Baseball NM 2020 |
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20 September 2020
This weekend was my first NM in Kristiansand. A weekend of baseball in the woods. Viktor, who's newly joined the team from the Royals as he's started school in Bergen, was my driver for the weekend. Bin and William, who also played his first game with us this weekend, rounded out our group from the 8 hour drive there and back. All good guys. Bin's my age, and is the only one on the team I knew before I joined. William and Viktor are my kids' ages. I really wish that I could convince Maxwell to get interested, because I think he'd really enjoy it. And I can just imagine how much fun Alora would have playing if she lived here. That kid always loved the game and thought she'd make A League of Their Own happen again at one point. Peter and I talked last night about trying to start a little league, but I think until we get a field it might just be a dream. Ergo I'm taking point on the field project in the offseason. I've seen how much of a community anchor it can be in Stavanger and Trondheim and now Kristiansand, and I think it's critical to building the sport here in Norway.
Baseball is truly the great American game because it combines teamsmanship with individuality. On the field all nine must work together to stop the other team from scoring, but up to bat it's you against the whole other team. And it schools you in failure - the best players in the world only get a hit one out of three times they're at the plate. Every at bat is a learning experience about the pitcher and the team you're playing against. Where does he throw the ball? What part of the field are they not covering enough? What can I learn about these individuals so that I can defeat them in our next meeting. Fail fast. Fail often.
Two years ago Bergen made it to the final and lost to Oslo in the final game. Last year Bergen didn't have a team that played any games. This year Covid farked our season up, but we still came into the NM with high hopes, however unrealistic that might have been. Yesterday we faced Kristiansand, who we've beaten and been beaten by this year. It was their home field though this time, and they defeated us soundly.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wet Sox | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Suns | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | - | 8 |
We didn't let the loss get us down though, and spent the afternoon enjoying watching the subsequent games in the sunshine. Bergensers soak up the sun when we can, because we don't see it so often at home. It was an enjoyable lazy afternoon, and then we grilled out at the campground after. I kinda wish I'd camped instead of the motel Bin got us, but oh well. Today we were up bright and early to play the game to avoid last place. Against us was Sola, who was the only team there not in our league. Still, they gave us a run for our money:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wet Sox | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Aviators | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
Now we're headed back across the mountains, streaming the Royals and Pretenders in the championship game. The leaves have started turning here and the former glacial valleys provide the incredible views they always do. My arm is still throbbing where I got hit at bat and I think I'll discover more pains tomorrow, but I can't help thinking life is such beautiful gift.