1st Game vs. Karlskoga

Today was a long day. The double header was terrible. Pedro started the first game for us and got hammered, and then the next guy did too. We got 10-run ruled in 7 innings. Plus people kept making errors, and it was just depressing. So instead of talking about how bad everything was, I’ll discuss my favorite part of the game: me.

In the first game, they put me at first base and batted me in the fifth spot. Yes, the team is bad enough where the fifth spot wasn’t horribly out of line. I did pretty well in the field; I fielded a few balls, caught one, and hosed a guy at home. On the play at home, I was playing deep and made a backhanded stop, planted the back leg and got the force out at home. I was so impressive, someone from the other dugout said, “Hey, one of their guys isn’t bad.”

I will keep repeating I’ve barely swung a bat for over 2 years. In fact, after the game, the general manager said me, “You really haven’t swung for a while, have you.” I struck out swinging my first at bat. I saw one fast ball, a God knows how many different off-speed pitches. The second time up I just sat curveball the entire time. On the third pitch, I got one. I hit a grounder in between first and second. Could this be my first Swedish hit? The second baseman makes a diving stop and throws me out by 3 steps. I didn’t get up again until the 7th, when we were down by enough where I had no idea what the score was. They put in this kid who was throwing 65, maybe. I can totally hit this, I’m gonna get a hit!

Joaquim walked on four pitches. The right thing to do was take a strike, but I really wanted a hit. The first pitch was a ball, but the second was right down the cock. I swung, and ripped it into the right-center gap. The center fielder cut it off, but I had a single!

Actually, the ump called a balk when all this happened, so none of it counted. God really does hate me. Alexis, a player/coach, told me I should take a strike and try to get on base. I pretended to agree with him. I took a big fat Swedish meatball along with three other balls and walked. But this kid saw 5 batters and didn’t get one out, so he was replaced by another pitcher that sucked. And by sucked, I mean I got up again.

I took a fastball down the middle for a strike. I hate being a team player. The second pitch came in, and I took a big hack. It’s a line drive between 1st and 2nd! Holy Jesus I got a hit! The first one in over two years! As I contemplated my greatness on first base, I thought about asking for the ball. I decided against it. Turns out we lost 21-9, but at least I have a batting average!