Anti-Climax
Sep. 15th, 2008 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penfield"Success consists of going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill
Softball Playoff Game: September 13, 2008
LOST, 4-(I don't know, let's say)12; final record 8-4
In Major League Baseball, rosters are allowed to expand from 25 players to 40 players beginning on August 25. There isn't a really good reason for this, though there are explanations: the minor league season ends in August and they want to bring the kids up for a cup of coffee, it allows teams that are mathematically eliminated to give their fans something new and exciting to watch, and for playoff teams it helps give the season-weary regulars an occasional rest before the televised games begin. This rule fundamentally changes the entire notion of "depth."
But there is a basic flaw in this little tradition: for teams that are battling for a playoff game down the stretch, they must play the most important games of the season under fundamentally different rules than are in place the rest of the year. It's like an entirely different game.
The difference between the House Softball League and the House Softball League Tournament offers a similar disconnect. Regular-season play operates with no strike zone and a pitch-until-they-hit-it philosophy; tournament play operates with umpires and each at-bat starts with a 1-1 count. Regular-season games are usually played on patchy, lumpy, unkempt plots of land dotted with tourists and sprinkler mains; tournament games are played on well-manicured fields with pure dirt infields and deep fences. Regular season games are played with whomever can show up on that given weeknight, often including mercenary ringers, friends-of-friends and strangers off the street; tournament games are strictly limited to preconfirmed rosters and played on weekend afternoons when there's no competition with night classes or overtime.
Scrappy teams like mine are at a disadvantage in the tournament because we don't have an army of hulking 240 lb. behemoths, Latin American gymnast shortstops or hormonally ambiguous femalympians. We got into the tournament -- by a whisker -- based on strong chemistry, attendance and luck. We were no match for our first-round opponents, who were not just better than us, they were just plain good; they ended up in the final eight of a 48-team field.
So we got beat. And you can look at the defeat in such a way that it might have been my fault. At the two most crucial moments in the game, I blew it.
I was on the mound in the bottom of the fourth inning, with two outs and runners on first and second, I went to 3-2 on the batter and accidentally threw the next pitch in the dirt. Normally a walk would not have been a big deal, but because the on-deck batter was a female, an obscure rule* (a) permitted the batter to take second base and (b) entitled said female to take first automatically. This forced in a run (ultimately, the winning run) and brought up one of their giants with the bases loaded, at which point he cleared the bases with a double.
*Not only is the rule obscure, but it is naturally another one of those "only in the tournament" rules that makes tourney play different than regular play. And not only that, but it's a sexist rule, since I'm pretty sure that the opposing team's females could beat up my dad. And not only that, but it's a stupid rule, because obviously I wasn't trying to walk that guy.
And I was at the plate leading off the top of the fifth inning -- my first and only at-bat -- in the No. 2 hole right before our best and heaviest hitters. We were still in the game and only needed a modest rally. But I was psyched out by the balls and the strikes and the umpire and the whole thing and I swung at the first pitch. I don't know if it was a bad pitch, but I was definitely out in front of it and just got the bottom of the ball; I lofted it into shallow left field for an easy pop fly. My teammates threatened after that but we never scored again.
And I haven't even mentioned yet that I was late for the game -- after being early to every regular-season contest -- and therefore couldn't come in until the fourth inning. I only pitched three innings and only got the one at-bat.
I would say it was a wasted day entirely, except for the postgame gathering at Ballston's appetizingly named Rock Bottom Brewery. The laughter and commisery and conversation reminded me that the season was a great success. After an awkward, disjointed 2007 campaign, this team really played well together and played together well. It was a good team, and a winning team.
It makes me sad that I've played my last softball game, not just because I'll be left with the taste of that last game in my mouth, but because it'll be eight months before I can play with those guys again.
Wait until next year.
Final statistics:
20 for 37 (.526), 15 runs, 10 RBI, 3 HR
52IP, 120 runs (20.76 RA/9, 16.15 RA/7)
- Winston Churchill
Softball Playoff Game: September 13, 2008
LOST, 4-(I don't know, let's say)12; final record 8-4
In Major League Baseball, rosters are allowed to expand from 25 players to 40 players beginning on August 25. There isn't a really good reason for this, though there are explanations: the minor league season ends in August and they want to bring the kids up for a cup of coffee, it allows teams that are mathematically eliminated to give their fans something new and exciting to watch, and for playoff teams it helps give the season-weary regulars an occasional rest before the televised games begin. This rule fundamentally changes the entire notion of "depth."
