Monday, May 28, 2007

FACING SIMON

Simon is the best pitcher I've ever hit against. Other guys on my team must feel the same because we never beat him. In fact, he and his team beat us in both the 2005 and 2006 championship series, sweeping a total of 4 games from us. We scored very few runs.

When I face Simon, my main goal is to not embarass myself. Not striking out is not necessarily enough. In addition to that I also want to make fairly good contact with the ball, certainly not hitting a pathetic little roller or pop up. I don't even have to get a hit. Not that I've been particularly successful even in this very limited aim. To avoid striking out I've sometimes cut down on my swing. And, by doing that, I've hit more than my share of pathetic little grounders.

So, in the game Wednesday, I was batting last. For a guy who's used to leading off and getting the offense going, this was humbling enough. By the time I batted with 2 outs in the third no one had done much with him. Simon threw me a high change up and I was not particularly fooled. I put a good swing on it but got under it and lofted a fly to left. I thought it would drop in but it held up and the left fielder covered ground well and caught it. A fly to left! Not much, of course, but I was one of only 2 or 3 to get the ball out of the infield. So not bad.

Definitely not a humiliation!

My second at bat was more fun. I lined a pitch down the right field line, landing just beyond the reach of the outfielder...and just foul! Too bad. There was a runner on and, had the right fielder kicked the ball far enough, our baserunner might have scored. Since the game ended in a 0 - 0 tie I would have been the hero. But, alas! The count was 0-2 and Simon tried to throw a low riser at my knees. It stayed too low and I took it for a ball. Then he tried the opposite, a high riser that he hoped I'd chase, but I didn't. Ball 2. This felt like a good, hard working at bat. His next pitch was a fast ball and again I hit it solidly, on a line, but right at the shortstop. Nothing! But 3 good contacts.

So another game passes without embarrassment. The next pitcher we face is not nearly as good so I'll raise my hopes. Now I need a couple of hits to make up for my 0 for 2 against Simon!

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