I’ve been playing Tuesday night, co-ed, slo-pitch softball with a great team of people.
They let me pitch, which I like very much.
When I was younger I played the outfield. I liked that very much, too, but now that I’m older, I’m also slower and I don’t do as well running around out there.
Pitching is better, because I’m involved on every pitch on defense. Even better, I’m in control of every pitch – even when my control isn’t that good. I like being in control. (Analyze that at your own leisure.)
Tonight was our last game of the regular season. We have already clinched second place and we were playing the first place team, who also had already guaranteed their spot. However, they were undefeated, and we could keep them from a perfect season. So there was incentive to do well.
We did. The final score was 15-13, which was really closer than it needed to be. We were in control for most of the game.
As I said, it’s slo-pitch (yes, I think the slo without the w is the way it’s supposed to be), which means the pitcher basically lobs the ball in for the batters to hit. The pitcher is supposed to have much less effect on the game than in fast-pitch or baseball. I like to think I have more effect than I probably do.
The bad effects are when I walk people. If you walk guys in our league, they get two bases, because we bat boy-girl-boy-girl and they don’t want you walking a guy to pitch to a girl. And when you walk a girl…well, that’s usually giving up a better chance for an out. Tonight I had a few walks. I didn’t feel as bad about it, because the opposing pitcher had a lot of walks.
The home plate umpire had a very rigid and small strike zone. He wasn’t giving much deep and he was calling the inside corner (for a righthand batter) very tight. That was because he was set up on that corner. He wasn’t calling the outside part of the plate nearly as closely, and I got a few calls on that side.
The good effects are when I throw strikes and throw pitches in a way that I imagine messes with hitters. For instance, when I throw with maximum arc to the pitch, hitters have to be patient and wait for the ball, attacking solidly at just the right point. When I’m throwing right, my pitches also tend to curve a bit. On a good night they will break four-to-six inches.
Tonight the wind was blowing from right field to left field, which was taking most of the curve out of my pitches. However, I found that I could throw just off the outside corner – all the hitters were right-handed tonight – and the wind would carry the pitch over the plate. In addition, not all my natural curve would be taken off the ball. So, at the last second, the pitches would tail away from the hitter. This made several hitters reach for pitches, mostly popping them up.
I like to imagine I was making it tough on the other hitters. However, as a hitter I rarely think that the opposing pitcher has anything to do with how well I’m hitting. I either hit the ball well, or I don’t. Which means that the other team probably doesn’t think I have near the effect on the game, good or bad, that I imagine I do. (Maybe another good place to analyze.)
So, as I said in the last post, these are the kind of things that I want to get out of my head. I know in normal conversation they are not very interesting…and on a blog they aren’t that interesting either.
But thanks for reading to the end anyway. 🙂