Softball season is underway and enhanced

Enhanced Games

[  by Than Acuff  ]

I would be remiss if I did not mention that the Enhanced Games just happened in Las Vegas last weekend.

What is that you may ask? Well, even if you don’t, I’m going to tell you.

It’s the new Wild West of sports whereby athletes are not only allowed to use performance enhancing drugs, but they are encouraged to use performance enhancing drugs in an effort to see what the human body is capable of, when enhanced. So much so that the athletes spent three months in Abu Dhabi where anything goes, except for women’s rights, training and doping under the watch of trainers, medical staff and my guess, salespeople.

Thanks to Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, East Germany and Russia from the 1950s to the 1980s and TikTok, we already have an idea what enhancement can do, but the Enhanced Games are a more formal venue. Enhanced and endorsed.

Crested Butte is a bit “Enhanced” as well. I feel our version exists primarily in the building arena rather than the sporting arena as evidenced by the mega homes littering our landscape.

That said, our local softball leagues did experience an enhancement as well with 10 teams in the Wednesday league, up from eight last summer, and eight teams in the Tuesday/Thursday league, up from six. I would also propose allowing triple wall bats at all fields and getting rid of limited flight balls. Why that is, nobody seems to know, but both Crested Butte Recreation, Open Space and Trails supervisor Joey Carpenter and I believe that “most people are bummed about the current political landscape and are looking for a distraction weekday evenings.”

Are White Claw and weed enhancement substances? I would argue with White Claw that’s a yes, until it becomes a no. I would argue with weed that’s a no until it becomes a yes. I would also argue that it all depends on the person for both.

LSD? I’d leave that up to you to decide, but Dock Ellis did pitch a no hitter on LSD. Granted, he walked eight batters and hit one, but he did strikeout six.

In the end, the aforementioned substances may not enhance performance, but they certainly can enhance the experience.

Be that as it may, the Wednesday league kicked off on Wednesday, May 27 and the Tuesday/Thursday league starts on Tuesday, June 2. Games are at 5:15 and 6:30 p.m. And, remarkably, there is only one rule change. Every single year when the playoffs arrive, disputes regarding player eligibility flare up.

As it states in the town rules, “Players and managers must participate in a minimum number of games to be eligible for playoffs, which is half the number of games your team played, minus one. If there is an odd number of games in the season, the half will be rounded down.”

Although, and there is always an although, sometimes players are recovering from a ski season injury and are unable to play until the latter part of the season missing the required number of games and, thus, are unable to play in the post season. Unless, and there is always an unless, they attend the required number of games as a manager and are so noted on the scorecard. Or, and there is always an or, if they participate in the parks and recreation programs as a coach or an umpire. In which case they are granted permission to play in the post season.

Finally, let’s make sure to raise a toast to both Pete Basile and Heather Cooper at the games. We lost a couple of great human beings who are also a big part of the local softball leagues.

Play ball!