The Pen Is Mightier Than...

...the Bat?

(Note: this column was written in December 2013. Somehow while looking at it recently, it disappeared, but I was able to copy the content into a new post)

It's Winter. In case you didn't notice, this winter is about the coldest one in Bay Area history, at least for the last couple of weeks. I know, if you are in Indianapolis right now, highs in the 40s, a low of 23 doesn't sound that bad, but lord there is a reason we live in California and 23 degrees is not IT.

What does this mean to a softball slut? For some teams that actually like each other it is another holiday party - The Coneheads had our annual pool party (as in billiards, no one wants to see us in swim suits)...the MudHens/RipCity/Pack/Guerrillas group held the umpteenth Steak Night a couple nights ago.

These are fun activities, it reminds us that we play softball because of the friendships as much as the game itself.

But we are all really just Jonesing for a game. One of the big topic of conversation at Steak Night was why aren't we out there suffering through yet another SF Winter League? We could really be bitching now, considering how cold it is - and then pat ourselves on the back for being such good softball sluts.

So the mind wanders...goes a little...'batty' (sorry)?

And it brings me to the Pen. This year was the most amazing in Conehead history. Two seasons, twice losing the first game in the end of season double elimination tournament only to roar back and win six in a row to take all the Cotton. That's right - TWICE. I mean, it's unheard of...

Here's the thing - I am a little superstitious. One of the things is that I keep a Pen attached to the clipboard that holds the scorebook. The scorebook changes from game to game, depending upon which of my teams is playing that night. But the Pen remains.

One day early in the summer season in Orinda, we played a game at the Orinda Sports Field, number two. We lost a bad one that night, I think by two or three runs to the Waitlisters, who pretended to be the best team in the league until the playoffs. It was a game we should have won - I think we had a number of bad base running plays and other gaffes that cost us the game. It was the second loss in a row to open the season. This was unheard of in Conehead history, never happened certainly in my 14 years on the team. And the Pen disappeared that night, I didn't know where it dropped out, and I had to get out a new one.

The rest of the season we struggled to make decent seeding for the playoffs, for God's sake we only beat the lowly President's Club 5-4 one game. We managed to finish 8-3 and in a decent place for the tournament. But our first playoff game was back on that field OSF2, where we had had our problems, and our opponent was the dread St. Monica's, who had upset us twice in a row going back two years, and had given us our closest game the previous year in the playoffs and that year we were rolling everybody in our way.

And sure enough they beat us again this year to start the playoffs. But a magical thing happened at the end of that game - I looked down in the dugout and there was the Pen. It was just a nondescript Bic: black ink, medium point. Covered with ground in dirt. But there it was, staring at me like a lost puppy that found its way home. I picked it up (it still wrote!) and clipped it to the scorebook, And It Was Good.

We went on to win six in a row over the next two days, in the 100 degree August heat in Orinda, went 7-1 in the Fall season, and after again losing the first game, came back to win the playoffs from the losers' bracket... history was made...and the Pen smiled.

So that brings us to the challenge for next year...Truth is that sometimes the reason the blog is late or non-existent is that, among my other faults, I am addicted to crosswords and Sudoku. I can waste vast amounts of time in these activities. Julia says it's good for me, will keep my mind sharp in Old Age. The 

jury is out on that. Nonetheless, I have erred and used the Pen for these activities. A lot. And now - the Pen is running out of ink.

What does it mean? Does it mean that the Coneheads great run of seven straight Championships will come to an end? I can try to save the Pen for a few more games - but a whole season, a whole year? No way.

This will be our challenge - it was inevitable that eventually we would have to win without the Pen, and I am giving you fair warning. Everyone double their offseason workouts, do whatever it takes, because next year we will have just one more obstacle to continuing our runs in our two leagues. I know we can do it, but it will take just a little extra.

And just in case we don't, please don't blame me - I am so sorry I used the Pen for word games - please forgive me, Coneheads and Softball Gods.