Tracking the City Paper softball team’s pursuit of a perfect season

Current Record: 0-2 (.000)

I have a theory why the City Paper softball team is so often basted by broadcast news outlets—-the tech staff is used to lugging around heavy equipment all day, or running like Holly Hunter in Broadcast News to deliver tapes just in the nick of time. Around here, you’re lucky to see anyone except our editor doing anything more physically challenging than changing the water bottle in the cooler. And most of us just hope our editor will do it and drink coffee until he does.

So yeah, Game 1 of the CP Shadows’ summer campaign: CBS News 17, City Paper 1. “Slaughter rule” invoked in the fifth inning, sparing everyone the sight of us back on the field. Some good defense in the infield and some real spirit in the batter’s box. Advertising Assistant Will Hessler brought Senior Editor Mike DeBonis home with an RBI.

Game 2, ABC News 13, City Paper 0. We called up food columnist Tim Carman from the bullpen, and for a while there things were looking pretty good; we held the Alphabet Network to only 2 runs for much of the game before things fell apart in the top of the fourth, after which the slaughter rule was again invoked (before that, though, the ump asked what happened to us, so marked was our fleeting improvement). Great plays by 2B Dawn Colbert, OF Carrie Carman, and 3B Matt Borlik. We need to capture a little of that second-game magic next week, when we hope to complete nine innings, maybe even break the two-run barrier.