Softball
This post is mostly just for me – for my personal record keeping because I am certain I won’t remember otherwise.
On April 18th, 2022 I was playing softball at Oakland Terrace field and hurt my wrist attempting to make a sliding catch in the outfield on a shallow fly ball. I came off the field with a very sore wrist but I was still able to move it. Our team was able to make the 3rd out in the field and I was likely going to be due up to hit in our half of the inning. I pulled a bat out of my bag to see if I would be able to hit… there was no way. My wrist had already begun swelling, the ability to move it was decreasing, and the pain, while not awful, was not subsiding.
After the game, I decided to drive myself to the ER and have it checked out. I figured the best case they tell me it was sprained and put me in a sling to rest it and the worse case I actually broke something. I was 40 years old and had never broken or fractured a bone in my body… but in the hallway of the ER a PA showed me the x-ray on her phone and there was a small fracture on the top of my wrist.
They put me into a temporary split and told me to follow up with an orthopedic the following day. Dr. Goodwiller advised that while fractured, the bone sat right back into place and would not require any surgery. Based on his opinion, we opted not to put it in a cast, but rather use a temporary brace instead. I got to wear the brace for about 6 weeks with checkups every couple of weeks.
But let’s get back to the softball part of the story! While the bone was healed prior to the fall season, the tendons and ligaments were still tight and sore. There was no reason to push the issue and play in pain and/or risk further injury.
This past Friday night (March 3rd, 2023) I went to softball practice and it was the first time I threw, caught, or hit a softball since I fractured my wrist. This was the longest time I can recall that I hadn’t stepped between the lines since I skipped my first year of eligibility for little league – when I was 10 years old. I’ve remained VERY busy with the day job, the side hustle, trying to build out the shop when I can, and spending time with family.
Last night, Monday, March 6th, 2023 was the opening night of our softball season and was the first time I got to step back onto the field and between those lines. While it’s not my personality to socialize with everyone at the ballpark or even with all of the players on my own team, it was great to see familiar faces again and share the common interest that is softball. While my outfield defense was quite rusty and I made mistakes, I went 6 for 8 at the plate for the night and we won both games to start the season 2-0. But most importantly, I got to step on the field and play softball with my brother again. And in those few hours, we were able to slip away from all of the worldly things – away from the media, the politics, the daily stresses, and everything else life throws at us… and just have some fun!
This picture is not directly relevant to the above, but it does capture a moment when my brother and I were able to share the field together.
