Remember to let her into your heart

Lots of words today. Be sure to check the archives, as not all of today's updates appear on the main page.

At the top of your Softblog this fine Wednesday are a few pics of a beautiful young girl, Maryam. She had open-heart surgery in March, 2007, one of ten children that Gift of Life Amman (GOLA) helped as part of a medical mission between Al-Khalidi Hospital here in Amman, Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, and many generous corporations, individuals, and volunteers from all over the world.

Maryam is back at home, and she's doing great. (Her aunt & I message each other frequently.) I want to thank each of you for joining Amman Softball League and contributing to GOLA's success in saving the lives of needy children. And thanks to Amman Little League Association and its president, Mr. Nabil Khoury, as well as all of their volunteers, for hosting us and making ASL a win-win for both organizations.

GOLA is an officially-regsitered charity, and we are always in need of financial contributions. Thanks once again for your generosity, and if you can afford to give a little more and wish to do so, please email AmmanSoftball@gmail.com, and I will put you in touch with our co-chairmen.

And now, here's Maryam...

Adoring Dr. Mark Turrentine, the surgeon from Riley.

Breaking my heart...

...and on her way home.

But when you talk about destruction: Eagles @ Stars

9:00 AM (81F/27C)
Umps: Slackers

Quite a war of words erupted between the two captains in the days leading to this much-anticipated game between two fired up teams.

Eagles captain and gyroball pitcher Tom Manning was in a confident mood, practically guaranteeing his team’s victory.

“We’re known as the team with all the kids, and that may give some of our opponents false hope,” said Manning, “But I have faith in our players because we all believe in our system.”

When reached for comment, Stars’ captain Pat Hillman, AKA Abu Mitchell Al-Zarqawi, all but issued a fatwa. “The blood of my enemies,” began an agitated Hillman, “shall flow like a river through the heart of the thirsty ballfield. Once quenched, the sand will shoot trees up to the heavens. And from these trees, we shall fashion wooden bats with which to score a whole lotta runs.”

“He’s all talk,” retorted Manning. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll head over to Farah Women’s Hospital right before game time and pick up their nine newest babies. Me and nine newborns, and we’ll pound the Stars.”

“Wait a minute,” shot back an incredulous Hillman. “There’s a women’s hospital in Jordan? Is that even legal?”

The Eagles and the Stars. You can’t make this stuff up.

(Actually, I just did make it up. All of it. But ignore the Fear Factor System at your own peril.)

Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you…The Beats @ Slackers

10:30 AM (85F/29C)
Umps: Stars

It’s History Week here at Amman Softball League. I’m here to tell you about the game known as “The Miracle On Sand Part II, Miracle Sandier.” My personal recollections of most of that game are vague, as I was busy umping it. (And everyone knows I don’t pay attention to the game when I ump.)

The last time the Slackers and Beats played against each other, it was the penultimate week of the 2007 Winter regular season, March 2, 2007. The Beats were short a couple of key players, including their captain, Marikay Satryano, who was selfishly off saving some baby’s life. (What’s with these do-gooders?)

The Slackers, on the other hand, were all present and cruising to a second-place finish, aiming to peak at the right time for the tournament. They did peak...

To a 24-8 lead after four innings of a six-inning game. Those were the happiest four innings of the Slackers' ASL careers. Everything was going their way, from diving catches to stellar pitching to one hit after another on offense. This effort was kept going at key moments by the women on the team, Tania & Dana Jordan, Nada Samawi, and Abeer Kayali. They raked.

Miracle On Sand II: Rocky Abushaar keeps a close eye on brother Laith's at-bat.

Were the Beats demoralized, you ask? There was some anger, sure. But they never stopped playing and smiled often at their misfortune. Karma would later reward them with a friendly, two-inning visit.

The Slackers, the visiting team, were shut out in the top of the 5th. The Beats then followed up on their tight defense with eight runs of their own. It was less muscle and more patience that got the Beats turned around. After four innings of superb pitching, the Slackers’ Karim Barghouti Laith Abushaar just couldn’t find the plate. One walk followed another and another, with the occasional power shot by Mark McPherson and Dwaine Chide. Finally, the third out came.

And then the third out came again, but this time for the Slackers in the top of the 6th. They were barely up before they went down. Still, they were ahead, 24-16, with just a half-inning to go in the game.

Marikay Satryano and Greg Ambrosio, at the Winter Tourney.

