Foo - Softball game tonight....

So I got talked into playing some softball with a team at work. We play tonight. I didn't hear about until last week (day after their first game), so I missed the pre-season practices. I haven't even picked up my glove in 10+ years.

My question is...on a suckiness scale of 1 to 10, where do you think I'll come in at?

I'm guessing a 9.

What's your guess?

all the way to 11 :D

I dunno - were you ever good? If so, then my guess is you'll be fine - but you'll be in pain tomorrow (drink lots of beer as an internal analgesic)

I dunno - were you ever good? If so, then my guess is you'll be fine - but you'll be in pain tomorrow (drink lots of beer as an internal analgesic)

I was "decent" once upon a time.....and I hate beer. I was thinking of taking a tin of Tiger Balm with me to the game though - just to be safe.

I was "decent" once upon a time.....and I hate beer. I was thinking of taking a tin of Tiger Balm with me to the game though - just to be safe.

You drink Tiger Balm?!? That's waaay worse than beer :p

So I got talked into playing some softball with a team at work. We play tonight. I didn't hear about until last week (day after their first game), so I missed the pre-season practices. I haven't even picked up my glove in 10+ years.

My question is...on a suckiness scale of 1 to 10, where do you think I'll come in at?

I'm guessing a 9.

What's your guess?

You playing lawyers or doctors? Man, I saw two teams of those guys go at it, talk about pent up unadulterated rage and fury. 10 years, not even to throw the ball around a bit to play catch? Dude...you'd better hope they put you in right field.

Prolly better if you don't get drunk at work anyway.

I always found softball had a way of making all these little muscles I didn't know I had hurt like hell the next day. Right on the outer upper thigh/hip area. I guess from all those sudden darting motions left/right reacting to balls hit your way.

When I got older I did the same thing I used to see the older guys do at company games - pull a hammy! ow! (Go easy getting out of the batter's box)

10 years, not even to throw the ball around a bit to play catch? Dude...you'd better hope they put you in right field.I was thinking the same thing.

The co-worker of mine who played his first game last week is younger than me and he that was his first game in like 10 years he said too. He was so sore he could barely walk without moaning last week after the game.

You playing lawyers or doctors?Don't know who the other team is.....we are all engineers. :eek::innocent:

Don't do what I did. I went to the cages but the softball section was taken up by kids, so of course being the chest thumping male that I am I went to the fast ball section. Got pretty good.

When I got to the field and the first ball came lobbing in I swung so fast that I had time to get ready to swing again before it got to the plate. Timing was REALLY off!

Don't do what I did. I went to the cages but the softball section was taken up by kids, so of course being the chest thumping male that I am I went to the fast ball section. Got pretty good.

When I got to the field and the first ball came lobbing in I swung so fast that I had time to get ready to swing again before it got to the plate. Timing was REALLY off!

LOL....I think my co-worker may have done something similar. He said last week he hit the ball pretty good, but he swung so hard he pulled something and couldn't hardly use his arm for a day or two afterward.

I was thinking the same thing.

The co-worker of mine who played his first game last week is younger than me and he that was his first game in like 10 years he said too. He was so sore he could barely walk without moaning last week after the game.

Gonna be a looooooong night for you, man. Just remember, suffering builds character. Post here tomorrow about how you hurt like hell.:thumb:

Gonna be a looooooong night for you, man. Just remember, suffering builds character. Post here tomorrow about how you hurt like hell.:thumb:

It gets worse....all games (always on Wednesday) are double headers. :(

I'm gonna DIE!!!!

Double header? Oh.....S**T...you didn't say anything about playing a double header, and you hate beer, you say? Whoooooooooooooooooo. Better you than me. You'd better deploy the Tiger Balm, Red, vs. the White. You're going to need the serious S**T. White Flower, too, if you have any. Man...you poor *******.

Caution - STRETCH.

I'm a fairly active guy. I bike commute, jog, occasionally lift. It was right after I banged a grounder into the ground and tried to leg it out that I realized sprinting is a completely different animal. A week later, I was able to be active again.

Caution - STRETCH.

I'm a fairly active guy. I bike commute, jog, occasionally lift. It was right after I banged a grounder into the ground and tried to leg it out that I realized sprinting is a completely different animal. A week later, I was able to be active again.

Good advice...I'd probably have forgotten otherwise.

