Practice Makes Perfect?
How does one get to Carnegie Hall? Public transit. Well, the normal response is practice, but with only two exhibition games played before the regular season begins, think we should probably stick with the bus. With the limited amount of practice (not including the regular season), the only way we’ll get in with the professionals is if we buy a ticket. Thank goodness we have so much fun, or our lower level of skill might be all for nought. No worries, as some of us actually have some skill on the field. No, seriously. Stop laughing.
Leaving our egos behind, even though we could use the extra players at times, it is always best if they are left off the field or they will normally get to experience a sound thrashing, if not severe damage. Best to experience all the mishaps, errors and all the inclusive tomfoolery without carrying all that extra baggage. Damn sight more fun that way. And besides, no matter how subpar you think your performance may be, eventually someone else will sink below your lowered expectations. Honestly, watch for it. Bound to happen. Just be sure to keep your eye on the ball. That said, always keep your eyes on your surroundings. Be wary of what goes on around you. Lots of activity and goings-on happening on the field, so it’s best to keep your eyes open, so you do not become another statistic, not one of those normally associated with the game, such as hits and runs. Even on the bleachers, keep a heads up for those errant foul balls. We do tend to experience a few of them. Better safe than sorry and I don’t just mean reaching the base before the ball. That said, a few things come to light after the passing of two exhibition games.
One, the weather is definitely getting better. Think it may be safe to put away your winter woolies, at least until the playoffs. Two, more practice may be wiser. On the other hand, unlike wine, most of us don’t get better with age, so perhaps the less practice the better. Don’t want to waste all our best moves on something as silly as practice. We can also keep our endurance requirements to a minimum. Three, we need to find people who have adequate math skills. Seems, at times, it can be very difficult to track outs, runs scored and, sometimes, even innings played. Else we can just learn to enjoy the random confusion. Might be easier. Four, somebody is going to stretch something just a wee bit too far, which may lead to a brief outage from play. Show up early, stretch before the game, iron out those muscles and don’t force them to do something they might not want to do during the game. If you suspect something coming on, take a breather and don’t push it. Always happy to give anyone a courtesy runner. Slight ribbing may be included.
Five, home team, first game. Show up a tad early, go get the equipment and help set up the field. If you don’t know where it is kept, someone would be more than happy to tell you where to go. The effort you save might just be mine. And just a suggestion. If you’re new to the league, try to avoid setting up the pitching screen. It has taken some of us years of practice to perfect the skill and overcome the confusion to at least set it up good enough so it don’t fall down. And remember, if you give a man a fish, he will eat for one day. If you teach a man to fish, well, he might just not show up for baseball, so just give him the damn thing. Next week, the regular season begins. Now we try and keep score, tabulate wins and keep totals of the points. This is where the math skills come in handy (or at least the fingers on your hand). Still no reason to get serious. Good luck, stay healthy and have fun.
