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Your Dream Vacation — Softball?

Bobby Orallo shows off his intimidating batting stance.

By Ethen Lieser

My friend, take a look at what has happened to you this past week. Your boss has been all over you, making your life absolutely miserable. Your dog just peed all over your new leather couch. You found out that your visiting parents will stay at your place for a whole week. Your girlfriend just left you for another guy, someone with even more back hair than you.

You scream: “Why, why is this happening to me?”

Calm down. Calm down. Don’t worry. I have the perfect antidote for you. Ready? Imagine scampering like a Golden Retriever in a vast, grassy landscape with the warm sun splashing on your face.

Relaxing, eh?

How about using a bat to hit something with all your might, and not even get in trouble. What about scooping dirt into your boss’s jockstrap, and the best part is — he can’t do nuttin’ about it. Sound like a dream?

Well, my friend, all you need to hear is this one little word: Softball.

And you don’t even have to drive that far. It takes place right here, in San Francisco. And don’t worry about the paper work, the San Francisco Park and Recreation department handles all that. So wherever you see a green patch of grass with a dirt area that’s shaped like a pizza slice, it’s a place bound for this therapeutic activity. Hey, it’s cheaper than going to a shrink.

If you really want to see what all the fuss is about, go to James Lang playground on Wednesday nights, and you will see them — the players — as happy as rubber duckies paddling in a bathtub. There’s even two pizza slices at this playground.

“It gets us out of work,” says Him Wong, 30, the manager of a telecommunications/software company called Genesys. “A lot of the people here work till 9 and 10 o’clock, so for them to make it for the game, they have to leave a bit early. I think it’s a nice break for them.”

Hoang Le and Him Wong warm up before the game.

That’s right, my friend, just like he said — it’s a nice break. So why don’t you go up to your attic and dig out your old spikes that you haven’t worn since high school. Remember? You were the “Birdman” back then — the male athlete of the year — but that was in 1980, before you started shopping for pants in the Big & Tall section.

Are you afraid of embarrassing yourself? Are you worried that you’re not in tip-top shape? Forget all that! Nobody cares if you can even bend over to catch a ground ball. Look, this team doesn’t even know what their name is.

“Hey, what’s our team name?” Wong asks his teammate and co-worker Hoang Le.

“I don’t know … do we even have one?” Le replies.

“I don’t know either,” Wong says. “I guess we can just call ourselves … Genesys.”

Did you hear that, my friend? They don’t know what their team name is. So go on up there and get your spikes. And while you’re up there, get your old mitt, too. We’re off to the ballpark!

The guy with the shaved head is Bobby Orallo, a 27-year-old school bus driver. He plays shortstop on the team called Madness. Man, he can hit that ball hard. I mean real hard. And he’s got a howitzer of an arm out there at shortstop, making all those suave plays.

“I heard from a friend that there was a league starting on weekends, so I told her, if you need a player, I can play,” Orallo says. “I’m just out here to have fun. It’s a pastime, you know, it’s softball.”

My friend, if that doesn’t hit the nail on the head, I don’t know what will. These guys aren’t out here to show each other up. They’re just here to have some fun, you know, good ol’ fashioned, roll-in-the-dirt fun.

For instance, take a look at Wong over there. He gets to meet so many new people that work in his company. Remember that girl you like in accounting? Well, what a perfect way to meet her!

“I’m new to the company, so it’s a good way to meet new people,” Wong says. “It’s all about getting to meet people. So when you go to work, you see the same people, so it develops a little camaraderie.”

My friend, listen to what Le has to say.

“I don’t think we do this so that we feel better in the mornings. But it’s a feeling that we should spend some time together off work so that we don’t have to think about work.”

So are you ready, my friend? Welcome to your new life.

For more information on how to join a softball team in the San Francisco area, call 415-753-7022 or log on to www.sfsoftball.com.

Photos by Ethen Lieser. Reach Ethen Lieser at elieser@asianweek.com.