Watching the Beats circle the bases in never-ending flashes of blue streaked with red, combined with the hot, orange gesticulations of the Slackers, was like watching a Merry-Go-Round on an acid trip. It was surreal. It was beautiful. It was tied at 24 with two outs.

When yet another issued walk pushed the speedy Chris Byrd to second, Mark came up to bat with the winning run (how did we get here?) in scoring position. Ash Samawi, the Slackers’ captain, had had enough. He pulled Karim Laith and inserted himself as the pitcher, for this was no ordinary batter at the plate.

Mark is a large man. He is athletic and intimidating. He is able to change a game with his bat or with his glove. He was the MVP of the Beats.

He was also the wrong batter, according to the lineup. Too flustered to notice, Ash began to pitch around Mark, finding a loophole in the “only one intentional walk” rule as easily as a nose can find body odor in a Left Bank cafe'. But France is only stinky; lawyering yourself an edge in sports is downright poopy.

The count got to 3-1 before the Slackers’ scorekeeper noticed the batting order was wrong. She brought it to the attention of the ump (me, remember?) who, by rule, declared that the correct batter must assume the count; the game-ending out could not be called unless the mistake was brought up immediately after the at-bat was completed. The rule was explained to all and Ash put the icing on the mistake by promptly tossing ball four to the correct batter. Oops.

Bases loaded, two outs. 24-24, and back on the right batting order. Who was digging his feet into the deep hole that was now the batter’s box? Mark. With Chris at third and all kinds of ducks quacking behind him, Ash had no choice but to throw strikes.

Mark had no choice but to deposit one of them over the left-field wall. One duck, two duck, three duck, four. Walk-Off Grand Slam. Karma leans back and smiles.

Marikay received the frantic updates from her team on their amazing win as she got the news that the baby she was trying to save would be able to have heart surgery, and that he would live. And the Beats go on...

Of all these friends and lovers: Sluggos @ Traitors

Noon (88F/31C)
Umps: Mude & Gary

When the Sluggos look at the Traitors’ Gatorade-inspired uniforms, all they see are the miniscule green details. If you’re new to the league, here’s a history lesson:

In the Winter 2007 Amman Softball League season, there were the Green Monsters and then there were all the other teams. The Monsters steamrolled through the regular season and, after a first-round playoff win against the Beats, into the championship game. Through those nine games, the juggernaut never trailed after a full inning of play. Scores like 29-4, 28-3, 43-5 were as prevalent as the odor of diesel in Abdali.

All smiles before the championship game.

But then came the Sluggos. As the #3 seed, they quickly dispatched the Slackers to set up a showdown with the Monsters, wanting desperately to avenge their two regular-season losses. It looked like the same old story when the undefeated Greenies took a 10-2 lead into the 5th inning. Six more outs, and they could celebrate what had by then seemed to be their birthright.

The Sluggos were having none of it. In the top of the 5th, they scored eight runs, most of them with two outs, fueled by Lori Doutrich and Chris Hattayer’s clutch hitting. Suddenly, the game was tied. The Monsters’ dugout was tense, not having experienced such a feeling since the infamous Miracle On Sand (Part I) game the previous summer. Sluggos co-captain Orrince called it the “Pucker Factor.”

“Let’s put up ten runs and put these guys to bed,” urged someone (or was it everyone?) from the Green Monsters, referring to their turn to bat in the bottom of the 5th. The Sluggos, however, had other ideas, holding ASL’s highest-ever scoring team to just three more runs, and an improbably few 13 through five innings. On average, that total is what the Monsters had scored every five outs. The Sluggos' stifling of their rivals was due to pitcher Bill Steinkampf’s uncanny placement and the prescient positioning of his solid defense.

The Sluggos scored two runs in the top of the 6th and final inning. There was one out, and co-captain YAM stood at third, representing the tying run. Monsters’ pitcher Kevin Rowlson looked to his dugout, holding up one finger, an inquisitive look on his strained face. He wanted to know if they still had the lead, and if it was one run. He looked confident as he delivered the next pitch. Deep fly ball, caught, the tag-up, the throw—not in time. Safe at home! The game was tied.

13-13, bottom of the 6th inning, with the Monsters batting from the top of their order. Kevin Vienneau, normally an on-base machine, popped out to shallow center. The Sluggos were bursting with confidence, and rightly so. Brooke Sartawi (disclosure: my wife; I was the co-captain/coach) patiently drew the one-out walk. Mike Moore, a home run machine, worked a full count and smacked the next pitch to left-center for a double. Brooke, representing the winning run, was held up at third. There was no need to panic, because Bruce Neese, arguably the greatest hitter in ASL’s brief history, was due up.

