Life updates

[Drem]

what're you tryin to generate demand? hahahah

[brinstar]

dominance of an elite opposing pitcher

maybe it's different here than there, but how do you have an elite pitcher in slow pitch?


here, you just toss the ball in a somewhat gentle arc, and play defense

if you're "pitching" underhand we call it softball

no way man, with enough practice and touch you can learn to put spin on the ball that causes it to behave differently than "just tossing the ball in a somewhat gentle arc"

the pitcher i was referring to earlier put a pretty serious backspin on the ball, causing it to a) look weird flipping out of his hand, b) lose altitude a lot faster than a regular pitch, and c) vastly increase the likelihood of grounders. essentially he was giving us weird-looking pitches that were difficult to track and quite often got jammed straight into the ground in front of home plate. it was pretty devastating. the only person i've ever seen do it better than that guy was my dad, and he doesn't play anymore

i've also seen pitchers stretch out as far as they legally can to one side of the pitching rubber to deliver their pitch, so the ball comes across the plate at an angle instead of straight front-to-back


when i'm on the mound, over 90% of my pitches are knucklers - sort of the opposite philosophy from intense spin. a knuckleball a) also looks weird coming out of my hand, b) appears to "skitter" as it traverses air currents*, and c) "clunks" off the bat for some reason, resulting in a lot of shallow pop flies. plus there's the added weirdness of seeing the stitching on the ball as it comes toward the batter. *obviously the effect is much less noticeable on an underhand softball pitch than on a 70mph baseball pitch, but rest assured it still moves!

i've been trying to incorporate a hard slider as well, but it's very much a work in progress. i can't seem to place it where i want it outside of a practice situation ;\

of course there's also the sparring between pitcher and batter. in my league, the batter's count starts at 1-1 in order to keep things moving, so if i get a strike (or a foul) with my first pitch the count already goes to 1-2. when that happens i will give them a couple of bad pitches (looks tempting, but outside the zone) in hopes of getting them to swing awkwardly for a weak hit or use up their "courtsey foul" - or even better yet, whiff for a K. sometimes i'll get lucky and get a called strike 3 on one of these bait pitches, lol. anyway if they manage to hold off on my garbage (which is rare) and the count runs full, i just come back to the zone with an easy strike and see what happens. this summer i averaged just over 3K/game. that can be a pretty big deal considering some games only manage to cram 4 innings into the 1-hour time limit

now i'm not saying having a hardcore pitcher will make or break your game - obviously it's still a team sport and you have to play good defense and rack up some runs (derp). all i'm saying is that it's definitely an edge

[brinstar]

uhhh obviously i put a lot of thought into pitching

[Maeya]

or even better yet, whiff for a K. sometimes i'll get lucky and get a called strike 3 on one of these bait pitches, lol. anyway if they manage to hold off on my garbage (which is rare) and the count runs full, i just come back to the zone with an easy strike and see what happens. this summer i averaged just over 3K/game.

So I'm a baseball/sports newb and didn't know that K meant strike. I got tickets to an Atlanta Braves game through work and we went because they were good seats and I don't mind watching live sports even if I don't know all the rules for the sport. One of the sponsors, Gas South, kept a strike count through the game and whenever one of the Braves threw a strike, a K would come out under their logo. Unfortunately their slogan is "Bringing the Heat". So anyway, I didn't realize all this, but partway into the game I happen to glance up at one point and see "Bringing the Heat" with KKK underneath it and was like "holy fuck..... I know this is the South, but seriously? That's a little blatant!" and then Ugzug/Langston had to explain to me what was going on Shortly afterward another K came down and I didn't feel so awkward.

[Lyion]

Good story... I'd never think of that growing up watching baseball.

The only comparable thing I can think of in my life was when I saw a news TV show in the 90s about reforming gangbangers. I watched it expecting nymphs and weirdness, but the term had changed somehow. In the 80s, a gangbang was a whole different term.....

[leah]

or even better yet, whiff for a K. sometimes i'll get lucky and get a called strike 3 on one of these bait pitches, lol. anyway if they manage to hold off on my garbage (which is rare) and the count runs full, i just come back to the zone with an easy strike and see what happens. this summer i averaged just over 3K/game.

