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So much to talk about, so little room
Without further ado, the list continues ... 5. Coaching. The Bears are in this seven-team 10U league in North Jersey, and we've had our ups and downs. One of the most rewarding things we did was enter a tournament in North Edison, N.J., and lose four games by a combined 68-1. In the first game, we hit one fair ball and lost 19-0. But it's OK. This is the first year of our little 10-and-under squad, and we have 15 kids who get out of the car ready, and losses don't bother them. We have a second baseman named Vanessa Bishop. Great attitude, great kid, good hitter, improving player. She catches a line drive a couple of weeks ago against Cedar Grove for the second out in an inning, then, alertly, throws to first when she sees the kid 15 feet off the base. The throws goes wild, and the baserunner goes to second, and the girl on third trots home. Vanessa buries her face in her glove, ashamed at the bad throw. When she come in she's still chagrined, staring at the dirt. "V-dog," I say (because many of the girls have acquired nicknames of first-initial-plus-"dog" after it, which seems to be the way of the day), "the only time we'll ever be mad is when you don't think, or when you make a mistake because you weren't paying attention. That was the exact right play to make. You just made a bad throw. Big deal! Do it the exact same way the next time." We played a doubleheader that day, and the next six chances Vanessa had she fielded flawlessly. It's amazing to see kids improve before your very eyes. The last couple of weeks were the best. We avenged 9-0 and 19-9 losses to Livingston and Fairfield with 3-1 and 14-9 wins. I'll miss the playoffs, which Ann will lord over. Addition by subtraction, some might say. 6. Renting a scooter and tooling around Bermuda. Great fun, so much so that I think I want a motorcycle now. No, I'm not midlife-crisising either. 7. Reading. Stole two very good books from Ann over the vacation, both by Richard Russo. Empire Falls, a great read about small-town Maine life, was slightly better than Straight Man, about the mostly pathetic life of a small-college professor in Pennsylvania. Couldn't put down either. Also was enthralled by Vertical Burn, which was written by Carl Emerson, a Seattle firefighter. Great detail about fighting fires -- and demons -- in your own fire department. 8. Using the clicker to while away a couple of nights on MLB Extra Innings, where Barry Zito and Mark Prior and Derek Lowe and Tom Glavine (my rotisserie pitching staff) master the majors, then picking up Raul Ibanez just in time to watch him pick up 13 RBIs in two days. Ann keeps saying to me: It isn't real! Yes it is! And so is that eight-foot rabbit sitting with me on the couch. 9. Meticulously planning the Training Camp Trip. I know I'm weird. But jigsawing this trip, and the second leg, is a bunch of fun. Figuring out how to get from Giants' camp in Albany, N.Y., to Greenville, S.C., in time to see Michael Vick throw during two practices in one day was the toughest part here, but thanks to the late Delta flight one night from Atlanta to Greenville, we'll get it down. 10a. Playing Over-30 softball in Montclair, even though it continues to cost me the normal use of my left leg. I play for Paul Sionas' middle-of-the-pack ballclub, the Architects. (I am not an architect, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.) Eight days ago, we trailed 2-0 in the fourth inning when I came up. I lined one off the pitcher's glove, and it bounced maybe 15 feet away from him. He ran for the ball. I ran for first. Something in me told me I had to make first if it was the last thing I did. I ran like I was 14, or tried to anyway. And on my last, long stride, something popped in the back of my upper left leg, and I felt a burning from the center to the left of my upper left leg. I fell, acted stupid on the ground, and knew I'd blown out the hammy. Just as I was carried off the field, I saw Laura and Bailey, my daughter and dog, arriving. How fortuitous. "When I was walking up," Laura said later, "I saw you with your arms around those two guys [Sionas, an architect, and actor Frankie Faison], and I'm thinking, 'Wow, they go through a lot of male bonding on this team, don't they?'" Cute. So if you see me on the training camp trail, walk slowly with me. And airlines, if you have a spare seat in first class, I'll take it." 10b. Watching the first Austin Powers movie on TV the other night. I'd never watched it all the way through. How about when Mike Myers says there are two things that really scare him: Nuclear war and carnies. "Circus folk. Nomads, you know." To return to the July 22 edition of Monday Morning Quarterback, click here. To return to the July 29th edition, click here.
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