another softball game ('bout time)

Finally had another game tonight in the church slow-pitch softball league...first one in weeks with all this rain. I can't think of anything else to blog about before I hit the sack that wouldn't take too long so I'll stick to this. Funny how I always think of plenty of stuff during the day at work but I can never remember it at night. Either I'm getting old or my memory just sucks. Or both.

I'm hopelessly inept at every sport I've ever tried, softball included. I'm a mediocre fielder when I don't have to catch fly balls (or better put, chase ones I should catch), the worst hitter in history, and not much better at throwing. Everyone on the field should be ready when I throw; the direction and trajectory of the ball are pretty much random. I can at least run and hustle okay in a league with plenty of older guys, but I'm only finally getting the hang of being where I need to be on routine plays.

But, in an anomaly as bizarre as any yet known, I seem to have a knack for pitching. I've pitched a few innings most games this season and I'm now able to throw strikes with some consistency. I can't say I'm 50/50 yet but I don't have to be--in softball you just have to toss 'em something that looks hittable and they'll go for it. I actually threw a couple of scoreless innings tonight (out of three) and didn't walk anybody. The competition was maybe average but still. Heck, just getting more outs than walks is a respectable accomplishment for many pitchers I've hit against. In fact, if I do say so myself, my accuracy is right there with that of a lot of others I've seen. My biggest problem seems to be not enough arc on my pitches, as this makes them easier to hit. This is evidenced by my tendency to give up lots of long fly balls but thankfully we have a good outfield (when I'm not out there). Not bad overall for a guy who threw his first pitch in practice a few months ago.

One of our captains mentioned in that first practice that a lot of the church's good pitchers in the past have been engineers and thus I ought to give it a shot. Must be something with the attention to detail, or maybe the perfectionism. Or that enginerd tendency to ignore all other humans and focus solely on the task at hand. (Doesn't help us much socially but damn it, we can sure toss a softball!) Whatever the reason, perhaps I have finally found a sport I can do something in. More likely not, but it's nice to think so anyway. And if I keep it up I might be pretty good at this in a couple of decades.