The OW's Remain Undefeated

This is going to be one for the record books, if anyone could be bothered to keep records for the Queen Anne Recreational Softball League. Our ump tonight could hardly be bothered to keep track of the outs. But, for the first time ever, the Oscar Wildes have not lost two games in a row-- a historic start befitting a team bemascotted with a historical literary figure.

In tonight's well-fought non-loss, the Oscar Wildes proved for the second time this season that more so than last year, they are capable of not losing every game. In fact, they were dangerously close to actually winning their second game ever, up by 4 going into the final inning after battling back from an early 5 run deficit, but fortunately I made sure that didn't happen. Letting that hit get past me in left field in the top of the seventh to let the tying run score had nothing to do with my innate inabilty to field hardhit grounders and everything to do with my not wanting us to become complacent and take it for granted the we could just coast through this season and walk away with the title* again.

But despite a less-than-ideal final inning, when all was said and done, our fans still loved us. Granted, our fans tonight consisted of parents of Oscar Wildes (Rebecca's parents and Christie's mom) and children of Oscar Wildes (our two smallest benchwarmers, Abi and Mari, who, despite referring to the dugout as the "cutout" and despite being small children, actually seemed to be picking up the finer points of the game better than most of the team (j/k, Oscar Wildes, j/k!).)

But even objective observers, like, say, players on the other team, were impressed by the Oscar Wildes' come-from-behind almost-victory. Not that we still don't have a few areas that we could improve on as a team. Like dugout chatter. Stepping up to the plate at some point around the third inning, I distinctly heard an Oscar Wilde yell, "Pop one up!"

Perhaps this Wilde had recognized my tendency to perform the exact opposite of what I intend (like believe it or not, that one time when I was throwing a foul ball back in, I actually was aiming in the general direction of the pitcher's mound and not at the trees on the other side of the left field fence) and so was telling me to attempt to pop it up so that I would actually hit a line drive over the shortstop's head. Although, I know me criticizing someone else's choice of things to yell encouragingly at one's teammates is much like, say, Oscar Wilde calling the kettle flamboyant, as I have exactly three phrases that I repeat: "you can do it!", "you got it!", and, another blatant pot-kettle example, "wait for your pitch!"

Unfotunately the exact details of our amazing comeback are a little fuzzy, not for any particular reason (tonight I actually managed to eat a post-game ice cream without getting hit in the face), but because oddly enough I have a horrible memory for sporting events, which is why I write lengthy post-game recaps that somehow fail to mention any of the actual plays of the game. But I do remember the quote of the night, which came from Herr Coach Toffer "Coach" Lehnherr when questioned** about the massive scrape on his knee: "Yes, it did bleed, but I did not cry." I think we can all apply this lesson to tonight's game.

So, in conclusion, while some Wildes may have been disappointed with the outcome of their second contest, we must keep in mind the words of our always relevant (and oft-taken-out-of-context) mascot: "A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life."

Stay tuned as the Oscar Wildes gear up for their next opportunity to not lose on Wednesday, June 17 at 7:45 PM on their lucky field, QA #1. Go OWs!


* This title being the title of "Best Team in the Queen Anne League Named After a 19th Century Irish Writer."

**The exact line of questioning, which came from Abi, was: "Did it bleed? Did you cry?" Although I think the quote is much funnier out of context, which is why I am hiding the context in this footnote seeing as it is unlikely anyone will read this far.

What Cecilia Said

All that off-season training really paid off--the Oscar Wildes brought home a win in our season opener on Tuesday, June 2nd. We triumphed over Volumptuous (sic...I think?) with 12 runs to their 4 in six complete innings. N.B.: this was not a win by forfeit, nor was it a tie. 12 to 4!

But that isn't a wide enough spread for slaughter rule! you say. Why didn't the magnificent Oscar Wildes play the full seven innings mandated by the league? Well, despite its daytime strength this week, the sun really does have to go down at some point. And because the lights never came on (?!), the ump called the game at the bottom of the sixth. When we returned to Targy's (we had, of course, started pre-game warm-up there as well) and chatted with some members of Holy Cow and More Cowbell (Gates Foundation teams), we found out they didn't get to play their games at all, thanks to the lack of light.

But why dwell on the negative? We had some great moments! Cecilia, Bill, and Scott R. snagged some excellent catches in the outfield (which hopefully outshined the rest of Cecilia's shitty night), and the infield worked well together, helping to hold the Volumptians to a minimum number of runs. Zach pitched strongly the whole game, and solid at-bats by newcomers like Vanessa R., Sam, and Scott L., as well as the coaching staff and some other old-timers, helped us drive our runs up into the double-digits. Good, ridiculous, ballsy baserunning by all OWs (even when in direct contradiction to whatever the base coach was telling us) was also a big part of that. Danny Shapiro's legacy lives on.

Next up--time to hit the cages. Here's the lowdown:

(This) Sunday, June 7th
Funtasia
7212 220th St
Edmonds (right off Hwy 99)
5-7(ish)

The next Oscar Wildes game will be Thursday, June 11th at 7:45 on Queen Anne 2, following the 826 Seattle Tutor Idol and potluck.

Until then, in the words of our great mascot,

Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.

[I think that means he wants us to make sure our lovely goldenrod jerseys are clean.]

Our First Win! (and why there is no celebratory recap of it yet)

The full recap of the historic first win of the Oscar Wildes will, unfortunately, be postponed until tomorrow. That is because right now I am too busy icing my face to fully capture the highlights of tonight's game. Now you might be saying to yourself, "Hmm, that's odd, I don't remember the play where Cecilia got hit in the face," and that is the irony of the situation. I somehow made it through an entire softball game without getting hit in the head by thrown objects and even skipped out on the post-game drinks so I could grab a ride home, get a victory celebration ice cream cone just like Little League, and call it a wholesome early night (no drinking, no biking home in the dark--what could go wrong?), yet somehow I ended up getting hit in the nose with a CD cover hurled from a passing car with enough force to cut my face, cause a minor nosebleed, and leave me with a throbbing headache.

Yes, sitting outside Molly Moon's in Wallingford I got hit in the face with a cocaine-covered case of a CD entitled "Mixtape." I am not joking. And this is why I write nonfiction. I could not possibly make this shit up.

So, good game Oscar Wildes. I am going to bed, but more tomorrow.