Cougars: Wrong Number

It was the mid-80’s and I was on vacation in Marco Island with my family. The typical daily routine of shopping, swimming and eating (and being with my family) was making me weary. Like most 16-year-old kids, the only thing I wanted to do was be with my friends back home.

My family had recently upgraded to a new and larger condo on the island. One day we were on our typical morning shopping excursion for new home furnishings, groceries, as well as beach supplies.

Beachworks was our final stop. It was just that, a beach store with all the works. Unlike the furniture and grocery stores that were filled with geriatrics, Beachworks had teenagers in their customer base.

While perusing the store for gear, I saw a pretty girl across the store and decided to change my dreadful daily routine.

Walking over to her, I stepped up to the plate and swung for the fences by asking her out on a date that night. She saw my feathered follicles parted perfectly and gave me an enthusiastic yes. We talked a bit more, she asked for my phone number and said that she would give me a call in the early evening.

Triumphantly, I bounced out of that store. I did it. I put myself in a vulnerable position and succeeded.

All day, I could not wait to get her call. Late in the afternoon, I stationed myself next to the phone so I would not miss her call. The minutes ticked by as I waited for that old school phone to jangle.

My excitement was fading as the minutes turned into hours. It was no longer early evening. It was past 7:00pm and squarely into nighttime.

It was at that time that my mom asked, “What phone number did you give her?” I told my mom I gave the girl the same number we had for years. Then, she shared the dreadful news, “We had to change our phone number when we moved.”

I gave the girl the wrong number.

That put me into an unreasonable, teenage, angry funk.

How does this relate to softball you ask?

Well, we had the wrong number last night against the first place team. Old School had 4 and we had 3.

First Inning

With stellar defense we held them to one run on three hits.

We got two quick outs and then Fort and Martini had back to back singles. Strong Coffey came to plate and crushed a hit to score Fort. JD and Joker each singled scoring Martini.

Cougars up 3-1.

Second Inning

Old School pushed a lone run across the plate.

Baby Kale nailed a single but we left him on base.

Cougars still up 3-2.

Third Inning

Our opponent eked out another run on two hits.

We went down 1-2-3.

Tied up 3-3.

Fourth Inning

We put them down 1-2-3 on three hard shots back to Martini on the mound.

We scattered the ball but still went down 1-2-3

Tied up 3-3.

Fifth Inning

We did it again. Got them 1-2-3.

They did it again too. Got us 1-2-3.

Still tied up 3-3.

Sixth Inning

Their first batter got on base. Then, Martini called JD in from the outfield to play short center and told the entire field we were going to turn a double play (fast forward to 33:33 on the game video). Martini pitched the ball and the batter hit a hard grounder to Martini who threw it to JD at second base who threw it to Li’l Rads at first base for the double play. It was just spectacular!

Baby Kale and Jimmy got hits but we did not score.

Still tied up 3-3.

Seventh Inning

Again we put them down 1-2-3.

Again we went down 1-2-3.

Still tied up 3-3.

Eighth Inning

Last night was the longest day of the year, so we were playing extra innings in the longest game of the year.

They put a mighty fright into us with three hits but thanks to a double play and tough defense, no runs crossed the plate.

In our half of the frame, Strong Coffey and Joker both got hits but we couldn’t get them home.

Still all square at 3.

Ninth Inning

Three hits and one run for them to take the lead 4-3.

We made two quick outs but Jimmy and Boom did not give up and both pummeled the ball for hits. We had the tying and winning runs on second and third. Your truly, Captain Cougar, came to the plate to get the number right but, once again, suffered a disconnected line for the final out of the game.

That put me into an unreasonable, teenage, angry funk.

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It only lasted for a bit though because I had a good talk with Charley as we walked together from the field after the game. We had a heart-to-heart about resilience and persistence after suffering defeat. Like Diddy said in our text exchange after the game “It’s not too often that we get a chance to actually live out the exact lesson we’re trying to teach our kids.”

Sports are not just a numbers game.

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Game Video

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