get Paul out when I missed the tag by gently throwing the ball over to Darren who had run over to second. Sweet!
Over to you...
Northern Caribou 3 - 3 Southern Dingoes
[X posted from my LJ]
Last night the Loan wolves played an end-of-season friendly, against ourselves. The team was split according to which side of the river we live. So, as southernmost-dwelling Wolf, I was a Dingo. If you see what I mean. "SuperBen" captained the Dingoes, and Paul "the Gobfather" was leading the Caribou. We've been working on our nicknames, as we're finally about to be getting the shirts printed.
I brought my Grolsch beer tube, and my Stella coolbag, and there were plenty of cans in evidence. Everyone was gung-ho for it, but it was a pretty friendly affair. Dingoes in red, Caribou in black or white (somehow, their plan to wear white in the field and black at bat got confused, and half the team turned out in each colour). Teams proved pretty well balanced - we were lucky that coach Darren had been persuaded to turn out for the Dingoes, being as how he lives in Clapham.
We wanted to get an early start, but the kids' baseball team were on the field, being shouted at by some angry sadist (e.g., to a kid of perhaps six who'd dared to open his mouth; "SHUT UP! I SAID SHUT UP!"). So it was nearly seven when we took to the field, and the game was curtailed by bad light.
Great fielding, dynamite pitching, and some poor batting (from me, in our case) kept the game tight and the scores low. I enjoyed being more active at Right Field, sprinting in to back up First, and on one occasion accidentally (honest) booting a ball into dead territory and preventing a home run from Paul. Ben got the only home run of the day with a cracking hit. The Dingoes lost a 2 run lead to end with a tied game, thus confirming our spiritual affinity with the other Wolves, who've beeen snatching high-score draws from the jaws of victory since my grandad's day.
At end of a softball game, the convention is that the teams get into huddles and give a rousing three cheers for the opposition. So we did, with Ben leading the Dingoes:
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: HUURAH!
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: HUURAH!
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: HUURAH!
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: bemused looks, as we'd mostly expected to stop at three...
With honours even, and light going (I couldn't find my beer where I'd left it in the outfield), we headed to the pub to unwind. Pub was crowded but Darren knew about a quiet (almost deserted) place round the corner, some sort of social club (anti-social club?), and we piled in there. Had a few beers and a natter, and we considered arbitrary grounds for deciding teams next year (glasses v no glasses, cat people v dog people, innies v outies?).
Good evening, but the theory that after this game at least half the Wolves would have known the taste of victory came to naught. Even against ourselves, we still can't win. Well, the end-of-year tournament's on the 23rd - let's change that statistic then.
Last night the Loan wolves played an end-of-season friendly, against ourselves. The team was split according to which side of the river we live. So, as southernmost-dwelling Wolf, I was a Dingo. If you see what I mean. "SuperBen" captained the Dingoes, and Paul "the Gobfather" was leading the Caribou. We've been working on our nicknames, as we're finally about to be getting the shirts printed.
I brought my Grolsch beer tube, and my Stella coolbag, and there were plenty of cans in evidence. Everyone was gung-ho for it, but it was a pretty friendly affair. Dingoes in red, Caribou in black or white (somehow, their plan to wear white in the field and black at bat got confused, and half the team turned out in each colour). Teams proved pretty well balanced - we were lucky that coach Darren had been persuaded to turn out for the Dingoes, being as how he lives in Clapham.
We wanted to get an early start, but the kids' baseball team were on the field, being shouted at by some angry sadist (e.g., to a kid of perhaps six who'd dared to open his mouth; "SHUT UP! I SAID SHUT UP!"). So it was nearly seven when we took to the field, and the game was curtailed by bad light.
Great fielding, dynamite pitching, and some poor batting (from me, in our case) kept the game tight and the scores low. I enjoyed being more active at Right Field, sprinting in to back up First, and on one occasion accidentally (honest) booting a ball into dead territory and preventing a home run from Paul. Ben got the only home run of the day with a cracking hit. The Dingoes lost a 2 run lead to end with a tied game, thus confirming our spiritual affinity with the other Wolves, who've beeen snatching high-score draws from the jaws of victory since my grandad's day.
At end of a softball game, the convention is that the teams get into huddles and give a rousing three cheers for the opposition. So we did, with Ben leading the Dingoes:
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: HUURAH!
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: HUURAH!
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: HUURAH!
