I have been playing co-ed softball for the past 16 years or so. I am currently having the hitting streak of my life, so I am posting this in hopes that my fellow teammates will take the time to read it and increase their on-base percentage so we can continue to crush the competition. Plus I want to rub it in to them that so far this season, I am 37-for-37 in on base percentage. Meaning that I have not made an out the entire season so far, so at every at bat I either got a hit, a walk, or got on via an error by the fielder. The previous record for consecutive times on base for a team I have played on was held by Tim "The Wonderboy" Bednarczyk, who had a streak of 18-for-18 about five years ago. After that amazing streak, he received the "Wonderboy" nickname, which is the name of the bat that Robert Redford used in the movie, "The Natural". Since then, I have gone 14-for-14 once, and 15-for-15 once, but always choked in pursing The Wonderboy’s record, and usually went into a severe batting slump(psychologically induced from the crushing disappointment) after choking. There is one game left to be played this season on December 2^nd, and we are tied for first place in our league, Coed C4.  There are about 10 coed leagues that play in Huntington Beach on Wednesday night, for a total of 60 teams.   C10 is the worse, C1 is the best.  We started out in C10 on our PhoneGuys team many years ago, and have worked our way up to C4. My advice for increasing your on-base percentage is the following:

1.   Always wear the same clothes. I have worn the same pants for the past 7 years or so. Figuring the past two years I play about 33 games a year, the five years prior to that I played 66 games a year. Wearing the same clothes gets you in the proper frame of mind, as well as triggering your "muscle memory".

Always wear the same clothes


Even if there are holes in it

2.  Get a good, well-balanced bat. It should feel like it was made for your grip. Do not skimp on a bat.  I currently use one of the high end Easton bats.  Get a good glove.  I recommend a Rawlings Heart of the Hide Glove.  Get good cleats.   I use the Nike cleats with replaceable plastic spikes.

Get good equipment.  Don't skimp here!

3.  Never, ever, ever, ever, hit a ball anywhere near the shortstop. Most shortstops in your better softball leagues will correctly field 70%-80% of everything hit to them, and they will also occasionally make the spectacular plays that can rob you of hits and thus ruin your streak. Never take the chance, just never hit it there. Don’t let them kill your streak.

4.  In coed-softball, more often then not, there will be a female second base woman, a female first base woman, and a female right fielder. Therefore, hit ALL balls, and I mean ALL balls to the right side of the field. Simply put, in general, for coed-softball, pick on the weaker females and hit the ball as hard as humanly possible to them. This isn’t just a game, it’s a goddamn battle for victory, so take no prisoners, show no mercy. The female second base woman will correctly handle about 10% of all screaming hard ground balls/line drives hit to them. The female first basewoman will handle about 15% of all screaming hard ground balls hit to them. Use these percentages to your advantage. If you screw up and hit a fly ball toward right field, chances are that it will curve foul out of play if you are a right handed hitter, due to the english on the ball. Therefore, you should never have an fly out to right field.  Right fielders also rarely make the diving circus catch that will rob you of a hit, but left fielders can routinely make the circus catches that can kill your streak. Therefore, hit ALL BALLS to the right side of the field.

5.  Get in a routine. My routine is the following, and I do this before EVERY GAME.
a. 120 minutes before game: get dressed
b. 110 minutes before game: workout on bench press and do some triceps/bicep exercise for five minutes (this will help make bat feel lighter, and help you throw ball harder, and gets the blood flowing)

c. 100 minutes before game: Go to Wayne’s house and get Wayne
d. 80 minutes before game: Arrive at batting cages.(Note: going to the batting cages is crucial for your muscle memory). Swing a weighted bat in the cages to warmup. Spend two bucks and get 40 pitches of practice. Try to hit 40 consecutive line drives(remember, our goal is muscle memory) to various spots on the RIGHT side of the batting cages, as if you are aiming between the 2^nd base woman and the 1^st base woman. Also hit some so the line drive will go right over the first base woman’s head. Curse profusely at yourself if you accidentally hit a fly ball that could be caught by the right fielder. NEVER HIT A BALL TO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE FIELD DURING PRACTICE. Practice what you will do if a ball is pitched short and outside, short and inside, long and inside, long and outside, and rip a line drive/hard ground ball towards the gap between 2^nd and 1^st for each of these scenarios.  Your muscle memory will remember this, and when it game time comes around, your muscle memory will be locked in as what to do.
e. 60 minutes before game. Go to liquor store, get a Snapple, bottle of water, some potato chips, and a package of Hostess Cupcakes. If no cupcakes, substitute Hostess Ding Dongs.
f. 50 minutes before game. Arrive at field. Eat Hostess products. Stretch, warmup. Finish off potato chips.