This was a no-brainer. With first base open, Bill intentionally walked Bruce to set up the double-play—and extra innings. Jeff Coupe, who wore “8” on the back of his jersey to honor Carl Yastrzemski, walked to the plate. Was Yaz’s 1967 Triple Crown season going through his head as he dug in for his turn to be the hero?

Bill’s 2-1 pitch was well short of the plate, but Jeff did not want to even come close to forcing in the championship-winning run on a walk. That’s not how sluggers do it. That’s not how Yaz would have done it, at least not in a baseball fan’s boyhood dreams. So Jeff lunged forward and down for the ball, hitting it off the end of his bat, over the pitcher’s head, out of reach of the second-baseman and towards YAM, in short center.

It was too high for her to reach, too. The ball landed in shallow center field. Brooke jogged home and kept her foot on the plate for an extra second or two, feeling bittersweet that it was all over. Ballgame. Championship. Season.

Kevin, Jeff, Brooke and Eiad Zoubi are former Green Monsters who now wear the white and orange of the Traitors. You may barely notice the green on those jerseys, but the Sluggos know it’s there.

Jeff Coupe and Bruce Neese, with the trophy.

I’ve got blisters on my fingers: Nomads @ Bling Bling

1:30 PM (90F/32C)
Umps: Traitors

Now that my calluses have disintegrated into my keyboard, we get to the final game of the day. Nomads’ captain Omar Massarweh remained strong and silent about the game, while Neal Zureikat was cordial and sportsmanlike on behalf of his Bling.

Yawn.

At least we have the unveiling of Schwa & Ziggy's picks, exclusively for this game:


Ziggy's Pick: Bling Bling

"Ooh, Bling. I can has shiny stuff, pls?"






Schwa's Pick: Nomads

"They're all red. Are they meat? Can I snack on them?"





Aside from the excitement of our cats' picks, there was some breakin' news involving the Nomads that needed fixin' right quick.

When Traitor Kevin Rowlson, the George Steinbrenner of Amman Softball League, expressed interest in acquiring the services of his former teammate, perennial basher and current Nomad Shukri Saleh, the League had to get to the bottom of these nefarious trickerations.

“I shot that birdie down,” replied Omar Massarweh within seconds. “My #10 is staying put.”

Kevin was too busy backpedaling to the shores of his Evil Emirate to comment. He was last seen trying to steal insulin from diabetics so he could trade it in for this darling orange bracelet that would just totally go with his outfit—er, uniform.

NEWS FLASH: We hear from reliable sources that Kevin is asking female members of his team how long they think it would take for his hair to grow out enough for him to wear a scrunchy on the field. UPDATE: We have been able to confirm that the scrunchy in question is more of a “bow thingy,” and that it is, in fact, orange:

And that’s what you get for trying to steal other teams’ players.

On a happy note for the Bling-It-Ons (Oh, it’s been bloughten), they have been bailed out of umpiring duties. Replied an ecstatic Neal, “[We] appreciate not having to ump. We took a lot of heat last game, literally.”

I hadn’t noticed, but then again, I never do.

Still they lead me back to the long, winding posts

You dug deep to get here. Your reward is this week’s trivia question (prize carried over from last week): Name the connection between today’s posts (all five six, including this one) and be very specific. First person to correctly answer in this post’s comments section wins the prize. (Hint: First person who says something about sports will be the first to lose.) Last week’s trivia question: Bases loaded, no outs. The batter hits a grounder to the 1st Baseman, who fields the ball and steps on 1st base (beating the runner), then he throws to the Catcher, who catches the ball and steps on home plate (beating the runner). The catcher then throws the ball the the 3rd Baseman, who tags the runner coming from 2nd base (before the runner reaches 3rd base). What is the result of the play? First to correctly email the correct answer wins a prize. Many came close; some tried to cheat and were disqualified (or deceived). Hardly anyone sent it to the correct email address. Answer: We don’t know, since the play hasn’t ended yet. Nobody called time; the play is live. But good-on-ya’s to those who answered something like 3(u)-2-5, out at 1st & 3rd, safe at home, etc. (Remember, by getting the initial out of this play at 1st, the force was removed, which is why the runner at home is safe.) Update: The obligatory Ash Samawi clarification: One answer per person, per question. Relatives of the typist and those who sleep with him are not eligible.