Baseball DIY

First off, I'm already tired of the NCAA tournament. Good thing it hasn't even started yet...

Secondly, I'm going to see Interpol tonight! Right after my American Literature Before 1900 class! There was a day that I'd have blown off class completely, but now I'm mature and have already paid for the damned class, so I might as well go.

Thirdly, and most importantly, I had my first semi-practice of the vintage base ball season on Saturday. The Captain and I went to Murphysboro, Illinois, along with some St. Louis Perfectos, to talk to some people who are thinking of starting up a team there. We advised them on where to play and how to recruit/enlist players (ransom and blackmail are good places to start). We're playing there in May at Longfellow Park, which I think is a great name for any ballpark, especially one that will hold games played according to nineteenth century rules.

After the Murphysborites bought us lunch, and I mean right after we had an exceedingly good and greasy lunch, we thought it sounded like a good idea to go outside and run around after a ball. I laid some good wood on the ball and made a few nice plays while shagging. I do much prefer shagging during practice to playing in the field during a game because there are fewer people that you could possibly run into. I've only had one collision, and I'd rather not have another one. I came up early on a couple of grounders, so it's nice to see that I'm already in mid-season form. As Flash likes to say, "Baseball is a game of humiliation and ridicule."

We (the St. Louis Unions) are having a combined practice with the Perfectos this Sunday. It'll be nice to see more of the guys and get a little closer to game-ready. Our opener is April 16th against the Perfectos (or Defectos, as they might be known after we womp 'em by twenty runs that day...that wasn't a very gentlemanly thing to say, was it?).