Softball Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck was Nobel-Prize winner for literature, as he wrote classics like East of Eden, Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath. When I was in school I read them all, good shit. My favorite is Of Mice and Men but today the famous line from The Grapes of Wrath comes to my mind:

"I know this... a man got to do what he got to do."

As today the wrath 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 of the softball gods

 

 dropped the first October snowfall on NYC since 1952 on us.

 Unreal

We've been blessed in Inwood this fall as we have not been rained out. Hell I guess we still haven't been rained out as this technically this is a snow out. There's a softball first for everything I guess.

This inclement weather is forcing us to the following tough but fair decisions:
http://sites.google.com/site/inwoodsoftballleague/news/softballgrapesofwrath 

• Playoffs start next week
• Most teams could only play 12 games, some less. Sucks but its the best we can do to make sure we complete the playoffs
• At least all teams in both leagues had already made the playoffs. Except one.

That except one is where "a league's gotta do what a league's gotta do" comes in as three teams are alive for the 6th seed in the afternoon league :

1. Rays 4-7
2. Dodgers 2-9
3. Bombers 2-10

We've made the following tough, but fair, decision for the league based on records, field availability, schedule , and match ups.

League Ruling for 6th Spot : There will be a special Saturday play in series between the Rays and Dodgers, where the Rays only needed to win one game and the Dodgers need to win 3 games. If at any point the Rays win one game, no other games will be played that day.

This decision was based on the following logic:

• The Rays and Dodgers must play again as they have only played once and are currently in 6th and 7th place, respectively
• Even though the Bombers and Rays haven't played all year they have been eliminated because (1) have played 12 games already (2) have the poorest run differential factor, (3) and cannot win five games under any scenario which is the win total most likely needed (in most scenarios) to qualify for the post season.
• If we let the Dodgers and Rays play only one game and then schedule a Bomber-Ray match up, then we would be running the risk that the Bombers would come to the park for nothing, if the Rays are victorious. That is a waste of time.
• The Dodgers week 7 opponent, Los Bizcocheros cannot play next Saturday.
• Bottom line : We just don't have enough fields and time for a 14 game schedule and are going to let the 6th and 7th seeds fight it out.

The Bombers are not happy as to again quote Steinbeck from the Grapes of Wrath "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." , but considering the circumstances it was the best we could do for everyone involved. You can not make everyone happy, you just have to be fair and realistic.