In the "Things You Didn't Really Need to Know" Department..

After sliding into third base last night at my softball game, I now have a huge bruise on my butt.



Yep, like the title said...



Anyway, I've played CoEd church league softball for about 7-8 years now and enjoyed every minute of it. Well, except for the final game of the season two years ago when my family came to see me play and the coach never even put me in the game. But other than that...

I played baseball when I was younger and have always loved playing first base - there's something about the potential to be involved in every single play from the plate that's always appealed to me. With my long frame I'm good at grabbing those errant throws that most other, smaller guys can't reach. My arm's improved somewhat over the years, as has my hitting.

This season I'm 4-5 with four singles, a fly out and a fielder's choice (FC doesn't count as an official At-Bat, right dad?). I've got that mid-range to either hit the ball on the ground through the gap between 2nd and 3rd or drop it into short field.

Well, last night after my 2nd at-bat I found myself on 2nd base. The batter hit a slow grounder between the 3rd-base(woman) and 3rd, and she bobbled it picking it up in her glove. Racing to put the tag on me at the base, I slid and knocked the ball away from her glove. When I felt the impact on my foot, I really thought I'd slid into her jaw and broken it. There's a such a terrifying feeling when you think you might've actually hurt someone - it shook me up for a little while and I wasn't able to ascertain exactly what had happened until later in the game. She was fine.

But I have the bruise to remind me...



I've never been in a real fight. Even in school as a kid, the worst tumble I ever got into was a wrestling match with this skinny kid my freshman year. I've never punched anyone, or had any kind of actual physical altercation. With my size, I think I could probably hurt someone if necessary, to protect myself or others. I obviously hope it never comes to that, but I also wonder how much of my heart would ever go into it (assuming my emotions didn't totally take over) because I always care too much about the other person and would be extremely concerned if they were hurt or injured. I guess that's a good thing.