A Fitting Tribute

Hey A’s,

It’s a sad morning in A-ville today. We just played our last full-squad game of the season,
sending our summer law clerks off in dramatic fashion with a narrow victory over V.A. is for
Lovers (Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs). It was a beautiful night for a game that turned out to be
one of the closest and most fun contests we’ve had all year. Playing in the imposing shadow
of the giant white obelisk, the A’s looked strong right from the start. Scott led us off with a
single that turned into a RBI for Justin Casson on his first homer of the day. Two more batters
followed suit, as Thomas and Alex Moore promptly got themselves on base and were driven in
by “Mr. Base Hit” Bhargav. The A’s were up four going into the bottom half of the first inning,
when the Lovers started to get some action. But the defense held them scoreless behind Lucas
Strasburg’s strong start. Our small-ball game was in full swing in the second inning, which saw
five consecutive singles, netting us another run. One more shut-down performance by Strasburg
preceded Thomas’s final and most epic home run of the season, and the A’s were sitting pretty
with a 6-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third. Then things started to get a bit dicey.

Our defense was moderately respectable in the 3rd, only allowing two runs on a few hits given
up by MVP Dan “Jim Abbott Jr.” LaSalle. As the air started to cool with the submission of the
sun, Bhargav and Lucas scored for us in the top of the 4th and by this point, with the game at 8-
2 we thought we had a victory in hand. But we were really getting ahead of ourselves because
the Lovers finally found a few holes in the formidable A’s defense and plated a whopping 8
runs in the bottom frame to take the lead. All the hitting practice the bottom half of the order
had been taking began to pay off in the 5th as we were able to produce four more runs, two
on Justin’s second homerun of the day, to recapture the lead at 12-10. From then on, it was
lights-out pitching from both our MVP, who had the first-ever 3-pitch inning in league history
(featuring a line drive that nearly decapitated your beloved skip) and Lucas “I’m my own best
reliever” Tanglen who held the Lovers scoreless for the last few frames to allow the A’s to leave
victorious. But it definitely came right down to the wire, as the game’s only double play was
made on the last two outs, in a ridiculous catch-and-throw across the entire field by Justin to save
the day. It was a great game all-around though and if I had 15 MVP beers you all would have
gotten one.

I want to again thank the law clerks, and really everyone, who have come out this season and
made it the blast that it’s been. I really truly enjoyed every minute of playing with you all this
season, in leading the A’s to what is undoubtedly their best record ever. We made it to 9-4 so far
(with a few games to go), a full 5 games above .500, for a .692 winning percentage. You have
all played spectacularly this season and you will be dearly missed. We are actually #19 overall
in the standings right now out of 98 teams. There aren’t twenty teams in this town that could
beat us, Nats included. We far surpassed my expectations, and I can only hope that we have half
as much fun next season as we did this year.

I will wrap it up on that note. We’ve got a game next Thursday against the DOJ, so as always,
shoot me an email if you’re in. Have a nice weekend, A’s.

Effing A,

Skip

A Victory of Epic Proportions

Morning A’s,

Well that sure was a tremendous game last night! As the A’s trickled into the dugout on the mall
between 5:30 and 6:30, it didn’t even look much like we were going to have a game. The Reds
were sparse at best, despite the manager’s repeated claims that “a few more are on their way,”
so the A’s set down to what they do best; drinking. As one beer turned into two then three, the
rest of the Reds finally decided to show up around 7, at which point the nearly-worn out A’s
trudged out to take the field. That first inning wasn’t exactly what I’d call pretty. By their count,
the Reds somehow only scored 9 runs, but I’m fairly certain it was at least double that. To the
casual fan, the A’s might have seemed dead in the water at this point, but this is a team that never
loses hope (because it’s OUR TIME). Rabbi Scott and Sandy “The Dominator” Fulton led off
the game with some clutch base hits, which were followed by the only hit Thomas had on the
day that wasn’t a homerun. MVP Theresa “Tagging is for Wimps” Chalhoub came up next and
punched in two RBIs with a big single, and even though we struggled through the rest of the
inning, the A’s had caught the spark they needed. Building on that momentum, a solid defensive
effort by the A’s behind Lucas Strasburg held the Reds to only 3 runs in the top half of the next
inning. Then it was on.