Throw them a curve. Go get a playground ball and suggest a spirited game of kickball instead of softball.

I love the "twooooiiiiingggg" sound a playground ball makes after a Keds Hi Top makes contact with it.

If you're anything like me, you'll hit a deep fielder ... run to first as hard as you can, and get a major charlie-horse half way there. Good luck with that one.

Don't do what I did. I went to the cages but the softball section was taken up by kids, so of course being the chest thumping male that I am I went to the fast ball section. Got pretty good.

When I got to the field and the first ball came lobbing in I swung so fast that I had time to get ready to swing again before it got to the plate. Timing was REALLY off!

This is true.
I played softball off/on for many years and then played in a fast pitch baseball league for a couple of years.

Ever since then - I swear - I cannot hit slow pitch softball. The last few times I played I basically batted .000 for the year.

Unfortunately the last time I went to a batting cage I couldn't hit the fast pitch either. Guess my baseball days are over.

Caution - STRETCH.

I'm a fairly active guy. I bike commute, jog, occasionally lift. It was right after I banged a grounder into the ground and tried to leg it out that I realized sprinting is a completely different animal. A week later, I was able to be active again.

Yeah - and that explosive start out of the batter's box - killed me once I hit 30....

If you're anything like me, you'll hit a deep fielder ... run to first as hard as you can, and get a major charlie-horse half way there. Good luck with that one.

When i went to a baseball league i huffed and puffed to first the first few times, looked up in agony when my body told me I'd suffered for about 60 ft., and remembered with horror there was another 30 feet to go. Let's just say I didn't leg out any hits that year....plus, it wasn't pretty to watch.

You playing lawyers or doctors? Man, I saw two teams of those guys go at it, talk about pent up unadulterated rage and fury. 10 years, not even to throw the ball around a bit to play catch? Dude...you'd better hope they put you in right field.

If they have any left hand batters, you are toast.

If it's anything like the softball games I know, it's more about hanging around drinking beer in the parking lot after the game, than the game itself. YMMV

OK....the follow up report - as requested.

First the game report

We lost both games, 14-5 then 13-10 (came close 2nd game, tied until last inning).

First they put me in right-center (they do right-center and left-center instead of shortfield). I played that for 3 innings. Only really had one major hit come my way - a bit of a liner/grounder that was too far to my left to have realistically got anyway. I started running after it and for no apparent reason just fell on my ass. I just tripped over nothing while running and skinned me knee up a little.

Then they put me at 1st base for a few innings. I had 3 plays. First was a throw that was low and in the dirt. I bobbled it, but stabilized it in time to get the guy out. 2nd was nearly same type throw, but I didn't get it in time to get the guy out. Another time I ended up with ball and people were yelling to throw it home as somebody was coming in. I looked toward home, but didn't know my team mates that well yet. They were mostly wearing red shirts, and I saw 3 red shirts in my line of sight. I just sort of averaged the throw and it was too far off for the real red shirt to catch.

Last play was in 2nd game when I was in right-center again. I had a few plays there. Twice I got some liner/grounders that I had no problems with and quickly got them in to cut off man (not very good throws). Then a high pop fly coming my direction. I was running up toward it and kept hearing the guy in right field yelling something, but was concentrating too hard to comprehend what he was saying. Then I realized the ball was about 10 feet over my head and almost simultaneously realized he was yelling "back" "back".

I did hit the ball every time I got up, but only made it to base once. Nearly all my hits were ground outs, but I did hit two pop flys, one in shallow left and one in mid left field, but both were caught. Middle of 2nd game I finally got my only "hit" with a shallow pop fly in the hole.


Now the sore report
It's not as bad as I feared it would be. I did wake up walking like Tim Conway's famous "old man" for a few minutes, but once I loosened up, I was semi-OK. I have some pain in my left heel making walking harder than usual, but not that bad. Just some general soreness in my arms and legs, but nothing hindering me much.










The big factor in all this was that I did not get my softball jonesin' like I thought I would. I used to LOVE the game. I could get much better again with practice, but the team doesn't have any practices except a few pre-season practices. The guy who was coaching was kind of a stick in the mud (though most other guys were nice). He asked me what positions I could play and I said "anything but 2nd base and catcher" (my two known bad positions). Middle of second game he tried to get me to play catcher. Also, I noticed, he kept rotating people all over the place into different positions. How can anyone get used to and good at one position when they are playing different positions constantly?