But there is a basic flaw in this little tradition: for teams that are battling for a playoff game down the stretch, they must play the most important games of the season under fundamentally different rules than are in place the rest of the year. It's like an entirely different game.
The difference between the House Softball League and the House Softball League Tournament offers a similar disconnect. Regular-season play operates with no strike zone and a pitch-until-they-hit-it philosophy; tournament play operates with umpires and each at-bat starts with a 1-1 count. Regular-season games are usually played on patchy, lumpy, unkempt plots of land dotted with tourists and sprinkler mains; tournament games are played on well-manicured fields with pure dirt infields and deep fences. Regular season games are played with whomever can show up on that given weeknight, often including mercenary ringers, friends-of-friends and strangers off the street; tournament games are strictly limited to preconfirmed rosters and played on weekend afternoons when there's no competition with night classes or overtime.
Scrappy teams like mine are at a disadvantage in the tournament because we don't have an army of hulking 240 lb. behemoths, Latin American gymnast shortstops or hormonally ambiguous femalympians. We got into the tournament -- by a whisker -- based on strong chemistry, attendance and luck. We were no match for our first-round opponents, who were not just better than us, they were just plain good; they ended up in the final eight of a 48-team field.
So we got beat. And you can look at the defeat in such a way that it might have been my fault. At the two most crucial moments in the game, I blew it.
I was on the mound in the bottom of the fourth inning, with two outs and runners on first and second, I went to 3-2 on the batter and accidentally threw the next pitch in the dirt. Normally a walk would not have been a big deal, but because the on-deck batter was a female, an obscure rule* (a) permitted the batter to take second base and (b) entitled said female to take first automatically. This forced in a run (ultimately, the winning run) and brought up one of their giants with the bases loaded, at which point he cleared the bases with a double.
*Not only is the rule obscure, but it is naturally another one of those "only in the tournament" rules that makes tourney play different than regular play. And not only that, but it's a sexist rule, since I'm pretty sure that the opposing team's females could beat up my dad. And not only that, but it's a stupid rule, because obviously I wasn't trying to walk that guy.
And I was at the plate leading off the top of the fifth inning -- my first and only at-bat -- in the No. 2 hole right before our best and heaviest hitters. We were still in the game and only needed a modest rally. But I was psyched out by the balls and the strikes and the umpire and the whole thing and I swung at the first pitch. I don't know if it was a bad pitch, but I was definitely out in front of it and just got the bottom of the ball; I lofted it into shallow left field for an easy pop fly. My teammates threatened after that but we never scored again.
And I haven't even mentioned yet that I was late for the game -- after being early to every regular-season contest -- and therefore couldn't come in until the fourth inning. I only pitched three innings and only got the one at-bat.
I would say it was a wasted day entirely, except for the postgame gathering at Ballston's appetizingly named Rock Bottom Brewery. The laughter and commisery and conversation reminded me that the season was a great success. After an awkward, disjointed 2007 campaign, this team really played well together and played together well. It was a good team, and a winning team.
It makes me sad that I've played my last softball game, not just because I'll be left with the taste of that last game in my mouth, but because it'll be eight months before I can play with those guys again.
Wait until next year.
Final statistics:
20 for 37 (.526), 15 runs, 10 RBI, 3 HR
52IP, 120 runs (20.76 RA/9, 16.15 RA/7)
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September call-ups
Date: 2008-09-16 06:24 pm (UTC)Everyone knows, going into the season, that September call-ups are a fact of the game. There's an advantage having a few extra AAAA players in your farm system for September, allowing some more pinch hitting, rest for the catchers, and single-batter relievers. I'm not sure what the rationale is for it -- I think you listed all of them I can think of, and none are compelling. But the teams who go into the trading deadline thinking of themselves as contenders need to prepare for it.
Similarly, a 5-game Wild Card playoff is nothing like a 162-game regular season. But there are certain types of teams that might have an advantage there. For example, the best starting pitchers throw about one-sixth of a team's regular-season innings. In a 5-game series, that same player might throw 15 or 16 out of 45 total innings -- one third. So while a deep pitching staff is an advantage to get to the playoffs, the value of an ace is highest during the post-season.
Smart GMs prepare for the season, whatever the rules. If September call-ups were eliminated, smart GMs would still have the advantage over dumb GMs and rich teams would still have an advantage over poor teams.