Catfish Unmask Shadow Masks 19 - 14

Dear Catfish Nation,

What is the true nature of this foe we call the “Shadow Mask”? Is it Shadow—a “partial darkness or obscurity within a part of space from which rays from a source of light are cut off by an interposed opaque body”? Or is it more Mask—“something that serves to conceal or disguise”? I believe it is in fact far more terrifying: a Mask that is itself made of Shadows ... something so horrifying and mysterious it would surely strike terror deep in the soul of any upstanding Catfish.

Well, Catfish Nation, last night the Catfish met that terrifying foe and dispersed those shadowy masks from Briggs Field 5B. The world is made safe again, at least until we meet them again for our final game this season, on July 31!

We started off strong, with Lead-Off Leepin Leevz getting onto base, and then NaSlamWell slapping him home with a home run. Not to be outdone, No Prob Rob Carter followed up with his own home run. Big Time Butters followed up with what would have been a homer but was ruled a ground rule double, as it got tangled up in a (very) far-off soccer goal. Tslammy the Tsunami Tsai then drove him home with a double. Fish were flying high! The next inning went even more swimmingly, as the scoreboard shows. Defensively we were also showing our true strong fishy colors of the rainbow. In the fourth, we had an amazing double play with extra cheese, and in the final inning Butters made an unbelievable bare-handed snag (we really needed that out). Kate Scaldwell Elwell was scalding both on the mound and behind the plate, with at least 3 singles; Matt the Baffler bewildered them on the mound and wielded a mighty bat; Erin Purple Haze Hasley did her happy hustle both behind and at the plate; Liz the Lizzanator went 3 for 4 and slid with aplomb into 2nd (we were all impressed); Richie Richard was raucous and rowdy with a single and ran his butt off in the outfield; Arthur the Arthurian Legend had numerous singles and guarded 3rd base with true chivalry; John the Battler Abbate had a bat of fire that was more like a sword o’ flame, with numerous singles and a graceful slide like a pro (we were all proud); and last but not least, Chris “Fancy Man” Eyer also wielded his regulation bat of f’Eyer, with crucial singles that arrived just when we needed them most.

Things got a little dicey in the bottom of the 7th, but thank goodness we had plumped up our lead in the top of the 6th. We knew we had to hold onto our lead so as to make Robley the Rockstar Rookie proud. As it turns out, he is also a budding photographer, and I know you will enjoy his accompanying photo essay below.

Better luck next time, Shadow Masks! We sent them off with a cheer back to “the Land of Mordor, where the Shadow Masks lie!!!” which served, I think, to fill them with existential dread at the thought of our next meeting. (Cheer courtesy John The Battler Abbate!)

I think the moral of this story, Fish and Friends, is that it’s OK, and actually even a little fun, to win sometimes. Just let yourself! It is OK. We will still like you.

Please join us next Wednesday, July 3, when we will teach the Straw Dogs how to heel, roll over, and shake hands on field 5A.

Yours in Softball,

Judy

Fish Fall to Roman Brushett in Astounding Display of Courage, 23 - 13

Dear Catfish Nation,

Our blazing winning streak was brought to an excruciating end last night as the mysterious Roman Brushett team (not so mysterious after all: just Chem E labs Roman and Brushett) crushed our hopes of going to 3 and 1. Still, 2 and 2 sounds pretty good, especially when you consider the amazing, incredible feats of courage that the Fish put on display last night.