So I'm a baseball/sports newb and didn't know that K meant strike. I got tickets to an Atlanta Braves game through work and we went because they were good seats and I don't mind watching live sports even if I don't know all the rules for the sport. One of the sponsors, Gas South, kept a strike count through the game and whenever one of the Braves threw a strike, a K would come out under their logo. Unfortunately their slogan is "Bringing the Heat". So anyway, I didn't realize all this, but partway into the game I happen to glance up at one point and see "Bringing the Heat" with KKK underneath it and was like "holy fuck..... I know this is the South, but seriously? That's a little blatant!" and then Ugzug/Langston had to explain to me what was going on Shortly afterward another K came down and I didn't feel so awkward.

BAHAHA. i had something similar happen a couple years ago at a UNL baseball game with josh and his brother. i was like "uhhh, guys, wtf is up with the KKK up there?" hehehe. funny. you are not alone, my dear.


also, alex, i did not know that you threw balls on purpose. that will change things a little for me when i watch games! (except i will not be at tomorrow's game, fyi, because of the wedding this weekend, ugh)

[Jay]

Lawl chicks :P

[brinstar]

also, alex, i did not know that you threw balls on purpose. that will change things a little for me when i watch games! (except i will not be at tomorrow's game, fyi, because of the wedding this weekend, ugh)

yep lol

[Harrison]

So, as of Wednesday afternoon I am slated to possibly be joining you old people in parenthood lol

We just got back from the doctor's and the quantitative HCG level was around 5000, which means she's pregnant for around 3-5 weeks or so, or was pregnant, but will need another count in a week or so to be sure it's still there.

I didn't want to say anything until at least that much was found out. She took three tests across the span of two days to be sure, before we went to the doctor's.

[Jay]

Grats Harrison and I hope to FSM that your child doesn't go the way of the cross country bike ride, military or that crazy long hike.

[Zanchief]

I'm not that old, I just act curmudgeony.

[Tikker]

Grats Harrison and I hope to FSM that your child doesn't go the way of the cross country bike ride, military or that crazy long hike.

hah

that being said, having a kid changes folks

[Drem]

congrats man

[Menelvir]

Congrats on your upcoming potentially successful vehicular DNA replication!

[leah]

i feel like i should be at an age at this point where i can hear of a friend's pregnancy and think "oh, awesome, congrats!!" instead of "oh dude, that sucks, what are you gonna do???" hahaha. that's probably 75% my own desire NOT to procreate, though.

ANYWAY: i hope everything goes awesomely for you, harri-balls. ^_^

[Jay]

Grats Harrison and I hope to FSM that your child doesn't go the way of the cross country bike ride, military or that crazy long hike.

hah

that being said, having a kid changes folks

I've seen that enough times to know that what you say is true. Harrison I hope you step up and become a great dad.

[Lyion]

Sadly, it isn't true for everyone. A kid isn't a magical maturity pill. I think it will for Harri, though, provided he sorts out his other issues which seem to be things a lot of people go through.

Congrats, man. Hope you have a decent job with healthcare.

[Tossica]

Having a kid whipped my ass in to shape, that's for sure. Instant responsibility.

Good luck and congrats!

[Menelvir]

Having a kid whipped my ass in to shape, that's for sure. Instant responsibility.

I wonder why it doesn't work that way for everyone?

If only it were the case that the people for whom this is true were the only people having kids.

I think we'd all be a bit better off than we are now, generally speaking. I guess that's only in a perfect world, though.

[Trielelvan]

I think we'd all be a bit better off than we are now, generally speaking. I guess that's only in a perfect world, though.

Amen to that.

Congratulations Harri!
Hang on tight, cuz this rollercoaster has no brakes

[araby]

Life Update

I got married and am having a baby. It will be born before Harrison's, which means I win!

[Harrison]

You beat me in babymakin' :P

[Gaazy]

grats sir Josh

[Tossica]

Still unpacking records from the move. Finding tons of jams I haven't heard in years. I love going shopping in my own record boxes!

My mom had heart surgery on Tuesday. That was pretty fucking stressful. Didn't sleep for 3 days. She's doing great though. Healing up nicely.

[Gaazy]

ggrats ashly too, i dont know how i missed your post