6.  Know your strike zone. Don’t swing at bad pitches.

7.  Hold the bat with a relaxed, loose grip while you are waiting for the pitch to drop down towards you. As the ball gets closer to you, tighten up your grip, and crank it towards the gap between 2^nd and 1^st base.  Swing level.  Don't over swing and force try to force a home run, more than likely you will just have a long fly out.  Remember, ON BASE PERCENTAGE is what counts in softball.

Last game of our 10 game season is next Wednesday, December 2nd.  If all goes well, I can go the entire season without making an out(I did miss one game due to vacation, so it will be 9 games without making an out).   And you can bet I will be unbearable to be around if I succeed next Wednesday.......

UPDATE:  December 2, 1998
Last game of the season, I end up going 4 for 4, with two line drives between second basewoman and first basewoman, a screaming ground ball between then also, and a weak grounder between pitcher and second base that makes it through to the outfield.  That calculates to be 41 for 41 in onbase percentage for the season!  Unfortunately, we lose the game, and end up in 2nd place.  We were forced to place on a muddy, wet field, and the ball did not bounce the right way for us.   Wayne started off the first inning by dropping a fly ball, and then I also kicked two ground balls at shortstop right after that.  The field was so wet that the ball wasn't bouncing correctly(that's my excuse).  Final score was something like 22-14.  Oh well, there is always next season.  I will continue the streak around the week of January 23, which is when the new season starts.  Maybe I can have a 1.000 on base percentage the rest of the century...and next season I intend on have our team practice their hitting to the right side of the field....
:-)

UPDATE: January 20th, 1999
We play our qualification game.  I go 4 for 4 in this game, which brings it to 45 for 45.  However, some team mates scream that since it is a qualification game(meaning essentially a practice game) that it doesn't count.  But I know that if I would have made an out, my team mates would have said the streak is over.   I count the at-bats towards my hitting streak.

UPDATE: January 27th, 1999 
I get a hit my first at-bat of the new season, which makes it 46 for 46.   Unfortunately, at my next at bat, disaster strikes.  I hit a hard ground ball to the right of the firstbase woman.  She makes a great grab of the ball, and runs to the base, and the streak is over.  My next at bat, I hit another screaming ground ball between first and second, unfortunately it hits the runner that was on first base, so I get another out.  We end up losing 19-4, and it is considered a "mercy" game, where they call the game after 5 innings instead of allowing us to play the entire 8 innings, since we are down 15 runs.  We haven't been mercy'ed in years.......looks like a rough start for the new season. 

UPDATE: February 3rd, 1999. 
The new season starts, we win by one run.   I got 4 for 4, so a new streak starts.....

UPDATE:  March 27th, 1999.
I am experiencing deep, deep, psychological problems at the plate.  In the last six games since the streak has been broken, I am barely batting .500.  I am hitting fly balls that are getting caught.  I am hitting hard line drives directly to the right fielder.  I am hitting weak ground balls to 2nd base.  I knew this would happen after the streak ended.  Before the last game, I decided that it has GOT to be the bat I am using.  So I went out and bought a new high-end Easton bat, end loaded with a titanium sleeve reinforcement.  I then went out and promptly went 2 for 4.   But at least I am hitting the ball a little harder.  If this keeps up, I might have to do something really radical, like maybe starting to workout again, or maybe video tape myself at the plate.  Or maybe find a hitting psychiatrist...... 

UPDATE:  April 21st, 1999.
Well, the new bat also sucks.  Three hundred dollars for a  thin walled, light weight, titanium bat, and I am still barely hitting .500 now.  I can't string more than TWO stupid hits together.  I can't believe this is happening, after getting on base 46 times in a row.  A couple of times I have hit some good line drives, but some good plays have been made on those, resulting in outs.  Maybe it is because I haven't been working out at the gym.  Some of my teammates say the reason is because I was gloating so much earlier about the 46 for 46 streak, that now it is coming back to haunt me.  Or it is because I just turned 40, and my body ain't what it used to be.   The season was over with today, and our record was 2 wins, 6 loses, and 2 ties, partially because I get out 50% of the time now.  But at least we tied our last game of the season.  We played the team that was tied for first place.  We played fairly well, and ended up a tie game after 8 innings, so the team we played against ended up in second place because of us, so at least we got to ruin their season.  Heh heh heh....it was good to see another team in misery, after our horrible season this time around.  New season starts in second week of May, so maybe I better start working out again, to see if I can get the magic back.....maybe it is time to change softball pants that I have been wearing the past seven years.......maybe that will get the streaking going again.

UPDATE:  May 12th, 2000.
One year later, 40+ softball games later.....I still can't string more than 8 hits in a row.  It's killing me.....

Update:  Sept 30, 2000
1.5  years later, I can't string m ore than 9 hits in a row......it is killing me.  We haven't come in first place in almost 2.5 years........