Late last night, as the clock struck 11pm, we in Raging Storm put the squeeze on the final out in an 11-5 victory. It was our final regular season game and we finished with a 10-5-1 record.
It's been an interesting season to say the least. The Great Stats Debate was followed by the end of my Cal Ripkenesque iron man streak when I actually sat out a game with a bad back. Then, my precious declaration following game #5 marked a turn around in my season. Game 8, which I've never written about until now, wasn't only the mid-point of this regular season, but it was a game which will live in infamy.
Game 8 was against Hollywoods, a team we were 1-1 against. We got off to a horrible start, and before you knew it we were double digits in the hole. Without going into too much detail to protect the guilty, another player started chewing me out for no particularly good reason. As this persisted, ignoring it became an exercise in futility and I let this player know he was out of order and required a chill pill. Meanwhile, with this obvious tension in the air, we started to come back.
I was on third base when the game tying homer was hit. At home plate, we exchanged high fives. This player that had been on my back the entire game also scored on the play, and when I put up my hand for a fiver, he pulled his away. That was the last straw. I got in his face and let him have it. I'm a lover, not a fighter, but I was ready to dish it out if it came to that. He broke the code and enough was enough. Our blow up earned warnings from the ump, a mini blow up from Andge and a sincere threat on my part to quit this team because I don't play ball to fight, I play for fun.
That game ended in a 16-16 tie and it's the last game this unnamed player played for Raging Storm. He quit, I took over short stop again, and I've never batted better. The description on the RSPA site for that game described it as "a heated affair". I see it as the game that shaped this crazy season. He was our best player, both offensively and defensively, and without him we had to adjust. We were 4-2-1 with him and 5-3 without him. Along the way we won the division, built character, bonded as a team and had a helluvalotta fun.
It's playoff time. Storm, I'll see you on the field.
For more on Raging Storm, visit http://www.torontomike.com/softball.html.
