Pt. 2 Early Season Observations
Other Basics of Hitting
Continuing on from the lesson from Lexi in Part 1, two basic principles I remember from watching Barry Bonds hitting: while swinging through, do not shift one’s weight too much to the front, so that one is hitting off the front leg. This is especially important in slow pitch softball, as many a pitcher will throw backspin softballs, which make the ball drop sooner than expected (Paul Costa!). I’ve seen many a player lunge forward to hit the ball, only to hit lifeless dribblers to short.
The other, of course, is to “keep your eye on the ball”. Very helpful, not only in batting, but especially in fielding. And in life.
In short, every time on deck I remember the principle of rotational hitting that Lexi taught me. Whether I really do it when I swing is another matter…
FYI: This one is before the ‘cream and the clear’ steroids. Looks so easy, doesn’t it?
My First Practice Fubar
A few weeks after the tryouts, I got an email stating that I was assigned to a team in the Atlantic League, which would play every Monday.
My team is named the Cochituates, which is a name of a large lake in the area, the name descending from a native village that we white boys, along with a few from the Mohawk tribe, decimated centuries ago. It means “swift river” or torrent in the tongue of the original Natick tribe.
I was excited to get the call to come to the first optional practice with the team.
So on Boston Marathon Day, I head south to Medfield to meet the team. However, upon arriving in Natick, I was blocked from going south — in order to get there, one has to cross Route 9, which is the route for the Marathon. Downtown Natick was a total mess, with crowds streaming towards the race route and the cops closing off every road crossing that route. Every road was blocked for miles! So I ended up having to drive all the way east to Route 95/128, go past route 9, then back west to Medfield.
This ugly detour took a helluva lot of time before I could arrive at the Medfield location. Both fields were occupied with newly formed teams. First field? Nope. So I bop on down to the second field and jump into the game in progress at catcher. After the half-inning was over, I asked around and found out that neither team is the Cochituates. So one of the guys says, “aren’t they practicing at Wayland today?”
Oh sh*t.
So I run back to my car, race back via 128/95 and back again to the Wayland field, only to find them empty. Missed the entire practice.
I’ll never make that mistake on venue ever again! Now I put the venue and color T-shirt in a google calendar event.
Seniors Playing Softball, Wow!
When I think of baseball, I envision elite athletes with the best training and skills. Even women’s college softball operates at a high level.
Upon participating in the first few games of senior softball, that vision of highly skilled play is brought back down to earth. But don’t get me wrong: senior softball operates at a pretty high level. However, age takes its toll, despite most of the guys having clear and undoubtable skills. Even though there is still a very good level of play, no one escapes the ravages of aging.
Seniors Throwing
First of all, throwing a softball overhanded is not like a baseball: softballs are larger and heavier than baseballs. Now, when I played company softball in my 30s, I played first. Our 3rd baseman was a guy named Dan Neff, who was once a college baseball pitcher. He had a gun for an arm, and there was no difference (for him) throwing a softball or baseball. He would zip that ball across the infield so hard that, if I didn’t catch it correctly in the webbing, my hand would hurt like hell! Never will forget how hard he could chuck it. Or the pain.
But a combination of softball dimensions and aging creates a slightly different sport, one that happens slightly in slow motion, in comparison to the pros. It appears in our “seniority”, we lose a little elasticity in our throwing arms — there isn’t that high powered zip across the diamond that we see in MLB hardball. Additionally, being larger, softballs encounter much more wind resistance than a baseball, requiring more strength to chuck it at the same speed. There’s often a bit of arcing in our throws at a slower speed, but inevitably there’s 1–2 guys on each team who can still gun it with ease.
However, this all balances out because we’ve all lost a step in our running!
Speaking of throwing, here’s the gold standard, Bo Jackson. What couldn’t he do?
Seniors Fielding Grounders
Here’s where age really shows itself. Many a player have fine glove skills. However, as older men, we just can’t bend down like we used to! I remember my dad used to grunt we he got up from bending over. I thought he was milking it for whatever it’s worth. Wrong. Now I grunt sometimes.
All that to say is this: since stooping is so much more of a chore, this can make the fielding of ground balls an issue. Some players have more capability than other to bend down for a grounder, and due to age, the range to either side is so much more limited than in our youth. I’ve collected a number of hits simply because the second baseman just can’t bend over well or move to either side.
Cheater!
A while ago, I happened upon the last inning of the Thursday League finals in Wayland. A batter hit a dribbler down the first baseline and the pitcher pounced on it.
But instead of picking up the ball, he kicked it over to the first baseman! When you think about it, it’s a brilliant move — saves time picking up the ball but does pass the buck to the first baseman.
Seniors Fielding Line Drives
I’ve noticed that, fortunately, our reflexes, with respect to line drives, haven’t been diminished all that much by the onset of aging. Which is a good thing, because there are many a liners to third that, unless caught, could cause some serious bodily damage. There have been a number of “phew!” moments in our games.