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: bemused looks, as we'd mostly expected to stop at three...
With honours even, and light going (I couldn't find my beer where I'd left it in the outfield), we headed to the pub to unwind. Pub was crowded but Darren knew about a quiet (almost deserted) place round the corner, some sort of social club (anti-social club?), and we piled in there. Had a few beers and a natter, and we considered arbitrary grounds for deciding teams next year (glasses v no glasses, cat people v dog people, innies v outies?).
Good evening, but the theory that after this game at least half the Wolves would have known the taste of victory came to naught. Even against ourselves, we still can't win. Well, the end-of-year tournament's on the 23rd - let's change that statistic then.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Evening Practice at Clapham
7 dedicated Wolves (Manjiv, Alison, Vic, Paul, Julian, Peter and I) turned up for practice last night at our normal southern training base, or so we thought. It turned out that not only was there a GLSML Div. 4 match going on, on the pitch itself, but there was also a Nike Run London event/promotion, so we had to play across the road this time. It wasn't a bad pitch, (thanks to Paul for bringing some throwdown bases) and in stark contrast to the proper pitch, it actually had grass on the field.
After the normal Wolves warmup and throwing and catching practice, we carried out a drill that I had devised earlier in the day. Basically, we had a full infield, pitcher and a right fielder, plus the batter. As the ball was pitched, the batter had to hit the ball, and run to first base, whilst the infield worked together to field the ball and attempted to throw the batter/runner out. The purpose of the right fielder being involved was for them to run in and back up first base (unless of course the ball was hit directly to them :-) ). As we each switched it around to give everyone a go at batting, it was interesting for everyone to play in positions that they had perhaps never played in before. Special mentions go to Manjiv for making some great catches at first base, and Julian for making a nice back up play behind first base to stop the overthrow (and ducking well to give the third base person a chance to see the first base person when doing that tricky, long diagonal throw) . Also, Vic did very well with her throws, getting more power on them than before, by using a run up few steps, something that perhaps other Wolves can learn from. I felt that everyone was consistently hitting the ball harder than usual, which was good to see, and people were definitely thinking about what direction they were hitting to. On Paul's suggestion, we kept the same drill as above, but started making double and triple plays. Hopefully we can get some double plays in the upcoming tournament, as we were looking pretty slick at times last night. Now we just need to do it in the games.
After the normal Wolves warmup and throwing and catching practice, we carried out a drill that I had devised earlier in the day. Basically, we had a full infield, pitcher and a right fielder, plus the batter. As the ball was pitched, the batter had to hit the ball, and run to first base, whilst the infield worked together to field the ball and attempted to throw the batter/runner out. The purpose of the right fielder being involved was for them to run in and back up first base (unless of course the ball was hit directly to them :-) ). As we each switched it around to give everyone a go at batting, it was interesting for everyone to play in positions that they had perhaps never played in before. Special mentions go to Manjiv for making some great catches at first base, and Julian for making a nice back up play behind first base to stop the overthrow (and ducking well to give the third base person a chance to see the first base person when doing that tricky, long diagonal throw) . Also, Vic did very well with her throws, getting more power on them than before, by using a run up few steps, something that perhaps other Wolves can learn from. I felt that everyone was consistently hitting the ball harder than usual, which was good to see, and people were definitely thinking about what direction they were hitting to. On Paul's suggestion, we kept the same drill as above, but started making double and triple plays. Hopefully we can get some double plays in the upcoming tournament, as we were looking pretty slick at times last night. Now we just need to do it in the games.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Creating a southpark character for your profile
There are four stages:
Stage 2: Grabbing image
After you have created your character take a printscreen of the page.
Open Microsoft Photoeditor (Should be in Office Tools menu)
In Photoeditor select Edit / Paste as New Image
Use Select Tool (Icon looks like dashed rectangle) and click and drag to select your picture.
Choose Image/Crop from menu. Then do OK. You should now have just your character.
Save image (Menu item: Image/Save)
Choose a filename and a filetype (jpeg) in the save options dialogue. Save your file.
Stage 3: Uploading image.
Create a post in the the City Uni Softball Blog. Use the add image icon. In the resulting pop-up browse to where you have saved your image and then upload your image. Post your new post and view it.
Stage 4: Adding image to profile.
Right click on the image in your post and choose the following option: Copy Shortcut. (If you are using Firefox choose option: Copy Image Location).
Now open your profile.
Edit profile.
