Health & Fitness
Paper Marlin: Games Five and Six
My journey as a Paper Marlin continues. I have yet to see action, but the Marlins are winning as a team and I am part of it.
We were four games into the season and I had yet to see action in an actual game. Coach Lou Atsaves says that I am coming along fine and should just stay patient. My time will come. Until then, I will do whatever I can to help my team in my continuing journey as a Paper Marlin.
My Marlins took our lumps in game five, suffering a loss by double digits. I don’t remember the exact score. Hey, I am just a kid (a 48 year old kid trying out for a Little League team, but a kid nonetheless)…I can’t remember all of these things. I think the game could have been closer, but Coach Lou used it as an opportunity to test some of us at different positions.
Perhaps sensing my disappointment over not playing, Coach Lou asked me to coach first base. Yes! Finally some in-game action.
A couple of rain-outs later, we faced the Sox, our Lincolnwood rivals last night. After my stellar coaching performance last game, my duties were expanded to include warming up the pitcher between innings. I got to break out my mitt!
Things looked bleak, as the Sox jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but Coach Lou would not let us get down. Besides, Marlins are tough fish. We don’t give up easily (ask Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea).
We chipped away a bit by scoring three, but the Sox answered with one to bring the score to 7-3. In such a tight game, I knew I would not be seeing my first action, especially against our hometown rivals.
Coach Lou kept stressing that we could explode and we did by scoring 7 runs in the 4th inning. Our largest crowd of the season roared as we took the lead 10-7. Andrew Pabst pitched two innings of shutout baseball and the Marlins improved to 4-2 on this young season.
The best part of this win was that everyone contributed. Christopher Atsaves walked to bring in the tying run. Glynn Elliott had a hit, 2 rbi’s and pitched two innings of one run ball. Phil White had a hit and stole two bases. Peter Atsaves had a hit and two rbi’s. Catcher Chris Portokalis threw out two runners trying to steal. Dylan Moreno had a key walk. Niko Konstantopolous had two hits. First baseman Frank Ocana snared a liner and threw to 3rd baseman Peter Kougias who made a nice catch to finish the double play. In addition to his fine pitching, Andrew Pabst also doubled in two runs to end the scoring.
The accompanying video includes a few video clips which illustrate the mindset of the Marlins. Prior to the game, Niko K. and Peter A. are loose and positive. Niko even went so far as to suggest a 9 game win streak. During the game, in the on-deck circle, Christopher Atsaves was also loose and joked about hitting a homer. Later, in the dugout, Christopher pointed out his contributions to the win, without concentrating on his lack of hits.
I am very proud of my Marlin teammates. My goal as a Paper Marlin has been to appear in a game. Whether or not that happens, I am going to follow the lead of my young teammates and do whatever it takes to help us win. I may not play, but I am part of this team!