Additionally, pitchers can hide behind the safety screen situated on the pitching mound and most of us, one time or another, have hit a screamer right into said net.
Except one day — Mitch, our co-manager was pitching, and he’s a southpaw. He chose to pitch on the same side as the righties, which left him vulnerable to liners. And sure enough, someone hit a screamer heading right for his family jewels. With survival instincts kicking in, he managed to get the heel of his pitching hand in the way, but he screamed bloody murder upon contact. Ouch! But he shrugged it off, kept pitching. Respect.
Seniors Fielding Fly Balls
Despite 4 to 5 players in the field, outfielders can expect a lot of action in senior softball.
I haven’t noticed too much degradation wrt age fielding fly balls. Yeah, occasion flubs here and there on easy fly outs. But the most difficult thing are ‘tweeners, forcing quick response time from an outfielder.
The one silver lining is that if this happens in the early innings in the first game, when the field is very dewy, the ball stops dead very quickly. Ditto for grass that needs mowing.
And so far, I have seen only a few being able to field a fly ball directly over their head very well — this can be difficult for even the pros.
How about this catch from Kevin Mitchell?
Or this one from Jim Edmonds, directly overhead? Willie Mays would approve.
Phew!
I’ve seen some diving catches, even made one myself once. However, caveat emptor — in one game, Mitch, our team co-manager, made an excellent diving catch, rolled around a few times.
But he didn’t get up right away. Uh-oh.
He eventually did and was fine, but it made me think of a slogan for the league. Here goes:
EMASS Senior Softball
Where a routine fly ball may become a life-threatening event.
Yeah…don’t think that’ll fly…
Seniors Running: Softball Is an Extremely Stressful Sport. Surprised By That?
It’s common knowledge that (until recently) baseball players have been the least conditioned athletes among all sports, especially the pitchers. Remember Fernando Valenzuela or Mickey Lolich? Big guts on those boys. And because so many old guys are able to play in the league, one would think that it’s an easy sport.
Think again, buffalo breath.
It may have seemed easy in our youth where we could routinely abuse our bodies with little or no consequence.
But baseball/softball is a real challenge. Almost all of the most popular means of exercise are rhythmic: hiking, jogging, biking, weights, kayaking, etc. Your body quickly adjusts to the rhythm of your movements and this reduces stress on the body — unless you are doing HIIT — High Intensity Interval Training, where you go full out for a short period of time, then go back to a more normal speed.
Softball is like HIIT on steroids. Think of it; for most of the time, you’re sitting around, warming the bench. Then you get up to bat. Swing as hard as you can. Then, when you hit the ball, run as fast as you can for 1 to 4 bases. Four bases is 240 feet, which is equivalent to an 80 yard dash!
Or if you are in the outfield, a fly ball just a little out of reach will require you turn on the afterburners from a dead standstill.
This “0–60 in the shortest time possible” can wreak havoc on anyone, and more so with older guys. In the early weeks of the season, I blew out my quad trying to pull up to third base after speeding around the bases. F*ck, that really hurt and had me out for several weeks. Also have slightly pulled both hamstrings.
And if you follow an MLB team closely, you’ll hear of many a player going down with quad or hamstring pulls, despite all the training and assistance they get. It just part of the 0–60 style of baseball, no matter the age.
EMASS gave us newbies handouts before the season on stretching the legs before each game, which, after my injuries, I now do religiously. I also apply magnesium lotion to the quads and hammies prior to leaving home. Seems to help. The lotion works great for night leg cramps also.
Seniors Sliding
It isn’t often that sliding is necessary in senior softball. But with 2nd or 3rd basemen sometimes blocking the base, it is necessary to go down and slide on close plays. I started doing it late in the season and have earned some beautiful strawberries on both knees.
For some games, managers and the ump can agree to an imaginary duplicate bag at 2nd or 3rd (just like home or first), but this is not yet officially sanctioned by EMASS.
This slide by Trea Turner is cooler than the other side of the pillow.
Staminabilty
In my worst versions of catastrophic thinking, I see in my mind’s eye someone giving a player CPR or the EMTs showing up at a ball game. Thankfully this hasn’t happened.
When someone hits a blast past the outfielders, and it’s an easy triple or possible home-run, I often wonder, is this gonna be it? Some of the fellows on my team turn very red on the way to third or home. And just about everyone, including me, is out of breath by the time we reach third. And more so when it’s hot and humid.
We’re not 19 anymore, but so far so good.
Big Papi Playing Senior Softball?
Big Papi, David Ortiz, is one of Boston’s all-time greatest heroes. One day Big Papi showed up at the Wayland ball fields to film a commercial for John Hancock.
The guy hitting the ball is a teammate, Jesse, among other well-known senior softball regulars.
According to a fellow player, Big Papi hit one so far that it rolled to the backstop on the other facing field. I can’t imagine the type of power it takes to do that. Just wow. And a LEFTY!
In Part 3, I’ll discuss a variety of topics, such as the f*cking rain, batting practice, camaraderie and a birthday cake.