05 DISCOBALL 2018
June 2018 – Farnham Park – Raiders Rascals 

I consider two of my pre-2023 tournaments to be monumental. One of them happened in 2022, and that confirmed me as the rabidly obsessed softballer I am today. That one ranks number two – but Discoball 2018 truly changed perspectives.

The Firstball experience last year was great, but I was not fully convinced to drop the weekend baseball gig just yet. I saw the fun Raiders were having in Manchester and beat myself up for not going. I truly enjoyed Manchester when I went there for a work course. The baseball game I played was not fun at all.

In mid-2018, the way sports fit into my life was well-established. Baseball was my primary sport, and the activity I took most seriously. Softball was a bit of fun on the side, when I found time – mostly relegated to weekday evenings and training sessions on the weekend, when they did not clash with baseball fixtures. I always however made sure to attend as many Raiders socials as possible!

At the time, I wasn’t as particularly focused on developing as a softball player. Sure, I wanted to improve my hitting and made strides (or should I say strikes) with my pitching. I embraced the opportunities I had; in baseball I would usually play left field or centerfield, which I enjoyed, but I never really felt like the club was enamoured to the idea of me learning to pitch. Club politics, perhaps?

The Raiders club is made up of a hierarchy of teams – with Orange as the bottom, fun team and Gold representing the best players of the club. As softball was only number two on the list, I wasn’t particularly interested in moving up within the club. I had elected to stay on Orange for my second season, as the first season was pure bliss. I would eventually go on to captain Orange for two more years – the first year was a magical, rewarding experience, the second year, I was stuck in a softball rut.

Training sessions happened rarely on a Saturday once the league season was underway. Raiders would attend tournaments which would usually last the whole weekend. Completely incompatible with my important baseball fixtures. I was asked a few times but declined – however I got a taste of softball at Farnham Park at Diamond 1 2018 which was a great time. I only played on the Saturday but wished I had played on the Sunday after a baseball game. Softball cannot get in the way of the real sport, baseball.

A weekend at Farnham changed everything. Dramatically.

***

Stephen joined the Raiders in 2018, exiled from Game of Throws. I remember meeting him at Raiders training that year, full of excitement with his new future teammates. Paul had recommended he joined the Raiders for the 2018 season, a wise choice (then again, Mr. Forster is a wise person).

With respect to Game of Throws, who are a very competitive team and were well focused on winning – they have since reached the second division in the London League. I’ve grown to like everyone on that team, though I did have a mini-vendetta against Scott for not treating my beloved Stephen the best.

Perhaps, it was not the right place for Stephen to be. I can relate to him; it’s not fun not being appreciated on your team, relegated to the bench, or being hidden on the field. I related to all of that. At university in baseball, my coach would always put me in right field, even for friendly games – when I really wanted to learn to play the infield. With the standard of university baseball at the time, with opportunities to make plays (that weren’t backing up balls missed by first or second base) being rare occurrences. In third year, I was not selected for the roster for the university baseball championships, which hurt especially as that was the last time I would be able to rock my Imperial jersey in a game. I was heartbroken and left the Imperial Falcons very bitter, and in bad blood. the London Mets organisation, things were a lot better – I became a left/centerfielder which was my natural position (I do wonder why my uni captain could never realise this. Let me stop my ranting, uni baseball just wasn’t the tea now that I think about it).

Within a few months of joining, Stephen fully embraced the club’s spirit. Becoming a Raider afforded him the confidence to do things he never thought he could, and a more welcoming space to play the beautiful game (I do not consider football as the ‘beautiful game’, it’s obviously softball that deserves this accolade more!)

I really wanted him to join my Orange team – as this year would be my first year of captaining. During team selection, Paul had recommended that Green consider selecting Stephen – and this wise advice was heeded (once again, Mr. Forster is a wise man) to my initial disappointment. It was indeed the correct decision – Raiders Green is the perfect team for Stephen. He had a good idea of the game and would make it on base most of the time. He would be the first to tell you this, as he has captained the team since 2019 and is showing no signs of stopping.

Mirroring myself, Stephen had aspirations to captain Green, due to truly enjoying being part of that team. Before becoming one of the Green captains, he wanted to dip into the waters with captaining and organise a tournament team, something he had never done before. The club’s warm reception and his clear enjoyment at being a Raider gave him the confidence to put his cap in the diamond as a captain for the Discoball tournament.

