No, not what you're thinking, although Twiggy can speak for herself (usually "meow"). A softball tournament today at USC. Intramural summer sports...haven't done that since the summer of '93 at Caltech. That may have been the year we (Hum Baby Scum) won the fast pitch league, thus effetively really pissing off both the perennial powerhouse Biology and Physical Plant teams. But I digress.
This was a lot more low key, as it was co-ed where a woman had to hit every other spot. The games were played on the outfield of the USC baseball field in the morning, then on the soccer fields in the afternoon. They didn't allow cleats (bad), but fielding grounders on a full grass field is kinda like cheating. I was surprised when I didn't end up going to my usual shortstop, instead playing third with one of our woman players at short. In fact, we were XX up the middle with both short and 2nd base lacking Y chromosomes. Turns out it wasn't a problem, as both were vets (and the shortstop is a chem grad student...go figure).
Having just finished my first city league season in about 10 years, the rust was mostly off and I was back at home, although my hitting is still a little uneven. But the field is where I love to play, and snaring ground balls on nice smooth grass is quite pleasant. We played two games back to back in the morning, winning both (by shutouts even). That meant we went into the championship round in the afternoon, with semis at 2pm, then finals at 3pm.
Of course after playing two games (starting at 10:30am), then having a nice break and lunch...well, let's just say that this body was confused about having to get back onto the field. I actually was a little worried as I hadn't pee'd yet (yes, I know...TMI) as of noon. Being a veteran of many a desert race, I know the drill and while I tried to stay in what little shade there was and was constantly drinking water and gatorade...well, it was hot and in the sun. But finally urine was to be had (TMI again), and we were on the field at 2pm. Still had some form, and almost whacked one over the center fielder's head but he managed to run it down (drat). Made my plays, sat a few innings like a good team player (we had 3 extras), but alas we didn't have enough, and lost 6-3.
I was actually kind of thankful as I'd had enough sun, and had other things to do. As it turned out, quite a good morning on the field, and quite a nice afternoon as well. Today is all we've got, and today was a time to smile.
