We had more hits than Kool & the Gang.  We had more runs than a pair of pantyhose on a porcupine.  We had more big catches than the U.S. Tax Code.  In sum, we played better than two kids on Sesame Street.  Last night, your mighty Ballpark Estimates beat the Brookings Institute by an almost unbelievable score of 31 to 6.  (In fact, because I eventually lost count, some might say we scored even more.  Some might also say I have a problem with addition.)

The game started with a bang.  In the first inning, we hit 5 homers and scored 16 runs.  Why, that may be more than the total number of runs we scored all last season!  Standing there in that first inning, watching player after player cross home plate, I realized two things: (1) the trendy sports nutrition bars I forced everyone to eat before the game worked like spinach on Popeye, and (2) we'd really have to screw up to lose this one.

But we didn't screw up.  As the game rolled on, so did we.  Mike Stavrianos hit five separate home runs and sent more people home than a principal at a cafeteria food fight.  Sadly, we fear this was Mike's last game.  He's leaving MPR for Price Waterhouse where, according to the PW Conduct and Behavior Manual, softball is "not conducive to the corporate
goals and objectives of our Associates."  Maybe we'll send Mike a cake with a file baked in it and hope he can join us for at least one more game.

Other noteworthy participants include Deo's 13 year old son Alex, who had numerous base hits and some nice catches too.  (Rumor has it that, after witnessing his son play better than people two and three times his age, Deo was on the phone with Steinbrenner all night trying to get Alex a spot on the Yankees.)  Embry Howell joined us and batted in one inning.  We're hoping to get at least two or three innings out of her when proposal season is over.  And Jackie Kauff's four great base hits, which would have stood out in any other game, were unfortunately overshadowed by the 9 or 10 homeruns the rest of the team hit, so she gets the Unsung Hero award for the week.

Alas, the sad news is that technically, we may have actually lost the game.  You see, we played with an inappropriate number of players, violating the one rule in this no-rule league.  But like an MPR project director once told me: "forget the technical junk; that's for programmers to worry about."

So our record improves to 3-and-1.  Our next game is Thursday, August 13, versus Abt Associates.  Hope to see you there.

 -the coaching staff