It was Jamie who created my title when he said the above in response to news that I joined the computer science department’s softball team. Well, let me tell you: today we played the IT group, and those guys are hardcore. Nerds with bats, indeed.
The stated purpose of the league is to “play recreational ball and tell lies about it afterwards”, so it’s pretty laid back. Today was the first game I’d played (though the season actually started with a game last week). I did pretty well considering I hadn’t held a bat since the late 1990s. I went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Despite coming back to tie the game early, we eventually lost it 16-12. It was looking a bit more grim than that in the middle innings, but we put up a 6 run rally in the last inning, including an 2-out RBI single by yours truly.
I played second base, which doesn’t see too much action since all but one member of the other team bats right-handed, and thus most balls get pulled to the left side of the diamond. I did make a catch and a 4-3 putout on a ground ball, and took some relays from the outfield. To balance that, I also dropped a fly ball and almost collided with our right fielder who ran in and caught a high fly in shallow right field.
The only bad note of the game was when our first baseman (first basewoman?) took a throw in the face. Ouch!