Discoball was a tournament at Farnham Park run by Disco Inferno, one of the London Softball League teams. They dissolved after the 2021 season, which was a shame as they were a good bunch, I’m sure that I became one of captain Rocco’s (Discoball’s own Sylvester) softball rival eventually as I always seemed to strike him out. Discoball was a yearly tradition, and was a great one-day C/D-Grade tournament with the focus being having fun and developing newer players.

This appealed greatly to the Raiders, myself included. So much so that we had enough people to put forward two full teams! Stephen’s cap was accepted and with Laura as his co-captain, planning commenced, and rosters were selected.

Stephen and Laura had asked me to play on their team and I accepted straight away. This being a Saturday tournament meant that I could play softball on Saturday and not miss my baseball fixture the next day. I tended to avoid two-day tournaments to be able to play baseball on the Sunday.

We were the Raiders Rascals, consisted of 7 Greenies, 5 Oranginas and a special Red. The other team – Raiders of the Lost Ark. 25 Raiders in total, ready to invade Farnham Park. One day we shall all rally together and fully conquer all the dirt pitches.

As the date approached, Stephen’s enthusiasm grew. He could not stop talking about his plans for the day. I’m sure he was too excited to get a decent night’s sleep on the day he christened as ‘Discoball Eve’. Like an organised Christmas shopper, everything – from rosters, MVP prizes, scoresheets, and everything else needed to captain a tournament team – was sorted long before. He’s a teacher; he’s used to this co-ordination malarkey.

This was shaping up to be a Saturday to remember. A fun selection of players. A beautiful, sunny hot day. Farnham Park – and a rare chance to play on the dirt pitches, now that the NSLers weren’t in the picture. Things were boding well, and I was damn well looking forward to it – almost as much as Stephen himself.

Discoball Eve was done, and we made our way to Farnham Park, ready for our first match-up. High Voltage were our morning opponents, long-time rivals of Raiders Green. We started promisingly, scoring reasonably well, not letting High Voltage spark ahead. Near the end of the game, they were slowly closing in… but thank goodness for the ‘no new innings after 55 minutes’ rule! This secured a first win for the first game of the day.

What was also great for this tournament was being one of two pitchers for this tournament. Tyrone and I would be centre stage on the dirt pitches. Mission – get those strike outs and make good hitters hit badly. The perfect tournaments are those that where I am on a team with just one other pitcher – so I still get time at the pitcher’s plate but have plenty of opportunities to play other positions (for me, I also need time in my beloved outfield). That’s the true ideal situation.

Ooh… but those dirt pitches. Those premier, well-maintained fields that at the time seemed to be only reserved for the best teams and players. Now truth be told, I was no stranger to these fields. I had played some baseball games during my time at uni on these fields. I also remember playing a softball tournament there in the same era (which was great, I absolutely loved it and should have taken it as a sign that softball was my bag).

This would mark the first time on the dirt pitches with the Raiders. We had dugouts with shade (well needed with the sun and the 30 degree day). We had fences to aim for, and had dirt in the infield, just like in baseball. These fields bring a new dynamic to the game – as the infield doesn’t have grass to slow the balls down, the games feel a lot faster (and I don’t feel as brave in the infield, but we’re working on that). I was far from the only person excited to play on these pitches, there was not a single Raider that wasn’t ready to make their dirt pitch debuts. Myself… right in the centre, as pitcher. Brilliant. It was bliss, Farnham Park may not be as fancy as the fields in the states, but to us, it truly is softball heaven when the weather is great. There’s not a place like it in the UK.

The Raiders play in the LSL, however there are numerous other leagues that play in London – one being the Publisher’s league – who also run their own tournament in Richmond (All Deer Park). Our next game would be against the Publisher’s ‘All-Star’ team, so a challenging game was on the approach. It would prove to be trickier to get our second win; alas, with a rough start, we weren’t able to keep up with the all-stars and start a winning streak.

Our final group game was against the host team. This was another dirt-pitch game, against Disco Inferno! Two in a day, what a treat. I distinctly remember head DJ, Rocco, as I always seemed to get the best of him with my pitching. Striking out the man who headed organisation of this tournament? Not a good luck, but this is softball! Their strong hitting meant we only finished the group stage with one win under our belt, landing us at the bottom of our group.