Another thing that kind of bothered me was there was no safety. No batting helmets, catcher wore no protection, umpire wore no protection. Maybe I'm old and chicken, but it seemed like an accident waiting to happen.

I could help but keep thinking "I'd rather be on a bike". All in all, I don't think its something I'm really wanting to get back in to. I'm glad I got to play to find out, but not something I'll continue with in a big way. There are about 5-6 more games, all double headers, some start 6 (til 830) and others start at 830 (to 11pm). I don't think I'll do the 830 ones as that's later than I want to stay out. I may play one or two more of the 6pm games, but overall, I don't think I'll be a regular.

http://www.southflorida.edu/gallery/_images/5/59.jpg

Good to hear you aren't in major pain. That Tiger Balm come in handy?

Good to hear you aren't in major pain. That Tiger Balm come in handy?

LOL....I forgot all about that until just now.

I'm right with you on the basic reaction after playing. In the words of Tom Simpson, Put me back on my bike....

I've played in various leagues over the yrs and The best time I had by far was just playing pickup coed games with friends or at work. No one kept score, and people would come and go throughout the day, no biggie.... Just laugh the whole thing off and have fun...otherwise there's always some ***hole on your team who is bitter about not being on the Yankees and they groan every time you don't come up with an Allstar performance.

I always hated that kind of pressure...One season I batted a respectable .300ish in baseball, but I think I was like 0-for-everything with runners in scoring position....I just always choked big time. (I hit like .750 with no one on :o I had maybe 1 RBI that year).

Glad you survived in one piece - sounds like you did just fine, too, after such a long layoff....maybe you should try again if you can find enough good friends to throw a low key game together...

maybe you should try again if you can find enough good friends to throw a low key game together...
Friends?

I'm waaaay to anti-social to have friends. :notamused:

Friends?

I'm waaaay to anti-social to have friends. :notamused:

What's wrong with being anti-social?

What's wrong with being anti-social?
Nothing...that's why I *am* so anti-social.

being anti-social is underrated.

like the new black before black was back.

Ok, today is now 2nd day after the game. I feel sorer today than I did yesterday.

Luckily I have some Tiger Balm here at work that I used a while back for some shoulder pain. I just went to the bathroom, dropped trou and coated my upper legs where most of the muscle ache is. Please pray that none of the tiger balm strayed into my nether regions or you might not hear from me again. :eek:

I still say you should have talked them into a game of kick ball.

YouTube - Kick It 2008! Kickball Tournament! May 3rd 2008!

I still say you should have talked them into a game of kick ball.

I would LOVE to get an adult game of kickball going. :D

Ok, today is now 2nd day after the game. I feel sorer today than I did yesterday.

Luckily I have some Tiger Balm here at work that I used a while back for some shoulder pain. I just went to the bathroom, dropped trou and coated my upper legs where most of the muscle ache is. Please pray that none of the tiger balm strayed into my nether regions or you might not hear from me again. :eek:

Bah, you'll live. Just don't talk about that "burning sensation" you're experiencing.

Ok, today is now 2nd day after the game. I feel sorer today than I did yesterday.

Luckily I have some Tiger Balm here at work that I used a while back for some shoulder pain. I just went to the bathroom, dropped trou and coated my upper legs where most of the muscle ache is. Please pray that none of the tiger balm strayed into my nether regions or you might not hear from me again. :eek:

def wash your hands after putting it on - don't want that stuff in your eyes!

also - I used to use TB then I got this (http://www.sombrausa.com/) from my chiropractor

the retail product is here (http://www.sorenomoreusa.com/)

the retail product is here (http://www.sorenomoreusa.com/)I'll keep my eye out for it - thanks.

Before I started cycling, I played softaball leagues and tournaments for about 10 years. I lost interest so didn't play for about 10 years. A bud asked me to play with a team that was short a player. Bunch of young 23 y/o's while I was 43. I took it to the cages a couple of times before my return debut.

They batted me last the first game since I hadn't played and I was the old guy. Guys were ok but at my first at bat, I parked it!:D

Next week I was batting cleanup. Nobody made anymore ,"it will come back oldman" comments. I ended up winning the highest average pool and most home-runs! It's like riding a bike!:p

That's so cool! Go gramps!:D