Sliding: Such poor sportsmanship!
Silver Spring, Md. | Steadied by slick fielding and timely hitting, Express played to another split Saturday, losing to USA Today 8-6 and handling Comcast SportsNet, 7-4. The hot day made for a feisty environment on the diamond and the first scorcher of the season provided quite a bit of high-intensity media softball drama — if there is such a thing.
In Game 1, Express jumped out to an early lead with a 4-run first against the vaunted USA Today squad. Katie “I Got Engaged So My Boyfriend Could Play On the Team” Aberbach set the tone for the 20-MM in the field with a fantastic snag in left against to rob a likely triple, but in the end it wasn’t enough. The Gannetoids proved why they are a perennial MMSL contender with a strong showing of hitting fundamentals that powered them to eight runs and the victory.
In what was easily the most entertaining matchup of the year, Game 2 featured a few 20-MM webgems and absolutely no shade at all. The nattily attired and clearly overmatched Comcast SportsNuts couldn’t manage the moxie to handle the psychological juggernaut of Express.
The highlight of the day came in the 6th, when James “I Hardly Know Her!?” Romoser, turned in another fantastic play to double off a runner at first following a remarkable grab. “There’s nothing like taking advantage of a boneheaded baserunning mistake to kill a rally,” shortstop Clinton “If It Wasn’t For Trash Talk, I Wouldn’t Talk At All” Yates said. “That play gave us a real boost.”
An outfield error by Nathan “I Played Soccer, Not Baseball in High School” Martin kept things tight in the 7th, providing the only real close call of the game. “Thank you guys so much for not making me feel like a jerk after that play,” Martin said.
Naturally, Chip “I Already Live in MoCo” Porter broke his “0-for-life” struggle on the day to smack a 3-run bomb in the 7th to seal the win. “I was wilted from the sun about 10 minutes into game one, so props to my heartier teammates for gutting it out as I drifted around in LaLa Land,” Porter said. “Luckily I snapped out of it in game two. Just call me Seiko — perfect timing.”
Andy “Just Wait Until Vance Grows Up” Bonior threw two more solid games and kept up his reign as the best fielding pitcher in the league. “It’s great beating a team that takes itself so seriously. Hopefully we can play them again hand them another solid beatdown,” Bonior said.
The 20-Minutemen now sit at 3-5 on the year and face division rivals National Press Club and Gazette next week.
13 Comments
May 2nd, 2010 at 10:12 am
Please note that my fiance A, wasn’t at the game Saturday; and B, never played high school baseball.
(For the record, I never did, either! though I think that’s obvious!)
May 2nd, 2010 at 1:24 pm
no love for my “ground rule double”?
i’ll try to incorporate more high-stepping and grounding out.
that seems to work out better
May 2nd, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Congrats, Express! Your defense was impressive indeed. As was your shortstops GIANT mouth. And the “effort” displayed by 2 separate players sliding into opposing girls cleats up (one pictured above). Al Bundy himself would be impressed with his trash talk in (as you said yourself) a media softball league. As an observer, I can honestly say CSN played their way out of this game with poor defense and hits right at your defenders, but that doesn’t change how little class your team or this website displays. Not surprisingly, your write-up of the game is galaxies better than anything that ever appears in your shoddy paper. Enjoy your dying medium. Cheers!
ps- tell the brilliant fellow in the picture that you don’t get to take a base when you stand in there and let yourself get hit by a SLOW-PITCH softball!
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:37 am
Nice caption, you’re right - sliding is not bad sportmanship, HOWEVER, when there’s no play at the plate (ball still in outfield)and the clown sliding puts his cleats up (on a female no less) THAT’S BAD SPORTSMANSHIP !! Keep talking, when we drop 20 on you next time (IF you make the playoffs), we’ll see how much chatter comes from you guys. We played bad DEF and hit balls right at your outfielders 300 feet deep, hope to see you again.
May 3rd, 2010 at 10:26 am
[...] office as typically within the MMSL’s sought-after standards of decorum and sportsmanship but with a definite wise-ass edge that could be taken the wrong way, depending on your sense of [...]
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:00 pm
As a former Express player and current coworker of WRG, a simple question arises when reading the recap, Bobby G. and Jim Miller: If there wasn’t a play at the plate, why was she standing on the plate?
Seeing a catcher ready to catch the ball as I’m running towards home would signify slide. Why wouldn’t the player slide at that point? He thinks there could be a play at the plate and was willing to risk scratches for the run. That’s just how we play.
May 3rd, 2010 at 3:47 pm
She wasn’t standing on the plate- she was standing BEHIND the plate. As any catcher would do when there’s no immediate impending play at the plate (and therefore no reason to expect to be unnecessarily cleated)but there ARE other runners on base which could obviously lead to a play at the plate LATER in the play. Wow. Tough concept.
Paint it how you want. Use partial quotes and take things out of context (having read excerpts of your paper- that, too, is clearly “how you play”) all you like. That doesn’t change the pointless, dangerous slides. Nor does it excuse the inappropriate classless comments made both on the field and on the bench by your players.
I personally have nothing against any “Xpressers”. Hell, I don’t know any of you. What is offensive is the way you carry yourselves on the diamond. Maybe next time, try a little tact.
Good luck with the rest of your season.
May 4th, 2010 at 6:52 am
I follow the 20-Minutemen from afar because I love Express and I think both your paper and your sarcastic team web site are hilarious. But I’m confused. I thought you were in a league with adults? Has the journalism industry gotten so bad that teams are starting to fill their roster with junior high school girls?
Or are you guys planting these hilarious comments by “Bobby G.” as part of the 20-Minutemen shtick? If so, AMAZING! Express genius reaches new heights!
Keep up the great work! Your fans love you guys.
May 4th, 2010 at 7:47 am
I agree with Bobby G.! Your softball web site is “galaxies better” than the paper. That’s just testament to how good this web site is! I read Express every morning on my way to work and I LAUGH. Then I get to work and check 20minutemen.org and I laugh some more. Usually, by 9:15 I’m so exhausted from my thorough enjoyment of Express that I have to go get an iced coffee.
Can’t wait to hear about the next game!
May 4th, 2010 at 7:50 am
I heard about this comment war on my twitter feed, and I had to come see what it was about. Oh you guys. Greatness follows you.
May 4th, 2010 at 8:17 am
New uniforms for THE EXPRESS –
http://www.upmyownass.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/motivational-poster-pink-popped-collar-douche-bags.jpg
May 4th, 2010 at 10:03 am
I didn’t realize CSN was 6-2 this season. Congrats on a great win, Express! Wish I could have been there.
May 6th, 2010 at 1:17 am
Hey, what’s the big deal here? Talking makes the game more fun and I’m not even a talker. To be quite frank I stutter. I stutter quite a bit so when I’m able to get six words out without fuf-fuh-fuh-fumbling all over the place, I’m pretty excited. At the end of the day it’s just softball and everyone wears molded cleats, right? Let’s us all count to 12 and not be bitter ’cause the Express crossword kicked our butts. I’d say Sodoku but who cares, right? Love. Oh and Nibb High football rules
Leave a Reply