CHAMPS!

I wrote my storm post early Sunday morning but couldn't get it to publish. So I'll add this to the front and push the storm stuff to the bottom.

Champs! We beat the home team twice tonight to win the Sunday league tournament. After a 1 and 6 start to the season I doubted our wisdom regarding entering a team in this league. But six straight wins to end the year- and the last two against the team Ron and I played with until this season- and a perfect tournament run certainly makes it look like a great call.

That was fun.

We have a good nucleus for next year. Most everyone will come back, and now that we've weeded out the non-ballplayers the start of the season should not be as ugly. I hope Brian plays, though he seems doubtful. Defensively, he was definitely our most under-utilized player. Mulitiple times this year we played inferior players in spots where Brian would have helped us more, sometimes because we didn't know better and sometimes to ease egos.

I held up fine, although I landed on my bad knee fielding one ground ball and the pain was very similar to my previously mentioned (see post a couple of months ago) ground ball to the groin. I had a force out at third, but when I stood I realized I couldn't run those three steps without collapsing so I threw to 2nd instead.
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Wow, that was quite a storm.

I have electricity, though it looks like there are only a couple dozen buildings in this little section of the neighborhood who are so lucky- at least as of 9 pm last night when I arrived home.

The high winds and torrential rain hit (suddenly! And I mean suddenly!) as I was in my car, waiting for the light to change at Bardstown Rd/Taylorsville Rd.
At first I thought I'd been rear-ended, but then I realized my car would not continue to shake for so long if that were the case.
The only things visible more than 20 feet from my car were the sparks from transformers.
I was heading to a cook-out but as I crept up Taylorsville at 5 mph I intended to turn back onto my street and wait it out at home. However, even at 5 mph I missed my own street in the blinding rain.
Plan B, I turned into a little lot near Stein Automotive. A few seconds later I felt some thumps and scratching on the roof of my car(oh no, the Hook Man!) and turned to see a tree fall across the road, then realized my car was draped in power lines.
I drove out from under the lines and parked on the other side of the building, then waited a few minutes until the storm's intensity decreased.
Then, after several detours around the neighborhood, I found a clear path back to Taylorsville Rd and headed to the party. Just about every traffic light was out, trees and branches were down everywhere, and both lanes nearest the curbs looked like Beargrass Creek. Branches and garbage cans and other debris were riding the rapids down Taylorsville Rd.
After a slight delay caused by trees down all over the street I was heading to, we all arrived at our destination and ate ribs off the grill.
Good ribs, worth the odyssey.

We won a good game Wednesday night in 8 innings.
I'm up writing about it because I first arrived home very late and then had a bit of insomnia. I'm sure I'll sleep soon, and if not at least I have nothing to do Thursday night.
So anyway, 1st, the health update: my knee hurts. But now that I have more detailed info it doesn't bother me as much. Still hurts as much, but doesn't bother me as much. I knew I'd strained my quad and I knew my knee hurt too, but the type of pain was causing much fear.
I now know that the biggest problem with my knee is arthritis. That stinks, but since I've had bouts of inexplicable knee pain for several years and suspected arthritis it isn't much of a surprise.
Now that I know it's much easier to handle; it's nice to not be afraid to take the next step just because the last one hurt like heck.

Wait, did I say "1st the health update?" Sorry, there will be no 2nd. I'm getting sleepy after all. Time for bed. Whatever I was going to type next was probably unimportant.

{What did Kevin intend to discuss before his abrupt halt? A) his stellar defense B) his craptacular hitting C) the incredibly bright moon of Wednesday night/Thursday morning D) all of the above E) none of the above
If you guess correctly you may or may not win a fabulous prize}

Softball and Medical Update

Not much news on the medical update. Knee generally feels better but not great, and it's making too much noise with movement for me feel splendid about it. Sounds like a bowl of Rice Krispies at times. But the anti-inflammatory has helped.
I had an MRI Saturday but I don't know the results yet, other than that it cost me a lot of money.

We won tonight. I played- very poorly. Worst I've hit the ball all year. And I run like a turtle. I thought I was slow before, but a gimpy slow guy is much, much slower than a healthy slow guy.
I did make a terrific perfect throw on a short-to-third-to home double-play, though. I threw off my back foot and leaning the wrong way, right over the runner's shoulder and into the mitt for the tag. I was proud of it.

And on to the most important thing... we kicked butt on the 1st day of the Sunday tournament, taking care of business in our first round match-up and then knocking off the previously undefeated number 1 seed. Our pitcher the 2nd game walked a couple of guys in the 1st inning but then pitched a very good game. Personally, though, I give all the credit for that to the veteran replacement catcher who took over in the 3rd inning. He was a highly skilled, very smart ballplayer, and quite handsome, too.

Careful What You Wish For

Well, I said it would be a lot easier to figure out what to do if there was swelling.

Now my knee is nice and puffy. I'm going to my regular doc Tuesday. I expect him to poke around a bit and then tell me to see an orthopedist.

My insurance plan doesn't require me to see a primary care doctor first, but I'm doing it anyway with the assumption that in addition to poking around he will also prescribe anti-inflammatory medicine. Which would be nice.
And maybe painkillers. I don't really need those, because as long as I stay inactive it doesn't much hurt. But Tony Dollar$ can resell it for street value, which would also be nice.
Just kidding, Mr. Policeman. Carlos is keeping his nose clean now.

