“It’s the classic ‘couch to first base’ approach to softball training,” manager Joe Hennessy said when addressing his clubs’ lack of preseason activity.
“I’m excited to play, but hoping I don’t injure myself,” Schultzy said of her return to the diamond, sounding like one of the team’s quinquagenarians.As it did in Fall, 2021, the team will be playing at Bowman Park. The team’s first foray to Bowman was up-and-down; as Sea Kittens scuffled to a 1-4 regular season before catching fire in the playoffs to finish 3-5. Overall the team hit 0.524 at Bowman in Fall 2021, a figure that if carried through a full year would be among the top three marks in team history; the spaciousness of Bowman 1 plays to offense, while Bowman 2 features the same friendly dimensions as Olbrich 3 & 4. The Kits will hit; the team’s test, as always, will be its ability to keep its opponent’s damage to the minimum. Learning the vagaries of the sloping outfield at Bowman 1 is still a work in progress for many Sea Kitten outfielders, as is adjusting to the diamond’s lighting. One Cat who might benefit is the Puma, Alex Latzka, who has a gaudy 0.800/0.806/1.433 batting average-on base percentage-slugging percentage line in eight career Sea Kittens games at Bowman, including 12 extra-base hits in 30 at-bats. For reference, Latzka has a 0.678/0.693/1.303 slash line at other fields, 2018-2021. The Puma could be poised to anoint himself the “Grand Baron of Bowman.” Seamour Sea Kitten caught up with Latzka recently, to ask him about his off-season training and the weight of the formidable expectations being heaped upon him by various preseason prognostication systems.
SSK: “Some publications have already dubbed you, “The Baron of Bowman.” Are you feeling the weight of those expectations?
APPL: “I’ve heard it all- Baron, Beast, Boss, Behemoth… like some of my fly balls down the right field line, the expectations could not be any higher. But I’ve put in a nonzero amount of mental preparation and will begin physical preparation for the season a good 20 minutes before game time Thursday. I can comfortably say I’m as ready for this season as I’ve ever been.
SSK: “You’re not worried about the expectations crippling you, like the first sprint to first base invariably cripples a number of your teammates?”
APPL: “My weakness has always been my hamstrings, so I’m fortunate that hamstrings don’t bear the vertical weight of expectations.” SSK: “So you’ll just squat those expectations?”
APPL: “…yes.”
Anyone who has ever seen the Puma in short-pants knows his thighs can bear that burden. In fact, in recognition of Latzka’s propensity to hit triples and inside-the-park home runs, the Cats now refer to the latter as “QUAD-ruples.”Game Notes
- Sea Kittens are 7-4 all-time in Summer/ Spring season openers
- Sea Kittens have won three straight Summer/Spring season openers and five of the past 6
- Zen Master Rowe is 3-1 on Opening Night
- Man-Aaron and/or Schultzy will move into the top-10 of all-time Sea Kittens games played this spring
- Tommy Tom Tom Seahorse Cichosz Shabidu, Jr (83, currently 7th) and Heidibadger Nelson (104, currently 6th) will soon be the only retired Cats in the top 10 of the all-time games played list