The game began in suspenseful fashion, and we were tied at 8 at the bottom of the 4th. Really it was that 7th inning that did us in (with yours truly pitching). Along the way the Fish were ferocious: Leapin Levi Rubeck made beautiful catches at 2nd, and he and Butters had a glorious double play in the top of the 4th; NaSlamWell graced us with a heartfelt home run; “No Probs” Rookie Rob Carter had numerous hits and ran the bases like a Hound from Heck; Jon “I can’t believe we call him Butters” Elwell was his usual self, a quick-thinking sure-footed gazelle of a shortstop with the aforementioned double-play and his standard home run; Christopher “Bat o’ F’Eyer” Eyer’s bat was indeed on f’Eyer, with two doubles and a single; YesWay José Herrero didn’t know the meaning of the word “no” as he bashed the ball repeatedly and got on base every at bat; Kate Scalding Caldwell Elwell befuddled them on the mound and blasted them at the plate; Richard the Righteous manned the outfield manfully and intimidated them with his bat; Erin “Purple Haze” Hasley showed her typical hustle behind and her fierce determination at the plate; Andrea the Heroic Herbst handed them their butts on a platter; Liz “The Lizzinator” Agresta got all up in their Lizness and Elizzinated them into oblivion; and John The Battler Abbate battled hard and with seemingly bottomless courage at the plate and at 3rd base.

To top it all off, we were missing our Tslamming Tsunami John Tsai (pictured below), who was away on important top secret business. We were consoled, though, by our faithful fan Sha-doobie Sharon, along with Rockstar Robley the Rookie. They kept our hearts from sinking too low in that dreadful 7th inning. And, as is often the case, once again it was, on a deeper, more profound level, actually a scathingly close game, and Roman Brushett I am sure are terrified to meet us again. We sent them off with “Roman Brushett! You Crushed It!”

Please join us next week, Wednesday, June 26, when we shall shatter the Shadow Masks on Field 5B.

Yours in softball,

Judy

PS I am eternally grateful to Leapin Levi and the Bat o’ F’Eyer for help with some of this week’s nicknames, and to Scaldwell for the first two photos.

One Fish, Two Fish, Catfish, BLUE FISH

HOLY SMOKES WHAT A GAME!!!

 

We were a lean mean Catfish machine, clad in blue (to distinguish us from the friendly RED Whybunts).  “Super” Rob C jogged on the field at the bottom of the first to get our number up to a respectable 9 players.  After we made a few roster shifts (see below), we played like a well-oiled fishy team with stellar plays on offense and defense.

 

The sun was directly behind the batter and shimmering of the turf, which was problematic in the field but we didn’t let that stop us. Matt “the Elder” Abbate and I were a catching-pitching duo.  “Right Field” Rich ricocheted around Right Field.  Levi “the witty” was masterful at Second Base, and still had time to liberally employ his newly-coined insult, “Put it in the Write Up!” Buuuuuuurn! Other highlights included “Super” Rob right at home in Center Field, Chris “the Loyal” making some great stops in Left Field, Nathaniel “the great-iel” dominating at Short Stop, John “Tsuper Tslamming” Tsai putting in his all at First Base –including face planting (literally) to make an out -, an amazing snag at Third Base by John Abbate “the Younger” in the bottom of the 6^th to rally the defense, directly followed by a sweet catch by Nathaniel “the great-iel”.

 

Nathaniel started in the first inning with a home run which turned out to be a good omen for bats; everyone made it on base and, I believe, everyone scored a run. 

 

BUT the sixth inning is where it really got exciting.  Two triples (Nathaniel and Chris) in the top of the sixth helped us score 6 runs.  Heading into the bottom of the sixth with a lead of 5 runs the time was 6:53.   Now the time is important because softball games on the turf must end at 7:00 pm to make way for the soccer games.  Being a rule follower yours truly proposed to the Whybunts that the sixth inning be the last inning.  But the Whybunts said “we’ll see.”  In the bottom of the sixth the Whybunts scored 4 runs.  The score was Fish = 21, Whybunts = 20 and the time was 7:02 pm. The Whybunts conferred and said “since you are in the lead the decision to play or not is up to the Catfish.”  Well the Fish couldn’t win like that so we said “PLAY ON!” 

 

In the top of the seventh we scored 0 runs, keeping us ahead by only 1 run.  The Whybunts took the field and put up a mighty effort.  There was a runner on third with two outs and I forgot who made the last out but it was thrilling and we walked off the field with a smile in our hearts and a W on the score sheet. 

