ORONO — As the opposing shortstop caught the infield pop-up for the third out, our 2009 rec-league softball season was over. Our team, the Dead Animals, capped a solid season off with a disappointing first-round exit in the playoffs. We all lined up and shook hands, wishing the Hollywood Slots team the best of luck in their next game and commending them on a good game.
The drive home from Orono High School was short, but there was plenty of time to sit there in the car wondering how I could have done more to help. There was the 0-for-3 performance from the plate that didn’t help, or the pop fly to left center that I should have caught instead of getting called off my the left fielder.
Rec-league softball is a strange Catch-22 for me. On one hand, it’s supposed to be fun and laid back. It’s more important to hang out with friends and have a laugh than anything else — at least that’s what my wife tells me every week. She’s a bit more of an optimist than I am.
I try to have a good time each week, and winning goes a long way toward that goal. The kicker is, I have such a competitive streak in me that I can’t brush the losses off that easily. It stings every time, some games worse than others. Monday night was no exception, as we yet again failed to build off a solid regular season with a strong run in the playoffs.
This may sound like Bill Belichick talking to reporters after a post-season loss, but it’s the truth. At some point a little post-season glory would be nice.
I know I’m not alone in this. No matter if it is in Orono or Dover-Foxcroft, people take their rec sports seriously. You can’t fault a person for that. No one wants to go out each week and get their butt kicked on the diamond, even if it is just for fun and laughs.
Part of it has to do with the fact that rec-league sports is in many ways the only competitive release people have anymore. How these recreational leagues are treated by many adults remind me of the way kids treat high school sports — with the same intensity, the same passion and sometimes the same frustration at each loss.
I know Monday night I felt that frustration. An 0-for-3 night at the plate will gnaw away at me for a few days, at least until I step up to the plate Friday night at the Fairgrounds for the YMCA league game. I’ll be looking for a little redemption that night, something to let me know that Monday’s loss was a fluke and that I’m a better player than that.
Otherwise it’s going to be a long winter of waiting for softball to start up again.
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