Both Raiders teams were bottoms, ironically. We therefore had to play each other in the ‘Funk Playoffs’. This was going to be a game for the ages – and the first time I would play against a Raiders team!

No matter the outcome, this would be a cracking game of softball. Friends off the field, but on that dirt pitch, we were sworn rivals, all gunning to win. Laura was especially in competition mode and was rather miffed when the Raiders of the Lost Ark gained a significant lead. We were the rolling boulder, trying to catch up with the ‘Arkers’, but our Raiders Rivals were sprinting ahead. ‘That’s just unfair, you have people from Raiders Blue on your team. We have one Raiders Red player and that’s it’. Upon retrospect, I think both teams were evenly matched. There was some tension within the Rascals (mostly Laura) as we struggled to catch up, and that energy does not bode well when we’re trying to play our best. Everyone plays better when they’re loose and relaxed. The final score was a 9-1 to the Raiders of the Lost Ark, a crushing defeat. Some of us were not too pleased, but quite honestly, I couldn’t be upset in the least. I just was glad to have the chance to play softball with some of my favourite people. (This was one game I wish I wasn’t DHing, though!)

The tournament wasn’t over for the Rascals. Our last game was against long-time rivals, this time of Raiders Orange. Meteors Green were familiar opponents in my Orange days, and here they were challenging us at Farnham Park. I did warn the team – Ian Taylor is very fast on the bases and will not hesitate to advance through them if he feels there’s even a slither of chance he could make it – so keep a close eye on him. Just like the first game, we started off with some great hitting to pad out a good lead, and we stayed ahead of the Meteors throughout to finish the day on a positive win. Funnily enough, overall, we won more games than Raiders of the Lost Ark; their only win of the day was against us!

Back to Home Plate for a couple (more than a couple) drinks. 25 Raiders take over the bar. Sadly, we were down to just six Raiders before the trophy presentations. Raiders, we need to do better with sticking around and socialising with the other teams!

The Raiders of the Lost Ark managed to get themselves some silverware – rather, a framed disco record (pretty cute prize). However, they had all returned home at this point! The six last Raiders standing were all Rascals, so we gladly claimed the trophy for ourselves. No-one’s going to tell which team is which, so we’ll take that record, thanks. We did, after all, win the most games out of the two teams. Regardless, it is silverware for the Raiders trophy cabinet.

It was captain Stephen, Charity and I who stuck around the longest at Farnham, just having a great time. We headed to Slough station quite late, to catch one of the last trains into London Paddington. We met ‘Station Jim’, the stuffed canine on display on platform 5 at Slough, said goodbye to Stephen at Ealing, and Charity and I headed home into north-east London. It was a very entertaining journey home to bookend an amazing day.

There is a FAB video that Ali created a few days later about this tournament. It was a slideshow with plenty of great photos and videos and the most fitting accompanying music given the tournament’s theme – ‘September’ by Earth Wind and Fire. This very video was the subject of one of the rounds in a quiz that Ali prepared during the lockdowns, and at the time, watching it made me tear up a little. Memories of brighter days, but thankfully, there would be plenty of tournaments to come after the end of the age of the lockdown.

Why do I consider this tournament as the most monumental tournament I’ve ever played? It’s not merely one of my favourite days in my life.

I had an epiphany at the end of the day. Softball tournaments tend to be much more fun than baseball games.

Right around the time of Discoball 2018, baseball was not going well.

2017 was quite a catastrophic year for me, and likewise, 2018 was not going very well either. I was in a miserable slump, struggling to hit the damned ball. I’d walk a lot, sure, but if I wasn’t walking, I was striking out almost all the time. The sword of Damocles was hovering over my head, I figured I would be due for the chop off the team for performing so abysmally.

My teammates remained supportive, yet baseball games were no longer bringing me joy, instead, anxiety and dread. I was harkening back to the early days with the Falcons. As usual, I had a baseball game the day after Discoball. T’was another Sunday fixture at Hemel Hempstead. As predicted, the game was going disastrously for me, though the Musketeers were doing well, having a large lead. I had racked up three strikeouts and we had barely passed the half-way point of the game. Fourth at bat. Did I get a Hollywood moment where I managed to fluke a home run over the fence. Was this a recreation of the Chicken Little baseball game (terrible Disney movie, by the way)…? Er… no, it was yet another strikeout. This isn’t a sappy film. Was anyone surprised at this point? Four strikeouts is not a streak to celebrate and a cause to jump for joy. In fact, I did the opposite, I broke down into a panic attack.

