It is almost official, baseball season is here. The Dodger's opening day is tomorrow and I can't wait. Here comes all the amazing pitching duels, home runs, highlight reel defensive catches and plays, robbed home runs, stolen bases, hit batters, cleared benches, and maybe even a perfect game this year. Hopefully the perfect game belongs to Clayton Kershaw. I absolutely love baseball season. I love the skill set that it brings as well as the mental precision game that is played. I liken the managers role as a chess player. Putting all the pieces in the right place at the right time. Calling for defensive shifts and double switches. Knowing which pitcher to bring out of the pen. If I lost you there, you are not a baseball fan. I pity you. There is nothing like spending a leisurely and beautiful summer day watching a game of baseball. I mean, these pitchers are throwing the ball over 90 MPH and they can get the ball to move while in the air. I can't even get the ball over 60 MPH, let alone get the ball to get some kind of movement. That slow of a pitch is a knuckle ball for major league pitchers. That ball really gets moving. What those pitchers can do with that baseball amazes and fascinates me. If I could pick one sport to be really good at, it would be baseball as a pitcher. Playing middle linebacker in the NFL would come a close second.
Throwing a pitch for a radar gun to see how fast I could throw it was just a taste of understanding just how good these players are. A few weeks ago, I talked about going to the batting cages. I even had some pictures to go with the story. I tried to hit pitches going 60 MPH and the ball was getting passed me before I could react. I had to cheat a little and watch the pitching machine to see the ball drop in to start swing early enough to catch a few of those pitches. Granted, if it had been a real pitcher, I could have seen his arm movement to give me a little tip of when to swing. Even then, it was still very fast to me. These guys are even good enough to know how to hit in certain parts of the field. They can judge where the defense is leaving a gap and hit the ball in that direction. They have that much control over it. Again, fascinates me what these guys can do with a ball and a bat.
Softball update. We looked really stinking good for the first two innings tonight, then we had a complete meltdown. We were up 17-4 after the first two innings. Then they just kept eating away at the score each inning afterward while we went stagnant. Eventually they pulled ahead in the final inning to beat us. Too many stupid mistakes and lack of patience. Oh well, I played somewhat in congruence of how the game went. Two solid base hits to start, then I struck out trying to swing for the fences on the third at bat. Slow pitch softball and I struck out. Man I suck. Oh well, at least I am having fun.
This Day In History: 1968
Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot to death at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. A single shot fired by James Earl Ray from about 200 feet away struck King in the neck. He was 39 years old.
Born This Day: 1924
Gil (Gilbert Raymond) Hodges - American Hall of Fame baseball player (Dodgers)
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."
- Oscar Wilde
Taking the idea of having eyes in the back of his head a little too literally.
No comments:
Post a Comment