We're Talking Softball

Lost two games of softball lost night, but had a fantastic time. Just an all around good group of people, very congratulatory, out there to play well / hard and not worry whether people make errors or strike out of what have you.

I batted okay - contrary to my usual topping problems, I kept getting under the ball a little bit, so my normal line drives to left were carrying out to the left-centerfielder. I have to be conscious of hitting line drives and not being tempted to smack it over the fence, as I apparently am still the same old baseball me and lack that power. I did hit a screamer with the bases loaded later on, and oppo'ed one for a double at some point, so a decent if not great night.

The real news is that I had a top 5 of my life catch in the outfield - dude crushed a line drive way to my right, but I got a great jump on it, sprinted and completely horizontally laid out, three feet off and parallel to the earth-style, and snagged it. Unlike a frisbee, which would generally float at least somewhat, this was just two quickly moving objects - me and the ball - intersecting perfectly. The crowd went wild. Both teams were shocked. Large-breasted women stopped to turn and stare* - most of them being Scottsdale cougars at the dog park, so this was not actually as awesome as it seems. Even the ump said "sweet catch." Jason described it as "death-defying and ESPN-worthy." So that was fun.

The weird, let's see if the ump knows the rules play of the night was cool, too. Runner on 3rd with one out, flyball down the line in left, and our left fielder camps under it. I sprint over there from deep left center to back her up just in case, since she had trouble on a flyball earlier in the game. She reaches for it and misses it, deflecting the ball, but I dive and catch it before it hits the ground. Another exciting play. But the guy on third took off when it hit her glove. So when i toss it in to the infield, our third baseman steps on third and the ump calls the runner out, inning over. Did he "make the call?"

Um, no. The relevant rule, pretty difficult to find in the MLB rulebook, is under a comment under the definition of a catch in Section 2.00:

Rule 2.00 (Catch) Comment: A catch is legal if the ball is finally held by any fielder, even though juggled, or held by another fielder before it touches the ground. Runners may leave their bases the instant the first fielder touches the ball.

So the baserunner was allowed to tag and leave when she deflected the ball, not upon my completed catch. I already knew this, as it's something of a logical necessity for the game - if the outfielder could bobble it and the guy on third could only leave upon the completed catch, then any outfielder could just bobble it as he jogged all the way into the field. Can't have that, so it's gotta be on the first touch - and even if the person who catches it is not the same as the first person who touches it. So that was an incorrect call, oh well. (More than made up for by a play later on - runners on 1st and 2nd with 0 outs for us, and I happened to be the guy on second. Ground ball to the short stop, and he tried to run up and tag me so he could throw to first for the double play. So I just stopped in the basepath and jumped back, and he whiffed on the tag, so I continued to third. But the ump claimed he had tagged my shirt (which both the SS and I knew was wrong). So, I guess sometimes the judgments and technical rule interpretations balance each other out).

So some exciting times on the diamond last night. Tune in later tonight for an account of a slapdash Ultimate tourney at ASU today...

* - This is a Dave Eggers AHWoSG reference. Please do not fear me falling prey to actual Scottsdale cougars.