Miscellaneous

I can't find anything I really want to read. I'm struggling through 2 or 3 books at the same time right now. None are really capturing my attention. The lack of a great read would not bother me so much if it wasn't 200 degrees* outside every day. I want to stay in and read a good book.
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Softball
Sunday team won two today. Combined score 29-1, if memory serves. After a lousy season that's a good way to go into the league tournament.
Monday we won against a very good team, and we won our first tournament game Wednesday, so it was a good week.
I'm not so sure it was a good week for me personally, though. I can't quite tell yet, but I'm unsure whether or not I made it out of my 40th B-day month without a serious injury. Tuesday morning after my game I had some mild knee pain. Wednesday morning it was worse. I played Wednesday night and I believe it got worse.
Trying to describe the injury is difficult. I can run some with no pain, I can sometimes move left or right with no pain, but missteps or any odd direction change sometimes leads to incredibly sharp pain, like I've been stabbed or shocked in my knee. It goes away quickly, and there's no swelling, but when it hurts it hurts like heck.
Right now, it's scaring me a lot more than it's hurting me. It's such a sharp pain when it hurts that I feel like there's something seriously wrong. But then it goes away quickly. But then it hurts really badly again, and goes away quickly again.
If there was major swelling or something it would be a lot easier to figure out.

I've decided I definitely need to get it checked out, and tomorrow I plan to schedule something, but I also think I'll keep playing (in tournament games, anyway) until either I get it checked or until it hurts worse.
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Round 4 of the year: Nevel Meade w/Brian Saturday, 93. I hit like a sissy- partially because that's the way I swing, and partially because I was afraid of my injury. But I chipped and putted okay and my irons were reasonably on-target.
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For Mark's birthday I bought him a season of a show I'm almost certain he hasn't watched. I was very happy with the purchase and thought he'll love it, but it's now 1 hour to August and I still haven't given it to him. Therefore, his birthday season is stretching into the next month, so I'll boo myself on lack of timely gift delivery. But I watched a couple of episodes since I've had it, so that's some consolation to myself.

*Author error. The high temperature this year is actually only 174 degrees. - Ed.

Another loss. Our Sunday team stinks. Oops, I mean Kevin's Sunday team stinks. Tony Dollar$ is still undefeated, as far as Louisville's Most Wanted is concerned.

But Kevin and Carlos and their cast of a dozen or so lost again, this time in a rain-shortened but still official 5-4 disappointment.

I still think this Sunday team, which sits at 1 and 5 in last place, is a team to be reckoned with come tournament time. But as of now we stink.

Our biggest problem is we have a team full of good #7 or 8 hitters in the lineup, but no real 3-5 batting threats. Weak hitting, in other words.

My other real problem is where to put Kid BT. I was going to pitch him today but Ron wanted another guy- Chuck. And Chuck pitched an excellent game. He threw strikes on the first pitch and he then threw tough pitches to hit afterward. You can't ask for anything more.

Brian caught, and he made an excellent put-out on a play at the plate, which is invaluable. But Brian has an excellent glove, and this is the 2nd game he's caught. I can't help but feel we're wasting him back there. Catcher is an extremely under-rated position, and having a guy back there we are confident in is a great advantage, but still...
I like this Sunday team. It's a lot of fun, though we have some major flaws. We just need to start hitting, and I need to figure out where to put my brother and his excellent glove.
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My bruise has turned mostly yellow, which, based on experience, means it will be going away soon. But it stretches from just below my knee to my foot, which is a little disconcerting. Plus one side of my foot is purple, which is also disconcerting. Then Ron mentioned that 10 years ago Jimmy Yates needed surgery on a blood clot after a bruise just like mine, which was a thought that never entered my head until tonight and that is now bothering me slightly, but still, I think it's going away.
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I don't mind ants. I don't particularly care for them, but they are just ants. Tiny bugs that sometimes appear where they are unexpected, and that's about it. They have never creeped me out or anything.
Friday on Fresh Air the guest spent 45 minutes talking about ants, their different varieties and some of their more fascinating behavior. Very interesting stuff. It was actually a repeat, but I missed a lot of it when it was on months ago. I heard it all this time.
None of it would have bothered me at all, except I found an ant on my wall the next night. No big deal. I squashed and flushed him.
But then I opened my sock drawer a few hours later and found another in there. I squished him, too. Then this morning I found two in the kitchen.
All killed, all gone, and I've searched my home top-to-bottom for ant-attractions and ant entry ways, but all seems good.
A few ants would not normally bother me at all. They're just ants. But I hadn't had any for years, and coupled with Friday's Fresh Air story they have me mildly freaked and feeling ants on my skin whenever I have the slightest itch.

Keep Your Eyes On The Ball

or something like this might happen.



I got this one Sunday while trying to receive a throw from the outfield. I took about 2 steps (from 3rd toward the mound) in order to reach the ball, but the baserunner slid by me and blocked my view at just the wrong time. The ball hit me on the fly, shin high.
It smarted.
It didn't look too bad Monday night, but it was colorful enough by today (Thursday) that it merited a picture.

It's not particularly painful, though I am aware of it when I'm on my feet. Also, I am less a fan than ever before of sock sizes. As the owner sized 11 1/2 feet, I've never liked that socks come in sizes such as 8 to 12 or 9 to 12 because the size ranges always leave my feet on the too-tight end of the spectrum. Add swelling to that and they really start to squeeze.