 

A big thanks to our off field positions.  Super fan Sharon Bandoo showed up with Gatorade!  Liz “the Editor” with her pencil sharpened for clipboard duty, which was no simple task this game.  MF “the Saint” Gydus on Robley duty, which was an even less simple task.  And Robley “the Rookie” was embroiled in a rip-roaring game of throw the bubble wand on top of the soccer goal.  He also lead off the end of game high fives and came up with our cheer: “Thank you for playing a great game!”  That sums it up folks.

 

See you next week when Co-captains Judy and Erin will once again return to the helm (thank goodness!)

 

Best,

Co-co-cappy Scaldwell

 

“Oops is brought to you by Erasers: don’t make a mistake without one!” (Square One anyone?)

 

Clip board duty!

 

I was freaking out right about now because we only had 8 players.

 

MF “the M&M bringer” and Robley “the Rookie”: snack time!

 

Kate Elwell

pronouns: she, her, hers

Senior Production Coordinator | The MIT Press
One Rogers Street | Cambridge, MA 02142
katedc@mit.edu | t: 617-258-0571

 

FISH BEAT CREAPS 18 - 11 IN WELL-MATCHED BATTLE!

Dear Catfish Nation,

 

You read the headline correctly—FISH WIN! This game felt like it was our true 2019 season opener. The CrEAPS were a formidable force, but we matched them wit for wit in the first three innings. Our big break came in the 4th: in the top, we had a double play between Jon “Butters” Elwell and the Big Easy Chris Eyer, and then in the bottom we had two (2!) home runs, one by Butters and one by our latest acquisition, Rob “Hey Jude” Carter, who most definitely took a sad song and made it better (better, better better YEHHHH etc.). Rookie Rob then went on to have another home run blast in the bottom of the 5th. We were wowed and we welcome him to the Catfish fam.

 

This game really had a little something for everyone: big blammo bats, tumbles in the field, near misses—the only thing it was missing was a pickle. As always, each Fish played with heart. Levi the Larvitar had a great snag at 2nd and a bat of fire; Na-Slam-Well Trippé brought his big guns and fielding chops as per usual, presenting us with a double play in the top of the 7th so that we could hurry along to the Muddy; John the Tslammin Tsunami Tsai pitched like a wild man, fielded like a fiend at first, and hit like a maniac; Butters had the aforementioned double-play and the big home run, plus many other fine hits; Chris the Big Easy Eyer enjoyed his shorter commute to the fields and had extra energies to hustle at 1st and 3rd, crucially participating in two (2) double plays; aforementioned Rookie Rob Hey Jude Carter made some huge catches in the outfield, along with those 2 home runs (see above); Kate ScaldWell PitchWell AND BatWell Elwell had at least 3 hits, blammo-ing the ball numerous times, and also ran the bases like a fox, all while pitching like a pro; José “Tall Glass of Rosé” Herrero swung for the stars and succeeded like a supernova; Erin the H Bomb Hasley had a fantastic hit that sailed over the CrEAPS’ shortstop, and hustled her heart out behind the plate; Rich “Little Richard” Wladkowski batted like bat out of heck and hustled in the outfield; Liz The Aggressor Agresta lit up the field with her fierce bat and hustle; and were thrilled to have the blessèd A-Bro-Tays, John the Battler and Arthur the Arthurian Legend, with us again, hustling in left field and bashing the ball behind the plate. And we had fans cheering us on, Marcy the Merciful and Ling the Lion-Hearted, not to mention our future shortstop Robley Rock Star Elwell.

 

We left the CrEAPS with this thoughtful cheer: “CrEAPS! CrEAPS! They’re great PeAPS!”

 

Fish and friends, I apologize if I seem a bit more hyperbolic than usual, but it was truly a special evening, fueled perhaps in part by the good mojo of the Infinite Mile Award that was bestowed uponst myself and cococaptain H Bomb earlier in the day, for our service to Catfish Nation. Really we see this award as a tribute to all Catfish everywhere, past, present, and future, and our fans and well-wishers. We are honored to be recognized in this way, and humbly tip our caps in the hope that we can live up to such a kind bestowal of esteem.

 

Please join us next week when we face the wily Whybunts on Astroturf field 2 (really this time), June 12 at 5:30.

 

Yours in softball,

Judy