Inning 2: Knowing the Rules
The Second thing that softball taught me is that it's really actually pretty fun to play softball. That is, if you play it correctly. One of the most important things about softball (and baseball, incidentally) is the rules. There are quite a few little nuances here and there and it's important that you understand them all otherwise you'll be a little lost.
For instance, my friend Mike, somewhere around the second inning, got on to first base. Now Mike has never been super keen about organized sports, so he didn't know the softball rules at all, including the one that says you have to "tag up" when you're on base and a hit ball is caught by a member of the fielding team.
Just to clarify (from some softball rules website):
if the ball is hit in the air towards a fielder when you're a forced runner, you shouldn't automatically take off for the next base, because the catch might be made and the force removed. AND HERE'S THE KEY POINT: you cannot advance to the next base on a caught fly ball unless your foot is in contact with the base you're already occupying when the catch is made, or afterwards. This is called TAGGING UP. You must tag up before you can advance after a caught fly ball. Why? it's a rule!
The batter after Mike hit a lob to the 2nd baseman, and Mike took off running. The 2nd baseman caught the ball, lobbed it to me (Mike was still running), and I daintily walked over to first base and set my glove, with the ball in it, on the base.
"OUT!!!" Yelled the umpire. Yes, we actually did have an umpire; a professional one at that.
To make things worse, my friend has to go through this experience:
While he is doing what he thinks is right—running as fast as he can to the next base at the sound of the bat cracking against the ball—he's doing exactly the opposite of what is right. The worst part is that because it's a common game, everyone else around him knows this too. The result is that everyone and their mother is screaming at the top of thier lungs, "GO BACK! GO BACK!". And he doesn't hear it of course because he's running with full determination to accomplish the task set before him of hitting the next base. Then the umpire quickly brings everything into focus when he yells for the out (a concept almost anyone understands) and the runner is left in a state of mild confusion mixed with less subtle embarrassment. He walks off the field, sulking.
I must defend Mike because it's just a game and I applaud him for putting himself in that uncomfortable situation. But you can see how it meshes into real life. If you show up without understanding the correct protocols and nuances of a particular situation, you can be headed for embarrassing disaster.
It would be like hosting a raging dinner party in Vancouver and forgetting to serve milk and sugar with tea, or worse, forgetting to serve tea altogether.
I'm happy to say that these days, I always make sure my tea is served correctly.
DKR
