 Triple
Header!?!
Our first League Triple Header brought up a
glaring problem in our pool player situation.
Guys, sign up!!! We need a lot of pool players
on these triple header days.
AND if you sign up, please let the pool
coordinators know. Just showing up because you
"heard" their might be a spot is perilous. The
coordniators need to make sure the teams are
balanced competitively and that improprieties do
not occur which would be unfair to the spirit of
the game. Stacking one team over the other to gain
a competitive edge is not condoned or even
considered by the coordinators, even when they are
on the teams affected by their decisions. So
coaches, players please respect the leagues sign-up
procedures.
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Early Season
2008
First, a few words about
Bakersfield, The
Annual, now Barry Berman Memorial Tournament. It
was an interesting Giant success. Meghanahan
Skellyfetti (Marin County icon of the Grateful
Dead) pitched a great game on Saturday due to the
unconscious out-of-body play at third base by yours
truly. The banquet was "nice" and the wonderful
recitation of how Willie Howard Mays made the
greatest play ever, throwing out a dumbfounded
Billy Cox on an impossible "Chilly-like" throw from
right-center to home plate was pleasantly warming
to the cockles of Giant's hearts in attendance. The
atrocious and declining hospitality of the Double
(Cross) Tree led many of us to commit to other
accommodations for next year. The looming bright
spot for social engagement next year appears to be
the fine dining and country music at The Crystal
Palace; I personally hope that Buddy Owens plays
again and that we get a Giant table for twenty at
next years tourney! The rendezvous at the Harris
Ranch was a great night cap to the weekend's
festivities and I graciously accept the bestowment
of my new appellation "Rainbow Closer" rendered by
Rob Weber. Did I mention that I closed out the last
game for the all-stars throwing somewhere between
Weishaar and Haines speed?
On a final note, I hope I can have you by the house
sometime so you can hear the hilarious fable of the
three year old boulder my buddy Greg Terra and I
brought back from the vicinity of Sam Lynn Park
that now adorns my lovely wife's front lawn garden.
Wrapped up in the yarn surrounding the rock is the
fitting monument to the retirement of the blind
accordion player at the Bit of Germany in greater
Bakersfield.
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Pre-Season
2008
WCFBL begins it's 8th
season. This is my 6th season playing and my third
season irreverantly irregularly reporting the
shenanigans at various venues around the greater
San Francisco Bay. As another season rallying the
youthful forces against the ravages of time begins,
remember we're all in this fantasy together. What
we owe each other is pretty simple, tell your coach
if your coming by Wednesday, show up a half-hour at
least before the game, and come ready to play your
best. What is your best? Simply wearing your
uniform with pride gets you started. Keeping your
head in the game is next; what will you do when the
ball is thrown to the plate? If you get it hit to
you, where will you throw it? If the all isn't hit
to you, where do you go? It's amazing how many
runs score because we don't always back-up the play
in the right place. When you hit the ball, do you
listen to the coach? Does the coach know what to
tell you? We all have different talents, skills,
and abilities and all anyone asks is that you play
to the best of yours. Don't ask anyone to subsidize
your fantasy if you aren't willing to play the game
with spirit, with intensity, and a good nature.
It's not about who wins it's about how the game was
played.
Okay, now that I got
that off my chest protector let's play ball. Things
to look forward to: Beeps on Geneva Avenue,
Steelhead Brewing in Burlingame, that hole in the
wall pizza place in Alameda, the FlatIron, playing
with my old buddy Greg Terra, playing on the same
team with John Haines - the self-professed - best
hitter in the league, watching Jon Miller's
replacement - Alex Simon - grow up, and hopefully
this year I can finish (and publish) a sizable
chunk of the history of WCFB.
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