"No good softball player wants to play for a lousy team."

"No good softball player wants to play for a lousy team"
- Mike Royko

We are all set for practice Sunday at 7:15 am at Howard. I'm fired up and our swing coach is looking forward to it as well. I have spoken and traded emails with him about the practice. I told him that I envisioned him giving us some general tips followed by us taking some swings and him giving any feedback or tips. He suggested that if we have a digital camera with movie mode, we could analyze your own swings based on his tips. I have a camera that I can bring out there and email the clips out.

Joe D (as I now affectionately call our swing coach although he doesn't know that yet) told me he will be wearing his black and white Grumpies jersey and black cap. Now, I am not sure if he told me this because he wants to be sure I can locate him in the wee hours at spacious Howard Park or if he just takes great pride in the 16-inch game and his team. I am going with the latter.

As I said earlier, Joe is not an official 16-inch softball swing coach. He has a full-time job, loves 16-inch softball and teaches golf in his spare time. I found him by working the web for about a week. Well, I am a salesman at heart so I put his two extracurricular activities together and contacted his to pitch him on the idea. Even though he hasn't done anything like this before, he loved the concept. If he continues this new profession, I plan to be his booking agent.

In preparation for Sunday and to get you into Joe D's mind and understand what I believe to be his strong affection for the 16-inch game, I will share with you a few items to get rolling.

First, a bit a background about softball. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softball The two most enlightening passages are the following. 1. In Chicago, where softball was invented, it remains traditional to play with a ball 16 inches in circumference. This larger ball is generally softer (sometimes called a mush ball). When using a 16-inch ball, the fielders do not wear gloves or mitts. 2. Stealing in 16-inch softball is severely restricted, as a runner may only steal the base in front of them if it is open, and if they are thrown at, à la pickoff move or snap throw. This results in many inexperienced players being thrown or doubled off when they attempt to advance on a wild pickoff at another baserunner. For this second tidbit I may have to edit the Wikipedia page to name this "pulling a Dead Cougar."

Second, you must watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpuXfcx0pRU Mike Royko was a great writer and a hero to most Chicagoans for sticking up for the common man and his biting commentary. He loved his city, his booze and his 16-inch softball game. From Wikipedia: "He was also fervently devoted to 16-inch softball and was inducted into the Chicago 16-inch Softball Hall of Fame shortly after his death, an honor Royko's family insists he would have considered as meaningful as his Pulitzer."

Staying on the Royko track, when we started this team our tagline would have been "Sammy, get another round!" Now we have added, "No good softball player wants to play for a lousy team."

See you out there.