A couple of months ago, I received a flyer in the mail asking me to come back to Brown for 2007 Softball Alumnae Day. I probably get one of those every year along with invitations to golf outings, football tailgates, Homecoming, etc. The small print on this one caught my eye and shocked my brain.
If your eyes are getting old like mine and you're having trouble with the fine print, it says, "Come back to College Hill and celebrate the 25th anniversary of Brown Softball's first Ivy Championship" OMG! 25 YEARS! How is that possible?!?!? I did some quick math...how old am i now....less 25....geez! I was 19! Was I ever really 19?
Funny how something that happened 25 years ago can seem like yesterday. The tournament that year was on the fields outside Hahvahd Stadium (a few miles from where I sit right now. Never would have expected that 25 years ago!) That season, I learned how to contribute to a team without setting foot on the field - I had ripped my knee apart in a preseason game against URI and spent the season in a cast from my toes to my upper thigh.
Before that fateful pre-season game, we spent the night at one of my teammate's family vacation home on Narragansett Bay. I don't remember exactly how many beers I had that evening but I know that if I drank that many now, it would most likely kill me. Worse yet, on our way back to school and the game, we stopped at McDonalds. They were running a promotion where you got a scratch ticket so along with my burger, fries and coke, I won yet another batch of artery-clogging fries. Got another scratch ticket with those fries and won more food and so on and so on and so on. So, weighted like a tank out there at 2nd base, definitely not too quick on my feet I couldn't dodge the high slide that took me and my leg to the hospital. Most embarrassing part - admitting to the anesthesiologist how much I had eaten in the past 12 hours. 14 beers....1 quarter pounder....2 burgers....4 fries....kill me now.... The surgeon actually questioned whether or not he should operate. But I digress.
I was on crutches the entire season and wasn't quite sure what to do with myself . Studying more would have been the most beneficial choice but yeah, well, why study when I could go hang out with my my buddies. And so I did. Even though at first it killed me to be at practice, I went. I really couldn't even be helpful and chase down stray balls. I think toward the end I was able to hit grounders to my fellow infielders but really, I just hung out out on the bench, felt sorry for myself, and felt like a poser.
A baby-faced freshman took my position at second. And damn, if that wasn't the most amazing thing to watch. Michelle (a.k.a Dr. Dodge) was a slightly shy, kind of quiet braniac who was in Brown's accelerated med school program. We teased her mercilessly (still do, actually). And she kept coming back for more. And then at the Ivy Tournament - she actually made us shut up (not an easy thing to do with our group). Her stats:
- 2 Hits 3 RBIS against Hahvahd
- RBI insurance run against our dreaded nemesis, Princeton
- 2 for 3 and 4 RBIs against Yale
- 4 RBIs (with a 3 run double) against Dartmouth
- 3 hits against Cornell
But best of all, throughout that entire season, when we were up at bat, she sat by my side on the bench, talked about what was going on out on the field and almost made me feel like it was my cleats that were getting dirty out there, not hers. I owe her big time for that. I didn't realize it until today. And wished I would have thought to thank her at the reunion.It was absolutely a blast seeing everyone today. Those who didn't make it were missed and couldn't defend themselves as we told embarrassing stories. Amazing how little we've all changed, and all fell back into old jokes and roles. Celebrating that season made me remember that we were a pretty special group and I'm really glad I got to be a part of it - even if it was from the bench that one season.
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