Boy did we start hitting. Giving himself some run support, Strasburg led off the inning with a
single and was promptly driven in by Chris Calabrese (with the help of some aggressive base
running). Wild Wild Wes was up next, and got on base to be driven in with a 3-run shot by
the skip. Then with two outs the Dominator and Dan LaSalle kept the rally going with singles,
followed by Thomas’s first homer of the day to dead center field, sending screaming tourists
fleeing in every direction. Following two more singles, Alex “the FoE Loaner” Moore came
through with our third 3-run blast of the inning. At that point, the A’s relented because we
felt bad and wanted to give the Reds a chance to bat. Though the defense seemed a bit more
porous than the inning before, the A’s held the Reds to a manageable 7 runs in the following
frame, and came back up to the plate starting at the same spot in the lineup that had given us our
previous rally. In Act II, we one-upped ourselves (literally) as we put 11 runs across the plate,
having more than batted around, on 11 hits (including Thomas’ second home run of the day,
this one a towering bomb to right field that sailed over the hapless redhead they left out there);
Lucas scored twice himself. At this point, the A’s were sitting pretty with a five-run lead as the
daylight was dwindling and the Reds were falling victim to pulled muscles and abashed egos.
Though the Reds only managed to put 4 across in the next frame, they graciously agreed to allow
us to bat out the bottom of the 4th, which, unfortunately for them, turned out to be their strongest
defensive inning of the game. After Thomas’ third and final homerun of the day, this one to left
(thus completing his cycle of homeruns), the Reds succumbed to the A’s in the biggest comeback
in Congressional Softball League history.* When all was said and done, the slugfest ended with
a score of 26-23 in the A’s favor. We’re now officially 2 games above .500! We’re 7-5-1 on
the season, but really that’s 8-4. Everyone had a great game, and I thank you all for coming out,
especially the cheerleaders (who still owe us a dance).

But unfortunately all good things must come to an end. And it’s looking like that end is fast
approaching as next week will be the last game for a lot of the law clerks. I want to let you all
know now that if you happen to be in DC after your time here is done, you are by all means

more than welcome to continue to play with us. For next week’s game, we square off against
the department of Veterans’ Affairs, VA is for Lovers. As far as I know, they have a permit
for a field right in the shadow of the Washington monument (roughly at the green arrow if you
paste this into google maps: 38.890515,-77.037828). The game should start around 6:30. Or just
whenever you all get there since I don’t think we’ve started at 6:30 once this season. Please let
me know if you can make it.

Adios for now, A’s

*note: this is completely unverified and most likely false

Effing A,

Skip

A Sad, Soggy Story

Hey A’s,

Well. We uh had a tough one last night. Even before the rain started, the outlook wasn’t too
pretty for the A’s; while we struggled to produce at the plate in the early innings, the Bears
of Grunley more than lived up to their hype. We were hitting well too; we got some runners
on base, but the Bears were, unfortunately for us, as spectacular on defense as they were on
offense. A running, diving catch by their right fielder helped them narrowly escape the first
inning with no runs scored against them, effectively killing our momentum. Though we
held them scoreless in a quick second inning, which included a fantastic, falling-backward,
barehanded catch by Mangesh, we again failed to manufacture much offense and remained down
by five heading into the third. Then the rain started.

At first it wasn’t so bad – just a little sprinkling, but then the clouds started to turn, as did the
fate of the A’s, in an ominous direction. As tourists smartly fled the Vietnam Memorial, the A’s
rallied on. Well maybe rally isn’t quite the right word, but we certainly forged ahead with the
game. The pompous Bears tried to offer us an out with the “Mercy Rule,” but, true to our effing
dedicated selves, we soldiered on into the 4th. The Bears’ hitting saw a noticeable decline as the
rain continued to pick up and field conditions went from sort of damp to downright slippery.
Thunder, lightning, rain and wind were assailing the A’s from all sides, but we wouldn’t quit.
MVP Chesa Boudin led off the next inning with a moon shot down the third base line that
netted a triple, and with it, a glimmer of hope. But the elements had really taken their toll as
Justin “Watch my hammer throw impression” Casson nearly decapitated the third baseman. At
that point, the Bears sheepishly backed their way out of the game with a half-victory. As they
fled in fear of the First Effing Amendments, a few A’s stuck around to help polish off the beers.
By this point, we were all fairly well soaked, so we assumed it couldn’t really get much worse.
While I can’t exactly speak for the folks who trekked over to the metro, I do know that we got
caught in about the most impressive rainstorm I’ve seen in a long time. Torrents of buckets
of rain poured down in a matter of seconds, immediately flooding everything in sight. After
walking through a mud pit to find Constitution Avenue and standing in an ankle-deep river at
the corner of 20th street, a handful of us somehow found my car and then found our way over to
the post pub, where we rung ourselves out and finished the evening. My seats were still soaked
this morning, which was a great thing for me to forget as I hopped in my car on the way to work
today. So I’m now going on about 18 consecutive hours of being damp.

So A’s, I just want to thank everyone for being such troopers last night. I know it got a little
hairy out there, but I really appreciate everyone coming out and sticking with it. I hope that
spirit carries over into tomorrow, when we finally have the chance to make up for our first
rainout of the season as we play the NonPros, of the Dept of Energy (Non-Proliferation section).
The game will be at 6:30ish on the mall; we’ll probably be scouting the field so I imagine
we’ll be somewhere near 15th and Constitution. Please let me know if you plan on playing.
Hopefully, this game should be a bit easier for us than last night’s ordeal.

