Time for Softball Again!

It's that time of year again! Time to play softball! We've signed our team up with the local Parks and Rec Department, and our games begin on August 11.

I'm fully recovered from the broken ankle in last season's finale, although I've yet to swing a bat with my balky left shoulder. I'm sure it will be something I can play through, though.

Chuck is taking a more active role in the coaching of the team this year, so I'm glad of that. I'm still helping him out, but he's going to take some of the load off.

Since he's doing the lineups and field assignments now, he's trying to decide where to put everyone. In my 20+ years of playing softball, I've played every position on the field, but as I age, my depth perception is failing me. My only hope of not completely embarrassing myself in the outfield is to play there when the sun is still up. Once the sun starts to set, that's it for my ability to track fly balls. I can see that the ball is in the air, but its trajectory is a complete mystery to me. One time last season, I was yelling "I got it! I got it!" while trying to field a fly ball. I heard the outfielder next to me say, "Um...no you don't." And a second or two later, the ball went about 20 feet over my head. That's how bad it is.

So these days, I'm a much better infielder than I am an outfielder. We have an absolutely stellar shortstop--easily the best athlete on our team--so I won't be playing there. And we have a new woman on the team who holds down first base quite well, so I won't be over there, either. Chuck's trying to decide whether to put me at second base or third base. Either one works just fine for me. I like them both. I'm hoping we can have a practice before the season starts, in part so we can determine if our new first baseman is going to be able to handle the velocity of my throws from third base. Many a first baseman over the years has complained about how hard I throw. Even when I try to take something off of the throw, I get complaints (and I start losing accuracy). That was actually a big reason why I moved to second base. With short tosses from second to first, I throw with a much lesser sense of urgency.

So anyway, whether it's second base or third base, I'm looking forward to it.

And I'm not sliding this season.

At least not feet-first.....