The Road to 14 Losses

Tracking the City Paper softball team’s pursuit of a perfect season

Current Record: 0-6 (.000)

The bad news arrived even before the first pitch, when RF Matt Hollis suffered a blow to his right cheek after stepping on a field rake. (I was busy during warm-ups, so I didn’t see it happen, but I gather it went down a lot like this.) Hollis is recovering just fine from his Sideshow Bob moment, and says he’s been happy to learn that he’s not the only person to survive a rake-based injury. “I have found out how many others this senseless tragedy has befallen,” he says. “Unless they are lying to make me feel better.”

We nearly had to forfeit due to our lack of the requisite number of female players, but happily SS Dot Steck arrived just in time. Less happily, we then proceeded to play the Associated Press. Final score: AP 25, City Paper 0. P Tim Carman left the game early after a liner struck his hand; X-rays proved negative, but Carman would like D.C.-area ER doctors to know that it’s not OK to inquire about good wine bars while assessing a restaurant critic’s injuries.

We buckled down against the Examiner in our second game, which featured some fine infielding from P Mike Kalyan, 1B Chris Coxen, 2B Kim Rinehimer, Steck, and 3B Jason Hutto. By the fourth inning we’d battled our way to a 6-6 tie, but the breaks then stopped coming our way. Final score: Examiner 17, City Paper 6.

Next up: Comcast SportsNet and Dow Jones. The DJ team is also 0-6; if we can take advantage of a weak squad that may be feeling a little demoralized, victory No. 1 may yet be ours.