Baseball is a game about failure. Failure of a pitcher to hit spots, failure of a batter to hit, failure of a runner to make it safely or failure of a player to make a catch or play. Sometimes too in baseball, failure extends to administrators who, while well intended, put an idea forward that is a failure.
One such idea is and has been the team called 'Territories'at the National Championships. Dervived from the ACT, Northern Territory and then from each state's leftovers, the side is a combination chow mein which lacks the same substance or quality. They lost 43-1 the other day to Western Australia in five innings and today to us 24-0 by mercy rule in five innings. As sad as it sounds, those who missed out on the Territories team can be thankful.
The gentleman's agreement of not stealing bases when well ahead of a hapless opponent was upheld vigorously by our team coach today so we probably could have won by fifty. Western Australia have found themselves in some hot water for not abiding by this. The heat can do funny things to you in Perth.
Umpires too take pity with a bigger than usual strike zone for the underdog - while the opponents take mercy wins.
Our team smashed the ball to all parts by and large. Players who had not had a lot of game time played a lot - Stevenson, Hore, Morris, Wootton and Giulieri. Sam Giulieri pitched powerfully and straight - without pitching many, if any, balls. He has much ability in this sphere when focused as he was very much so today. They could hardly hit anything thrown.
Some were reckless - including James who got out three times today, including a somewhat embarrassing stike out at the end. This disappointed him. Respect for a diminutive opponent was lacking a little from some of our boys and the lessons of sport as a leveller were brought home to them powerfully. Importantly, James made a powerful 9-3 play from right field to secure an out soon after. His focus had returned. Strength is the flower grown from the seed of disappointment.
It was a hard game to get excited about. Parents became disinterested, preferring to watch the neighbouring game, some got drinks, cleaned the sunnies, the fingernails, the camera lens or watched the grass grow while the groundsmen brought over the hose and rake for the end of game clean up before the second innings was completed. Harsh.
The game did not allow for much. Players rotated, batting line ups were shuffled and hitters stayed hitting - Bohan again fired, hitting a triple and getting walked, before sitting on the bench. The crowd can only take so much entertainment.
The coaches gained some favours from the parents disgruntled at the lack of game time of their children. This is not an unfamiliar tale in tournament baseball. The trophies are the same colour and the notion of 'team' is understood - albeit not wholly accepted - by the end of the carnival. Sadly, the air fares are the same price.
Regardless, the news overnight that South Australia had beaten Queensland and Victoria (Blue) had beaten Western Australia bode well for us. When added to Vistoria Blue losing this morning, we are now assured of a gold medal game final against Western Australia. This will be on Saturday regardless of the result of our game tomorrow.
A showdown against Western Australia will be a good finish to the carnival. We believe we can get them and etch the boys' names into Baseball NSW folklore - or on some paper list somewhere.
How would the "Territories" do against Korea or Japan? They would be beaten as badly as the Poms are beating the Aussies in the cricket.
ReplyDeleteThat's good news that the NSW boys will get a shot at the title.