Softball 2013
In late July, I managed to play four games of softball. The bone bruise at the bottom of my left tibia had improved to where I was able to walk 2+ miles and run short distances without a setback.
On Sunday 7/28 I played my 40+ team's final regular season game. We won, finishing 16-2, in first place two games ahead of the powerhouse team that had won the league for the past few years. Heh, perhaps thanks to my absence up to that point, it was the team's most successful season in its 16 year history. More seriously, my two recruits -- a shortstop last year and a pitcher this year -- made the big difference.
I batted last -- in order to run as little as possible -- and played three innings of first base. ... The shortstop and pitcher had told me that even if I couldn't play outfield, I could still help the team because the regular first baseman had such limited range -- not just fielding, but catching throws.
On Monday 7/29 our team entered a multi-division playoff that included the top two teams from our league, and eight teams from the town's third and fourth strongest leagues.
We won our first game 18-11. I played 4 innings of first base and went 2 for 3.
We then played our 40+ rivals and lost 9-4. Both teams were showing signs of fatigue, especially ours. I played 2 innings of first base and went 1 for 2. Up to this point, I hit every ball well. The two outs were line drives to the outfield.
We then played a team that had lost earlier that night to the first team we played. It was their 4th game of the night, but they were much younger than us. We lost 14-1, just managing to score our lone run in the last inning. I was no help on offense, going 0 for 2 with weak grounders. I had just gotten into the field for one out at 1st base when our left fielder strained his groin. I replaced him the rest of the game. I was very busy out there and made a nice shoestring catch to end the top of the last inning.
The next morning, my ankle felt fine. But then I walked 2+ miles in the evening and it began to hurt. Through trial and error for the next few days I found I could only walk about half a mile without generating pain the next day. I began improving from that point, but I've also had a couple of minor setbacks since then, so I'm still limited to less than a mile of walking at a time.
The manager of my baseball team is begging me to play, but I'm not sure if I'll return this season.