2018 Playoffs Round 1 – September 9th

SHINE bRIGHTLY ALL YOU DREAMERS

Tropical depression Gordon hung low as the wind swirled and the skyline was filled with pink, blue, and purple luminescence.  Some gentle soul had already decorated SkyDome with pastel streamers as though they knew that the Dreamers would be taking the field for an extra special occasion.  It was the magic of playoff baseball, where puppies grow to be puppers and bugles sound the coming of fall. Where Valley Cats howl at the night sky and Comrades prepare for the October Revolution.  Where Blush ready themselves for homecoming and Humdingers…um….keep humming? Anyway, it is a beautiful and glorious time and the rains held out so that for yet another week we could all make baseball together.

In the spirit of the playoffs, captains readied themselves, with one sending out this little sweet note, ” Not that I think we are in short supply of generosity as a team at all but, sometimes the play-offs bring out our more competitive sides. While it is certainly fun and engaging to have high stakes situations and to perform at one’s best, we also want to remember the priorities of this league. Let’s keep being generous to the other teams and to one another. We’re still all in this together!”

And together they began under the grey dusk of fall.

If you are curious as to the results then you’ll have to keep reading to find out!

Continue reading “2018 Playoffs Round 1 – September 9th” →

August 26th 2018

END OF 2018 REGULAR SEASON! LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN!

It seems like it’s gone dreadfully quick, but last night marked the end of the 2nd regular season in Field of Dreamers history! But don’t fret fellow baseballers, there are three more games left to play! Playoffs begin on Sunday, September 9th and run through Sunday, September 23rd! With the Credit River Comrades having locked up the top spot and the Rouge River Blush occupying the bottom, there was only one key playoff race left to decide: Would it be the Humdingers or the Valley Cats who hosted their first round playoff matchup?  Would the Valley Cats follow the ball of yarn to the 2nd place or would the Comrades block their attempts through camaraderie and determination?  Would the Humdingers buzz their way into 2nd place or would the Blush apply the kiss of death to Humber?

If you wanna know the results…

You’ll have to keep reading to find out!

Continue reading “August 26th 2018” →

August 19th 2018

EVERYTHING I DO (I DO IT FOR … BASEBALL)!

Look into my eyes, you will see, what you mean to me. When the Dreamers searched their hearts and their souls you didn’t have to tell them it’s not worth fighting for, because as the playoffs near, everything they do…they do it for BASEBALL!!   Would Humber tell Credit that it’s not worth fighting for? Or would Credit respond that they can’t help it, there’s nothing they want more? Would Rouge take Don as they are or would Don give it all and sacrifice?

If you wanna know the results…

You’ll have to keep reading to find out!

Continue reading “August 19th 2018” →

The Dreamers Tribune: Merle’s Farewell

Through three seasons with the Uncertainty and two seasons on the Rouge River (Ballsheviks and now Blush) as part of the Field of Dreamers I have learned and unlearned. I have learned to embrace conflict, to win with grace, to find victories in losses, to ask for help, and that other worlds and ways of being are truly possible. I struck out nearly every time I went up to bat during my first two seasons with the uncertainty. The experience of a team of people, most of whom I did not know, cheering for me as I struck out has changed me. Being valued even as I feel I am fucking up has taught me to value myself differently, to take more chances, to keep trying even when I am not immediately skilled.

I have played and I have captained and I have tried my darndest to be a leader on the field for the players that feel like they are fucking up. Fucking up can be a generative space to be in, where we recognize the ways we are incomplete and the ways we depend on each other and the ways we can grow. We all come to softball with our own stuff to work through and the field generously creates a space for us to shift our relationships to cooperation, competition and the land we are on.

I will be gone for the remainder of the season as I begin a PhD at the University of Minnesota. Thank you to everyone who has been part of the league: players, coordinating committee members, subs, people cheering from the side, partners and families and friends that have made this space possible through supporting us, feeding us, loving us. Thank you to the land we play on. I am so grateful for the opportunity to fuck up and be bad and still be cared for. Thank you.