I wouldn't say that baserunning is the strongest point in my softball game, but I'm not bad. And I can slide with the best of them.

On Wednesday, I pitched and led off the batting order for the Pink Sox of the Como Park beer league. I went 3-for-3 in the first game, a pitiful loss, just like the next one would be.

In that first game, I was forced out at second after each of my first two singles of the game. I wished that I had tried to stretch two doubles, because the opposing infielders were sloppy. After my third single of the night, I felt aggressive.

A couple of hits moved me up to third base, and I wanted to score. (We hadn't scored yet. Our hitting was very bad.)

So when a teammate hit a sharp grounder to first, I took a large lead to see what the first baseman would do. Then, I heard the third base coach (aka another teammate) yell to me to go home. I, being the good teammate, took off.

The first baseman threw home. Crap.

Good thing the throw was as awful as my team's hitting. It riccocheted off the catcher's shin, and I scored with a wild dive inside of home plate, touching the plate with my outstretched hand.

Not to mention the 3-inch-deep mud puddle in the batter's box. Ruined my shirt, too.

We lost our second game. I went 0-for-2 from the leadoff spot, including an out with two guys on base and my team down by three.

I didn't expect us to be that close.