Thankfully, my teammates made sure that I was alright. I even got some supportive messages from a few of my fellow Musketeers on WhatsApp telling me to keep my chin up. I decided to take a break from baseball for the time being as it was not good mentally for me to continue failing. It was a tough decision which I had to make for my own good.

On that day– softball was now my main sport. Baseball was relegated to the number two spot.

It’s remained this way ever since.

At a softball tournament, you get at least four hours of guaranteed game time for a one-day tournament, and at least seven hours of games on a two-dayer, even with a slightly overegged roster. I’ve attended weekend tournaments where I would play 10 or even 12-hour long games. In contrast, when playing baseball, I would spend a lot of time on the bench. In 2017 I travelled to a couple of games where I sat on the bench for their entirety. In fairness, I was hardly Aaron Judge, but amateur sports should have an element of fun to them. Once again, harkened back to the Falcons days.

From that day forward, I would look to attend more softball tournaments, so in 2019, I made sure to sign up to as many as possible. This meant, that for the Mustangs, my new baseball team for 2019 – I played just one game with them that year. One. I didn’t have a closeness with my teammates as a result, so when I returned to baseball in 2021 full time, I chose to play with the new Minotaurs team (having the lovely Gabi as captain also influenced my decision).

I still enjoy baseball and 2021 and 2022 were my favourite seasons of baseball ever, however the love for softball grew even stronger and baseball eventually had to be phased out gradually over the summer. I could not commit to a team (I only played for the Minotaurs in six out of the fifteen weekends) by 2023, and I did not want a roster spot wasted on me when there were plenty of enthusiastic people from the Baseball for Beginners programme raring to make it onto a team.

I would like to play part time, with all the threats of me quitting, it’s not something I want completely out of my life. The baseball community is also great and I do miss them. Much brighter days came out of baseball in 2021 and 2022 with the Minotaurs – playing baseball in a relaxed and fun atmosphere (not unlike the Raiders) with team mates that want to get better was a great experience. I even got to try new fielding positions (like with the Falcons, with previous teams I was locked into left field or center field, this time with no complaints as I love both these fielding positions). This is a far cry from the Falcon days. Having the wonderful Gabi in charge of the squad was great too – love her to bits.

All this, plus a ritual that I’ve come up with for each at bat, really brought my confidence up. I approach each at bat in the same vain as a drag queen entering the Werk Room for the first time – assertively marching to the plate, and shouting out a corny, campy line to get me in the zone and make me feel fierce. It really does work wonders – I am managing to get decent hits off NBL pitchers (I’ll never forget that hit in Fall Ball 2023, almost cleared the fence. Everyone was shooketh). In both 2021 and 2022 I ended the season with a batting average of around .400; in 2017 and 2018, let’s just say it was a lot closer to .000. Mendoza Line be damned, they needed to name a new line after me.

I also have had the opportunity to pitch in a league game! This was something I’ve always wanted to do for a very long time, since the Imperial Falcons days. They weren’t great innings, both appearances on the mound were on sweltering 30°C days, but I managed to get some strike outs. If I played more often, I would like to develop more as a pitcher – perhaps in fall ball or in the Canal League.

2023 meant sadly sacrificing my place on the Minotaurs and officially semi-retiring from the sport, as I went on a quest to play as many tournaments as possible (reaching the magic 20 by the end of the season). I was only able to make two Canal League appearances (ironically I would have been able to attend five Minotaurs games). However lots of new people have been able to play baseball at a Single-A level and I’m happy for them, it seemed like they had a very fun season. I do miss the days at Finsbury Park, chilling after a long game, perhaps Bruno bringing the delicious Brazilian BBQ – and I’m sure to stop by Finsbury Park next year to watch if I’ve got a week off softball.

Discoball 2018 was monumental. It was the Saturday that made me fall in love with softball tournaments. I have never looked back.

I’d like to thank Stephen as well, not only for being an amazing captain with Laura, but also for writing a really detailed report so I could retell the story vividly.