DOGS, CHILDREN AND SWALLOWS

The Pen & Pencil Club officially concluded its on-field endeavors Oct. 15 with a season-ending friendly against the Valanni Swallows, and let's just go ahead and get the bad jokes out of the way right now: We sucked.
Not that there was anything wrong with that. It was a beautiful day on Edgeley 8 and no one ran into the soccer goals in left field or behind first base. A few weeks have passed, so I'm not even terribly sure of the final score. I think it was something like 19-7. We played nine innings and could have played 90, but we weren't going to do much better. The Swallows are a very capable team, even if they do play in another league, and fortunately everyone was out for a good time.
We did win the beer sweepstakes, I believe, and finish the season almost undefeated in that category. It might be that we never matched the 16-ounce Pabst consumption of Franklin Institute, but we had loftier goals. During the Valanni friendly, we went through at least two cases of beer and that was an accomplishment since it was damn chilly by the end and, since it was an afternoon game, there was no option for peeing in the postgame darkness.
The details of the game are a bit hazy. Our highlight, without question, was a triple over the left fielder's head by Ron Goldwyn, who immediately announced his retirement. We should all go out with such a hit, although I think he'll rethink it over the winter.
Next up for us, according to general manager Chris Brennan is the fabulous 3rd annual Pen & Pencil Softball Party! It will be held at the refurbished club and, according to Chris now, it looks like a lobster and tenderloin night, considering our dramatic improvement this season. I said we'd be happy with a less sumptious spread, but he's insisting. Who are we to argue?
The date for the P&PSP is still being determined. Chris has been in contact with the Maine Lobstermen's Association to see when the best catch will be available.
Stay tuned for more information and make sure to get yourself a bib.