Grown up Softball guy

**dtclones** · 03-23-2010, 11:03 AM

I guess if I were these grown men using up all the cages for softball practice, I'd look at the kids and see a little bit of myself when I was that age and just let them use the cage instead. Playing baseball meant a lot to me as a kid, and I'd feel like a selfish ***** if I continued to use a cage when I knew kids wanted to use it.

**1100011CS** · 03-23-2010, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by dtclones

I guess if I were these grown men using up all the cages for softball practice, I'd look at the kids and see a little bit of myself when I was that age and just let them use the cage instead. Playing baseball meant a lot to me as a kid, and I'd feel like a selfish ***** if I continued to use a cage when I knew kids wanted to use it.

I agree with this.

**jtd9046** · 03-23-2010, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by dtclones

I guess if I were these grown men using up all the cages for softball practice, I'd look at the kids and see a little bit of myself when I was that age and just let them use the cage instead. Playing baseball meant a lot to me as a kid, and I'd feel like a selfish ***** if I continued to use a cage when I knew kids wanted to use it.

I agree with this as well, but the OP is simply mad because 'softball guy' reserved the cage. They weren't preventing the kids from using it. It wasn't the kids reserved slot yet.

**cloneu** · 03-23-2010, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by CYdTracked

Heck even our pitcher in 1 of my men's league is 52 and while he's not the most athletic guy in the world he's scrappy enough that he was leading our team in batting average for a good part of the year.

This made me lol. I find people keeping track of stats in softball to be rather entertaining.

As for the cages, anybody deserves the opportunity to use them whenever they want. Rather it is kids practicing, adults practicing, or people there just to be doing something active, it is a facility open to the public.

**CYdTracked** · 03-23-2010, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by cloneu

This made me lol. I find people keeping track of stats in softball to be rather entertaining.

As for the cages, anybody deserves the opportunity to use them whenever they want. Rather it is kids practicing, adults practicing, or people there just to be doing something active, it is a facility open to the public.

I put together 2 teams and I don't keep stats but one of the teams I play on does for the fun of it and are pretty lax about them in some sense such as we don't factor in errors so some of our stats are probably a little higher than they really are because if that. At least that way we can give crap to the guy that walks the most or strikes out, etc.

The real serious teams though will keep very detailed stats and the "softball guys" will actually get upset if they are batting .600 and not .700 or not getting enough extra base hits, etc. I've even seen some team with their own websites, LOL

I like to play and win but I'm more in it for the social aspect of it. I've hit 1 out of the park homer my entire life and I was probably on a good beer buzz when I did it so the whole hitting the batting cages like some of the softball guys do probably is not going to greatly help my game.

**ISU42** · 03-23-2010, 12:23 PM

Seriously slow-pitch guy annoys me. If you're that competitive about softball, play fast-pitch.

**Tornado man** · 03-23-2010, 12:24 PM

It's a different world. Parents desperately don't want to see their kids disappointed, regardless of someone else's rights.
My parents would have shrugged and said, "well, other people reserved the cage first, so we'll have to go some other time." And as we're heading to the car, if I started whining, my dad would say to "knock it off, or we're never coming back."
And we wonder why kids today are so self-absorbed...

**tman24** · 03-23-2010, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by ISU42

Seriously slow-pitch guy annoys me. If you're that competitive about softball, play fast-pitch.

that requires actual work

**RotatingColumn** · 03-23-2010, 12:44 PM

I hate when I show up at the lake with my kid and there are old guys fishing off the dock. My kid is trying to learn how to fish. They need to get out of our way and get a life.

**Cyclone06** · 03-23-2010, 12:44 PM

I like to use the batting cages (slowpitch guy) for two reasons:

1. I always have, and always will, love to hit. Nothing like letting loose and driving the ball around. Sorry not a big fan of golf.
2. When I do play a game, I want to be ready. I don't want to be the guy who hasn't swung in 300 days and needs 5 at bats to "get the hands going". I don't like to do something if I'm not going to give my all.

Is there any place I can hit and not be a tool? I mean if knownothing is embarrassed for me then I really need to look in the mirror. Puh-lease.

Isn't knownothing the same guy who has never bought an ISU ticket becasue his Dad is a big time donor and takes care of him? Sure explains a lot to me.

**sunset** · 03-23-2010, 12:55 PM

Having not been there I'll hold off comment on the cage situation. However, it's always fun to watch way-too-serious-softball-guy make an *** out of himself.

**sodakjoe** · 03-23-2010, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by ISU42

Seriously slow-pitch guy annoys me. If you're that competitive about softball, play fast-pitch.

Are there men's fastpitch leagues in DM? I used to play Boys fastpitch when I was younger and loved it. Slow-pitch just isn't as exciting for me.

**sodakjoe** · 03-23-2010, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by CYdTracked

Hate to ruin your rant but its something you just have to accept. There are a ton of "softball guys" in town, just go out to Walker Johnson Park in Urbandale on a given night and you'll find dozens of them. I play adult league softball but I definitely don't take it serious enough to be reserving batting cages to get BP in but I know there are guys that probably hit year round. Heck I even play with a guy that gets paid some decent money to play on a fast pitch team that plays in tournaments most weekends. He says most pitchers on those fast pitch teams make around $10,000 for the season so it's a pretty competive sport apparently.

I like playing ball myself but I'm more of a beer league softball player. I get my BP in on an empty field a week or 2 before the season starts and we're usually all drinking some beers while getting our turns in. I refuse to wear baseball pants playing rec league softball too...

I have a friend who pitched for the Jr. Olympic Boys Fastpitch team, and he gets paid $500 for every tournament he pitches in for a club team. He works a regular job, and just uses it for spending cash, but there's some serious money to be made in Fastpitch softball, certainly.

**CYdTracked** · 03-23-2010, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by sodakjoe

Are there men's fastpitch leagues in DM? I used to play Boys fastpitch when I was younger and loved it. Slow-pitch just isn't as exciting for me.

There is one somewhere in the DM area I think, one of the guys I play with plays in it. It's really competitive though and the average guy probably wouldn't be able to play in it. This guy played college baseball and is probably our best slow pitch hitter and he bats near the bottom of the lineup on his fast pitch team if that tells you anything about how much different the competition level is.

**Knownothing** · 03-23-2010, 01:19 PM

[quoteIsn't knownothing the same guy who has never bought an ISU ticket becasue his Dad is a big time donor and takes care of him? Sure explains a lot to me. ][/quote]

What do you want me to do. Pay for a ticket when I don't have to. Sit in the crappy seats when I can get a free ticket and sit in the good seats. So do you have a free first class ticket and instead you pay for a back of the plane seat??

So I guess it says a lot about me that I don't have to buy tickets. You make no sense.