Paste the shortcut into Photo URL
Save profile.
That's all!
- Create character at South Park Studio
- Grabbing image and saving on computer
- Uploading image as part of a post
- Adding uploaded image to your profile
Stage 2: Grabbing image
After you have created your character take a printscreen of the page.
Open Microsoft Photoeditor (Should be in Office Tools menu)
In Photoeditor select Edit / Paste as New Image
Use Select Tool (Icon looks like dashed rectangle) and click and drag to select your picture.
Choose Image/Crop from menu. Then do OK. You should now have just your character.
Save image (Menu item: Image/Save)
Choose a filename and a filetype (jpeg) in the save options dialogue. Save your file.
Stage 3: Uploading image.
Create a post in the the City Uni Softball Blog. Use the add image icon. In the resulting pop-up browse to where you have saved your image and then upload your image. Post your new post and view it.
Stage 4: Adding image to profile.
Right click on the image in your post and choose the following option: Copy Shortcut. (If you are using Firefox choose option: Copy Image Location).
Now open your profile.
Edit profile.
Paste the shortcut into Photo URL
Save profile.
That's all!
Thursday, August 31, 2006
More photos from our tourney last year
Hi Wolves,
Just found some more photos from last year's tourney, courtesy of Brendan Casey...thought I would post them here so we can start building up the excitement for the next one!
Although not quite a wolf..a contender for team mascot?
Alison shows us how its done...for Oblivion!
Remember our original first baseman? She'll be back...
This one's been the background on my office PC since last year..my favourite
That's the Captain alright..
Just found some more photos from last year's tourney, courtesy of Brendan Casey...thought I would post them here so we can start building up the excitement for the next one!
Although not quite a wolf..a contender for team mascot?
Alison shows us how its done...for Oblivion!
Remember our original first baseman? She'll be back...
This one's been the background on my office PC since last year..my favourite
That's the Captain alright..
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Low Point High Point (Raiders B)- one last time, with feeling.
Low Point - Letting a couple of low fast ground balls get by me and make it out into the field.
High Point - Running over home plate twice in one game - and both of the runs counted and everything!
High Point - Running over home plate twice in one game - and both of the runs counted and everything!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Swinging in the Rain
As Kate said it was wet and as Boni Jovi added it's "Slippery When Wet". To slippery for running round bases so my successful hours of thought into how to play a game of Softball with 9 people were wasted (until next time!) It was great to see Alison playing again although we should have pointed out it’s Softball not mud wrestling. Thanks everyone, I really enjoyed myself although I should have stood up to Manjiv and gone home instead of being lured into the pub… she’s evil I tell you!
p.s. Kate I would have posted a comment but then I couldn’t have added the picture of a lone wolf in the tumble drier :-)
Softballing in the Rain - aka When Wolves get Soggy.
Eight brave (or is that foolish?) wolves braved the inclement weather in Finsbury Park last night for a practice session. When we started it was dry, then it rained, then it stopped, then it rained again. It got to the point where we were so wet that it didn't matter anymore, and we ploughed on through as the rain came and went, came and went.
With the size of the group it wasn't practical to get a game going, so we concentrated on pitching, batting and fielding practice. Each person got a decent go with the bat and both myself and Manjiv had a good stints pitching. Towards the end out competitive streaks came out as we had a 'relay throwing' race - 2 teams of 4 seeing who could relay balls up and down the line the quickest. As Paul said. 'it's all about accuracy!'
I managed to take another ball to my ankle bone - the previous bruise had just about faded - now it is nice and green again.
Despite the sogginess of the evening, I hope everyone would agree that it was good wolfish fun.
With the size of the group it wasn't practical to get a game going, so we concentrated on pitching, batting and fielding practice. Each person got a decent go with the bat and both myself and Manjiv had a good stints pitching. Towards the end out competitive streaks came out as we had a 'relay throwing' race - 2 teams of 4 seeing who could relay balls up and down the line the quickest. As Paul said. 'it's all about accuracy!'
I managed to take another ball to my ankle bone - the previous bruise had just about faded - now it is nice and green again.
Despite the sogginess of the evening, I hope everyone would agree that it was good wolfish fun.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
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...
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 | | |
| 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 | | |
| 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 | | |
| 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. |
Monday, August 21, 2006
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.
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.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
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.....
Friday, August 18, 2006
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!
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!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
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.
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]
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]
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
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........
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........
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