(June 2, 2008) - Ishtarians, 2008 starts with a bang.  We had an unfortunate series of injuries that started with Kari's knee.  Kari and Paula were nice enough to help another team play.  In the last inning of the game Kari went down running into third.  The good news is there was some guy named RJ from the other team
that was a physical therapist.  I am not sure if he actually did anything to help her injury, but he seemed to make us all feel a little better.  News as of 7:30pm is that it may only be a strain.  Kari will be visiting the hospital again on Monday to see a specialist to get the final diagnosis.

Our second injury came in roughly the third inning.  Tony, whose fingers seem to hate him, caught a fly ball on his right ring finger.  As soon as the play ended, he yelled, "I got a bleeder".  He was able to get medical attention at the CSSC desk  and sat the remainder of the game with Kari.  Early diagnosis is that the finger nail will be coming off and his knuckle takes yet another jamming.

Though GAM was not injured in the game, he did not play the field due to back problems suffered while playing racquetball with Ty two weeks ago. Reiser had a nearly fatal wipe out crossing home on a slippery base. No indication of injury, but I am guessing that he will have some road rash and a sore side to deal with today.

The game was a tough one.  We came out rusty and had a bad first two innings.  The other team racked up the runs on a series of fielding errors, miscues and slow jumps off the bat.  I won't dwell on the errors, because the frustration of the game goes well beyond anything that happened in the field.  We started to turn it around in innings 3, 4 and 5.  The last inning we got off the field in three batters and we rallied off a Sangi homer to pull within 4 runs.  Unfortunately, our umpire decided that our game should be cut short to get the games running back on schedule and stopped play after 5 innings.

Since someone mentioned the umpire, I will take a minute to share my frustration.  This sweet elderly man seemed to have a prostate issue that caused him to leave the field twice during our game.  On its own, this is no issue, but when we are all willing to give him time to 'take a break', it only seems equitable that he give us time to finish the game.  If this wasn't enough, our game started 15 minutes late and based on his power of time management, it ended 10 minutes early.

Time management wasn't his only weakness. Apparently, the rules of the game also eluded him.  I can't remember if it was the 3rd or the 4th when he decided that judgment was something that he should apply to the infield fly rule.  The shortstop dropped a fly hit by Amy.  The customary call with runners on 1st and 2nd is that the batter is automatically out.  Instead, he decided that the ball was not hit high enough to be a fly ball and called out the runners at first and second.  After a minor eruption by yours truly and Sangi we finished the game.  In my own childish way, I threw the scorecard and the waiver record out into the field for him to shag.  I know, I'm nearly 40 and I should be able to keep my cool.  As a side note, some part of 13 year old Mike really felt good when I did it.  John Riley and the events of the day have been logged with the CSSC and I expect/hope to get a call on Monday.

The best news of the day is that we got to see two other teams in the league and they didn't look too good.  I am still confident that we are the team to beat and will be in the finals again this year.  Our fielding really came around and our bats were looking pretty good.  Next week our game is at 2pm on the same field.  I have attached the roster and will ask Sangi to take the helm.  Please get back to him or me with your status. Alternates, based on the injury report from this week and the fact that Paula and I will be wrestling bears in Alaska for the next two weeks, be prepared for the call to help out.

Remember, we are a team of destiny. We are destined to win against youth, diminishing numbers, injuries and even poor officiating.  We are Ishtar.  I expect a call on Sunday with the news of our victory.

Your slightly imature and humble coach,

Halfman