Tuesday, September 14, 2010

One For The Blooper Reel


Got to play in the last game of the night for a random company sponsored team.  

Dropped grounder on first hitter of game while playing 1st base.  Missed some tough picks in the dirt.  Excusable?

0/2 on pop-flies in right center.  2/2 falling down on said pop-flies.  

Batted 1-3, if you count fielder's choices (which I do).  Fouled out, FC grounder to SS/Error, solid sinking flyout to left (my highlight of the night).

Baserunning: Not bad minus the stumbling.  Going 1st to 3rd winded the hell out of me.

Cardio: dismal, depth perception: dismal, ability to keep feet and head in proper polarity: astonishingly weak.

Overall: Possibly my worst game ever but just a sign of my rustiness.  Gotta slow things down and let the game come to me.

Still don't have a regular team.  :-(  Hooray...

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Don't Tell Momma Cow But We're Gonna Have To Pull A Calf.


Hey kids!

Welcome to another installment in the misadventures of your old pal, Aaron.  Todays episode is brought to you by the letter: "Ahhhhhh!!!"

So I was out for my usual nightly walk, which I've been doing since it got too hot to walk on my lunch break, when I decided to mix things up a bit and explore what McCambridge Park [in Burbank] had to offer.  I try to deviate my routes lest they become stale and I lose interest in exercising all together.  Plus, I've never in 3 and half years seen what they've got there.  Plus, I've been trying to get back into softball and I needed a place to test my wheels.

You see, when I played softball in San Diego, I had remarkably good speed (hell, for anybody, but especially for a big guy).  Seriously, ask around; I have witnesses.  So I needed to find a flat patch o' grass to sprint down, and after a lap around the park's pool, gym, tennis courts, and playgrounds, I found what I was looking for.  Best of all, few other people were around in case this turned out to be an terrible mistake.

I took my keys and my iPhone out of my pockets so they wouldn't be flopping around while I ran and held them tightly in my hands.  I did some light stretching.  Some might say half-assed but we'll see.  So now it's "Go Time."  I set myself as I would at any base while waiting for a batter to make contact; left foot forward, right foot ready to spring from behind.  I bounced a bit, like gymnasts do before running at the pommel-horse (on trying this myself I've found that it gets you to top speed almost immediately, though it's unlikely I'd ever do it in a game), and I was off!  And luckily, it was like old times.  So good news: I've still got it.  At least for a bit anyway.  My engine has always run super-hot but there's not much gas in the tank.  I tire easily in other words.  But it felt good and I still had enough juice for one more...

I gather myself, and with loads more confidence, I set my feet, do the gymnast bounce ("Ah shit!!!"), and I off!  As my right leg flexed backward at the end of the bounce, milliseconds before takeoff, my calf muscle decided to do a tiny fist pump in my leg.  I was still able to get up to speed but the pain was pretty brutal.  So I slowed down easy, cursing myself and various deities.  The pull in my calf held despite repeated attempts to stretch and/or rub the pain out.  Bad news: Youch!  

"So that's fine," You say reassuringly. "Just hop in your car and drive back home, where you can IcyHot your leg till the morn'."

That would be all well and good, had I not walked over a mile to get to McCambridge Park.  So guess who's got two thumbs and has to limp home like an asshole?  *points thumbs at face* THIS GUY!

So I hobbled back home looking like a Midwestern cholo, limping in my Cubs t-shirt and grimacing with every labored step.  
I write this now, still in pain though seated (worse pain than when walking actually), after popping some Ibuprofen and slathering on some such ointment my chiropractor gave me, which had expired in August of '08.  

Moral of this story, kids: Hell, I don't know.  My name ain't fucking Aesop!

:-P  Pbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbth!!!