Moving a pet to a new cage often seems impossible.
Anyone who has ever owned a parrot, for instance, has gone through the laborious process of assembling the new coop in front of the bird, setting it across the room so it can familiarized itself with it, then placing it alongside the rusty old confines and encouraging the bird to hop on its shiny new perch. The talking parrot, of course, refuses to budge and squawks "No effing way," just like its foul-mouthed owner would in such a situation.
So it was last night as RFT softball played its first game away from the friendly confines of Overland’s Legion Park, losing 9-5 to Grady’s Bar and falling to a 4-6 record the season.
The move to just a few miles down the road to a Lions Club Park on Woodson Road was prompted by a high-talent, high-paying Budweiser League taking over the old home turf. However, while the new field was superior to the old digs in nearly every way, including a more level, less rocky infield and the sun setting mercifully in left field rather than behind home plate as before, the alt-weekly squad couldn’t quite get in sync.
A slew of infield miscues coupled with a handful of costly outfield mistakes allowed Grady’s to tack on runs in nearly every inning. Left playing catch-up, the RFT couldn’t keep the pace in a game that simply flew by.
Highlights for the RFT included a stellar running catch in left field from newcomer Kevin Strange.
K-Strange also proved a timeless baseball axiom true as a ball was hit to him on the first pitch after taking the field for the first time. Third-sacker Keegan Hamilton was 4-4 with a double, Tom "Willie Nelson" Kavanaugh knocked in two RBI’s after striking out with the bases loaded early in the game, and pitcher Kevin "KP" Powers played acrobatic defense while amassing a few K's on the mound.
While drinking a post-game Bud Select and sitting in bird-pooped littered gazebo just outside the center field fence, Unreal couldn’t help but wonder how Cardinals fared after flying the coop to the New Busch Stadium. Alas, the Redbirds won their first game at Busch III 6-4.