That’s all, folks

Effing A,

Skip

A Thorough Trouncing

Morning A’s,

What a beautiful day it is! The sun is shining in celebration of the First Effing Amendments’
first official blowout of the season, as we rolled over the DC N8IVs in the shadow of the White
House. Even the 275% humidity couldn’t keep the A’s from playing to their utmost potential.
After a rough first inning that saw the A’s go scoreless for the first time this season, things
weren’t looking too good for us, especially as the N8IVs exposed some gaps along our baselines
to punch two across in the bottom half. Thankfully for the A’s, MVP Justin “I hit everything
in sight” Casson led off the second inning with a titanic home run that started to swing the
momentum back to our side, where it would remain for the rest of the game. Following a
much better defensive inning, the A’s batted around, plus a few in the 3rd as we hit at least 3
consecutive ground-rule doubles (which probably would have been home runs, had there not
been a big stupid tree in center field). But the Natives were a scrappy bunch and combined some
stellar defense with small-ball on offense to tie the game up heading into the 5 th frame. We
were back at the top of the order, and after two quick outs the meat of the lineup all scored on
Justin’s second home run of the day. In relief for Strasburg Jr., Bhargav fed the N8IVs a steady
diet of knucklers and spitballs to silence their bats, and despite some shoddy first base play (my
bad) the A’s held their lead. We batted around again, two more times actually, in both the sixth
and seventh innings to really put the “nail in the coffin” (Gotta love NBA Jam). We had just
awesome production up and down our lineup; 6 of us scored 3 runs and 2 of us scored 4; eight
of us were above .500 on the day. So I want to thank everyone for taking the time to hit the
batting cages this past week; it clearly paid off. When the onslaught was over and the dust had
settled, the A’s rode off into the sunset (a/k/a Harry’s) with our biggest victory of the season, a
whopping 27-15. We now stand at (officially) 5-4-1 (really though it’s 6-3) on the year. Great
game, A’s.

So now we must ride that momentum into one of the biggest weeks of the season as we have two
games next week, on Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday, we will try to fend off the ferocious
Grunley Bears, of the Grunley Construction Company. The Gruns pretty much handed us our
heads last season in a game that ended with a score somewhere in the vicinity of 135-2. So it’s
payback time for the First Effing Amendments. Then on Thursday we have a makeup game for
one that got rained out earlier in the season as we take on the Non-Pros, from the Department of
Energy (Non-Proliferation section), which should be a cake walk compared to our fight against
the Bears. Games will be on the mall, 6:30ish, exact locations TBA (but probably not with
GPS coordinates because I have NO clue how he did that). Please let me know which game(s)
you would be able to attend. And if anyone would like to sponsor beverages, I would love you
unconditionally forever (well even more than I already do).

That’s it for now A’s. Hit the ice tub and rest up those sore muscles because next week is a
biggie.

Effing A,

Skip

A Tough Loss

Hi A’s,

Boy we’ve got to stop playing at that field at 20th and Constitution. I think we’re 0-4 there
over the past 3 seasons. First it was the All-Vols handing us our heads every season. But
yesterday, despite a valiant effort by the First Effing Amendments, we were felled by the Rakers
of Muck. The A’s once again started to light up the scoreboard early, batting completely around
in the first inning and driving a whopping nine (NINE!) runs across the plate, including the
first grand slam of the season. Those mucksters were begging for mercy at the end of that
first inning. Unfortunately though for the A’s, our first-inning production accounted for more
than half the runs we’d score the entire game. MVP Corey “I’m even faster with my shoes
on” Lewin started off the second with a home run that nearly crossed Constitution Ave, but the
A’s struggled mightily afterwards, only putting one more runner across the plate over the next
3 frames. Despite some very solid defensive play from the likes of Theresa “The next Bryce
Harper” Chalhoub behind the plate, newcomers Mangesh and Emily, and our dear FoE friends,
the ringers on the muckrakers were just a little too much to handle. The mucks had consistent
offensive production, primarily from Jimmy Rollins’ brother who was playing shortstop, and
solidified their D (again, primarily from Mr. Rollins) to hold off the A’s through seven innings,
with the final tally coming in at 20-15 following a late-game rally that plated 3 A’s in the top of
the 7th. We have again dropped to the .500 mark on the season, with an overall record of 4-4-1,
but it will only be a temporary stay as we’re going back to battle next week, against the Stars and
Strikes (of the Senate Armed Services Committee).

As you probably imagined, the game will be somewhere on the mall, but a final location has
yet to be determined. I will inform everyone as soon as we figure that out. It will start around
6:30pm. Please let me know if you’d like to play. Also, if anyone could volunteer to supply
beers for the game, that would be great. For those of you who ordered a jersey, they should be in
by then, and I’ll bring them to the game with me.

That’s all, folks. Have a nice holiday weekend, and try not to blow off any fingers or anything.

Effing A,

Skip