…as to what we are talking about. But today, I had practice. Not the game – it’s not about that. We had practice, and for the first time since 2006, I attended baseball practice. Not the game that I go out there and die – ok, I’m tired of this already. Anyway, MY GOD did […]
…as to what we are talking about.
But today, I had practice. Not the game – it’s not about that. We had practice, and for the first time since 2006, I attended baseball practice. Not the game that I go out there and die – ok, I’m tired of this already.
Anyway, MY GOD did it feel good to be out there and let ‘er rip. The good news is that I felt comfortable, elbow felt good, and I can still pick ground balls. The bad news is that I think that years of staring at a computer screen have finally decimated my vision, and I can’t hit a baseball right now with a tennis racket. I took one almost to the warning track in BP, but other than that, I just wasn’t seeing the ball at all. I’ll give it a few practices, but I think I may finally need to go to an optometrist and start rocking the Chris Sabo glasses. In the past, even when I was over-matched by superior pitchers – and pride compels me to say that it didn’t happen that often – I always trusted my hands to get me to the ball, even against nasty, moving stuff, but today, I was missing lobs by what felt like four feet. What a drag it is getting old.
The team has changed a great deal since I last played with them in the fall of ’05, and just one game in the fall of ’06 after coming back from France. Skipper B, the Connie Mack of the Reds (now the Red Giants after our merger with another suitably fun-loving team) is still there, as is Brendan Chan, who used to lead off with me in the two hole. Together, we are the last three remaining Original Reds. Steve is still around, a third year Reds pickup and the power behind the throne, as are Ari and Brendan, the holdovers from the Giants team with which we merged. (It warrants mentioning that our new Red Giants logo is fantastic, and I will post it here soon)
As for the new guys, they are very young and very serious, but I have confidence that both will change with time. They are much better ballplayers than I am now, and I suspect they will stay that way for a while, even after I get my knee back into playing shape. For now, I am content to earn my way back onto the field. It won’t be like old days, where I could just show up any time and know I would be penciled in at shortstop and batting second… but if this blog is any indication, I like a challenge on the ball field, especially when the odds are long and I’m fundamentally ill-equipped to overcome them.
Ad Astra Per Aspera.