In a completely average display of talent and ballhandling,
Numb managed to salvage not much more than a touch of dignity
in the City of Davis 1998 Fourth of July Softball Tournament.
Our boys, playing with only their 'unaugmented' mid-week
team members were only able to garner 17 runs for the entire
tournament, 13 of which were in the first game. Going into the
tournament, we knew that it would be a difficult road, for the
Numbites were playing in a Open D tournament, rather
than a D2 or D3. Still, Numb went in with the intent of 'being
a factor'. However, after the smoke cleared, our Numbskulls
garnered only a 1-2 record, and were BBQing at the Pirate's house
shortly after lunchtime.
GAME 1
Still, the boys from Numb showed up and played a
spirited first game against - of all people - the Altered Minds!
Great showings at the plate from Timmah 'the Timinator'
Townsend (4x4), Mike 'The Franchise' Watari (3x4),
and Mike 'Numbmaster' Silva (3x4) lead our Numbsters in
hitting and scoring, helping our boys score 13 runs for the game.
The Minds defense sagged, with their shortstop picking up 4 errors
on the scorer's book. Additionally. the 'hapless of late'
Minds could not break through the defense of Numb, chalking up
nary a single score. With spirits high(er) we moved upward in
the tournament braket, which probably was our fatal mistake.
GAME 2
Now the matchups got tighter... and the problem
for Numb was we were pretty loose... Game two proved to be
lack luster, with Numb only getting 5 hits and 1 run. The Numb
defense was best described as 'porous', although in
fairness, one must admit that the other team hit the ball really
well. Really, really, well. After a few innings of play the
umpires called the game in the favor of our opponents, with the
score at 25 to 1, due to the '15 run rule'. This point
is really too depressing to discuss at this point, but I suspect
you get the idea...
GAME 3
After a quick luncheon at Wendy's, consisting of
a variety of items, but most notably chocolate milk shakes, Numb
collected themselves, pulled up their boot straps, and proceeded
to increase their offensive output by 200 percent. Still, three
runs isn't likely to be a winning total, and this proved
to be the case. The game was close for the first few innings,
but once again, 'Baseball-by-Bureaucracy' proved to
be Numb's demise. The 'bad guys' started a hitting
streak in the 5th inning, and expanded their nominal
lead to a formidable score of 14-3. Once again the umpires called
the game in favor of the Numb oppoment, but this time due to...
are you ready for this? the '10 run rule'. Shocked
and stunned, our boys walked off the field in disgust, heading
to the local Sudwerks for a beer to drown our sorrows.
CONCLUSION
Still... We had fun. Any time you can get up,
see your mates, play a little ball, eat some junk food, and then
sport a brew, well, any day like that is a good one. Numb
all-time Hall of Shamer Joe 'show-me-the-side-of-the-barn'
Macrena came up for a play/visit from the Bay Area. Mike Ritchie
flew up from San Diego and posted a big league tournament batting
average. And JT hosted a happenin' BBQ and Croquet Tournament
where Eddy the Bulge sat back, put his feet up...and finally, smiled.
To Connie!
1998 4th of July Tournament Stats