By: Vanessa Forbes-Pateman

The innings felt round the world.  Baseball is already a long ass game, and this one went on forever, going 18 innings…yup you heard 18.  This was the type of game you needed a Tardis for; you could go adventuring through the multiverse and come back and this damn game would still be going on.  I mean where the hell is the flash when you need him, Barry…dude we needed you for this, it was so painfully long, bizarre and drawn out.  The Dodgers’ Max Muncy hit a walk-off homerun in the 18th inning, giving the Dodgers a 3-2 victory over the Red Sox to end the longest World Series game in history (cnn.com). That being said, the Red Sox ended up winning the World Series four games to one.

This game was so long 45 tweeted about it, which was also bizarre (not the fact that he tweeted, but the fact that he bothered to give an opinion on sport….wait he does that often, face-palm…never mind).  So, my SO and I tuned into this game as a long-distance date (note to self, pick sports wisely for long-distance dates).  This was like trying to decide what fast-food to get for dinner on a Friday night….a never ending back and forth, I know you feel me on this ladies.  Anyhoo back to the game, Red Sox and the Dodgers score runs in the 13^th with the Red Sox almost taking the lead.  But they had to take an L because Kinsler went all Conan the Barbarian because of Puig’s two-out grounder allowed the Dodgers to score.  Kenta Maeda nearly gave up a run to The Red Sox in 15^th inning, having thrown straight Ls at Leon and Betts while shutting down Nunez at 3^rd.  I don’t know who to give the biggest L to in this 13^th to 15^th inning debacle.  There were a whole lot of slippery mitts and what-were-you-thinking throws, miscalculations along the line of a straight-out hot mess.  It made me think of the scene from The Hangover where everybody wakes up the next morning and Galifianakis is walking around pantless and there’s a tiger.  The highlight for me was in the 10^th when Bellinger nailed that Red Sox guy at the plate, from center field, he basically was Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen in GOT Season 3.  Bellinger did it, like Season 5, Episode 9….He did his “Dance of The Dragons” and gave the Sox a Huge L.  So enough about this never-ending game, now I’ll share with you ladies how to go about a pick-up game of baseball with your SO and some friends.

Ladies grab your friends for a pick-up game of baseball. You’ll need two teams comprising of nine players each taking turns at playing offense by batting and base-running or playing defense by pitching and fielding.  Each team will alternate at bat, per inning, while the opposing team plays on the field. To start, the home team pitches (just coin toss to figure out who is home and who is away).  Arrange bases in a diamond and voila! You have and outfield and and infield.  Remember, only one player can bat at a time, the team to score the most runs wins.

First of all ladies grab your SO, a few friends, a tennis ball if you don’t have a baseball left over from your childhood, a bat, glove and head outside.  Preferably, not close enough to break any windows. I used to box so my upper body is pretty strong (facepalm and yikes).  Ok what you fittin’ to do is warm up…lol play a game of tag.  Stand about 10-15ft from your SO and practice underhand or side-arm.  This object is for him to catch the ball, if he trash talks you…pelt him with it…hahahaha…bet he’ll stop real quick.  Make sure when you are learning to catch the ball, because of course you reverse roles, you catch the ball in the web or palm of the mitt, remembering to clench your fingers to avoid losing the ball.  You’re allowed to throw a fit if he throws too hard at you and you cringe reflexively to avoid getting hit.  Dudes will be dude and get really competitive, quick.  The goal is to catch the ball and to not let a pitch or a hit get past you….think of the ball as you compact, you dropped it and you gotta catch it before it hits the floor because you don’t want the mirror or your face powder to shatter.

Chica, next is hitting the ball (to score a run).  Remember you we once talked about ballet.  You want to put all of your weight on your back leg, step forward and swivel as you throw as much power as you can through your dominate hand when you swing your bat.  This move is very similar to moving from a plie to a kick, like a pivot.  When you walk up to the mound, you are “at Bat”.  Chose a batting stance that suits you, try to be comfortable and not put your head forward and extend your arms straight out, make eye contact with the ball, so that you get a good solid connection.  To bunt, your right hand will be on the base of the bat and your left will be somewhere at the neck of the bat, you would just tap the ball with the end of the bat making sure it doesn’t go behind you.

If you hit a pop fly, which is a ball that goes straight into the air, do not run…I repeat don’t run.  If you run, you in trouble girl (in my Whoopy Goldberg voice over from Ghost), that’s an automatic out.  If you don’t and make a solid connect, try to get to 1^st base before your SO or friends catch the ball.  Being me, I always try for a homer, I’m très-très good at stealing bases, just makes for a more fun game.

Fun Facts: other long games in the history of the world series:

1. 1916 Game 2: (Brooklyn) Dodgers beat Red Sox 2-1 in 14 innings.
2. 2005 Game 3: White Sox beat Astros 7-5 in 14 innings.
3. 2015 Game 1: Royals beat Mets 5-4 in 14 innings. (stats provided courtesy of CNN.com)

So ladies grab your SO and some friends and head out into the backyard.  A pick-up game of baseball is never complete without a good bbq.  Throw some brauts on the grill along with some steak, pork even lamb and have a great afternoon of food, folks and fun.  I suggest some beer for the fellas or my old favourite Winking Owl.  It’s still my favourite reasonable vintage.