"All right everyone, line up alphabetically according to your height." -Casey Stengel

Although we lost to the guys in the baseball pants again, we need to celebrate some seriously great plays. During our first inning in the field, Kelly's quick reflexes came in handy when she caught a ball shooting at her at like 90 MPH. However, she did not fare so well later in the game when the tallest member of the other team pelted the ball right at her belly button. Her belly "catch" resulted in a single instead of a triple, but she definitely took one for the team. Let's just say it's a good thing she is done with the birthing thing. New kid on the block (literally), Chris, filling in for Steve won a spot on the teams roster for the Spring. Chris really knows how to hit a ball and that arm came in handy when he needed it to throw to 1B....(and beyond). Welcome to the neighborhood, Chris! Genay covering 1B for 2 innings tonight made an astounding line drive catch. Genay also made one of the first runs in of the night! Alex's memorable catch at short center had everyone cheering. He also was responsible for at least one RBI at bat. Don't feel bad for bailing on us on Sunday, Alex. A dinner out with friends is waaayyy more important than your 2-3 softball team who could make it into the play-offs with your help. ;) Jessica showed extreme talent in RF when she caught a fly ball, but we are convinced that the fancy pants team planted a mexican jumping bean inside of that ball to hop out of her glove. Even so, I still call that a catch in my book because it seemed to survive the 3 second rule. Our 3rd base fill- in, Phil, did a great job hitting the ball. Another heavy hitter and member that instantly made it on to our Spring roster next season. Welcome Phil. Although she begged to be catcher the entire time, Alli's perservering speed always gets the ball back into the infield as fast as lightening. How could any right-minded captain put her in the infield? Speaking of speed, there's no place in left field that's out of Bill's range. Bill dashed where ever he was needed and per usual made some commendable catches. Training for his marathon and raising money to cure cancer is just a side job for Rick's real aspiration of floating between 1B and short center. Rick made some great plays at first and hit the ball well. Rick is waking up at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning to train for his run before church and is expected to be fresh and ready for our 7pm double header. After being benched for an ankle injury, I finally got to play and made it on base, but caved at the chance to make a double play in the field. Next time. Great job Parks and Wrecks. Although I would've thoroughly enjoyed hearing the lecture their captain would've given the team if they lost to us, I think we played a fantastic game. Rest up for Sunday!

"It’s not how good you are, it’s how bad you want it." Anonymous

Exciting game for Parks and Wrecks. Another win against "Ball Me Maybe" As a team, we did 3 especially fantastic things worth mentioning: 1. After being down by a number of runs early in the game, we made a quick comeback. 2. During 2 particular innings we had 2 outs and instead of easily giving in to wipe the inning clean, we perservered and scored our most runs with the 2 outs counting against us. 3. Many teammates continued running even though they thought they were easily out, and surprisingly found pay off for running it out. Here are some more specific highlights: Although worn out from getting many "Ball Me Maybe" hits in RF, Adrienne had some brilliant hits, got on base and scored! Her ambition paid off except when she listened to an over-aggressive 3rd base coach who she tried to hide behind right before her demise at 3B. After a long day on the golf course, Rick saunters in pulling a "Sonny Mann" and made a star catch at center field while hitting the ball with power bringing in the RBIs. Alex also showing up from a day on the course changed from polo to his softball gear from one ball game to the other on Friday with a dicey blood/alcohol level. Alex's unbelievable catches at short center and 1B earned him the MVP title. However, Alex was weakened at the end of the game by a leg injury. Eager to hit the ball, Jessica got on base with her aggressive hitting and running. She also had the most fans one of which (her dad) assisted with coaching as a veteran softball player. Covering for a last minute female bail, Ellen played solidly at 2B and got the short end of the stick when the batter was out at 2nd due to her covering and catching but called safe by the ump. Steve shot the ball low and hard never dismaying any of our base runners because, per usual, he hit them home. However, Steve had one rare yet entertaining play in the field when he almost threw the ball to the city of Chicago intending it only for 1B. Kelly's star quality pitching paved the way for several strike outs. Although not blood related, there seems to be a common athletic prowess in the family because Kelly's cousin Tina helped kick some "Ball Me Maybe" ass. Tina hit and pitched extremely well and we appreciate her filling in to cover for our absent women. Switching it up a little for Jon by placing him at 3rd instead of 1st, didn't rattle him a bit. At bat, he hit like never before and ran the bases fast and furiously. Bill was his usual super solid self in left and even came into the infield in the last inning to close it out with a game ending double play. Great job P&W!!! We're headed in the right direction.

Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer. - Ted Williams

Here are the highlights of games #2 and #3 of the season. Back after her first missed P&W game, Kelly's killer catches during her short stint as short center and as pitcher were particularly noteworthy. Although she was doing her raindance around 6:30, Adrienne humbly smacked the ball a number of a times into the outfield. Alex's ability to pummel the ball was responsible for some wicked RBIs so at least we could lose with some runs on the board. Weakened by a cold, Rick fooled us all for most of the games by doing a great job at covering a huge territory in CF. He left us early to rest up for the next game, of course. Hope you are feeling better, Rick. Making her debut with Parks and Wrecks, Alli's intimidating batting stance and impressive ability to move the ball quickly from outfield to infield wowwed even her youngest fans. Note that Alli had more underaged fans in the stands than anyone. Eat your heart out, Winbigler! Unexpectedly showing up, Genay pleasantly surprised us all and brought her killer swing. Jon showed up just in time to relieve Rick. Jon hit well and decided not to fall just so he wouldn't get his white shorts dirty. On the other hand, Octopus arms Sonny came in from Elmhurst on his first day of school to help us out and did fall. As usual, Sonny does not let a ball get past him...at least not with out a dramatic fall which includes rolling in the dirt and dust flying all over the place. Although Michael likes the bottom of the batting order, he is consistently whacking the ball into the outfield causing the defense to move back. As the most athletic and energetic mom of 4 kids I know, Ellen covered 2B like she's been on our team all year. Ellen enthusiastically came out to play when I thought we were going to be short women. Thanks for playing, Ellen. Alert and ready for the ball, Jessica had some great hits and also covered 2B well. As the "Steve" of all trades on our team, Steve is always willing to plug into any position where he is needed and works it like the position has always been "his". Mini-Steve (Jonah) was cheering proudly on the sidelines while playing soccer after watching his dad catch several challenging balls in left field. Kyle rushed to the game from dinner plans only to find out we already started. Thanks for cheering us on Kyle and Chris. Your energy always brings the team up a notch!