Team Hexion Kickball

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I am not really cut out for organized sports. I am not especially athletic, I am not competitive, and I do not have the patience for endless practice. Sure, I am good at eating potato chips and watching sports on television, but so are all Americans. I mean sports involving a team, catching balls, matching uniforms, and the dreaded loss. My last experience with organized sports was when I was in a neighborhood fourth grade baseball team that did not win a single game all season. My standout fact (if I had my own baseball card) was that I got on base only once the entire season. That and I hated every moment of it.

So it was a bit of a surprise when I decided to volunteer to join the Hexion Specialty Chemical kickball team. Hexion is my client and after nearly two years there I am for all intents and purposes very close to being an employee. Someone decided to form a company kickball team recently and I was asked to join. The VP of Internal Audit was nice enough to pay the registration fees and purchase us some snazzy red uniforms.

I missed the first three games as I was out of town - in Dortmund Germany, Cape May Point New Jersey, and New York City. Finally, this week I was able to prove my worth and start salvaging my poor lifetime sports record. We played the dreaded and feared Outfield Outcasts, which were in second place, just below our first place standing. It was a confusing game as our ref kept forgetting to pay attention, so we had a scramble a couple times to settle the current score, number of outs, etc.

In the end, we lost by one run with a final score of 6 - 5. In my first kickball game in about 15 years I did learn a few valuable lessons. While batting, it is good to kick a line drive as pop-ups are too easy to catch. While in the field, run for the ball and catch it. It is so much simpler than trying to tag runners out. Finally, beware of overthrowing to teammates on base. It is a killer when they miss and all the runners make their way home. I am looking forward to our next weekly, Thursday night game.