Last night, incredible events transpired for the SF team. It was the night of our second softball game of the summer, and for the first time in a year and a half, the SF softball trophy changed hands! Until yesterday, it has been triumphantly perched above the office of David Thimm, long-time captain of the winning team of SF softball and the studio’s VP/Principal and Director of Design. Now the trophy has a new home in the studio. At last night’s game, the doom of the Thimm dynasty was sealed in the space of a single inning.
SF summer softball games are a three-year-old tradition. Held at Maple Glenn Park’s Dodger Field, they are a great time of family fun and food. SF team members come with their spouses and kids to play in the game or watch from the dugout, eating delicious food. Husbands and wives trade off children and gloves between innings, and on the field, parents wave to their kiddies when things are quiet in the outfield. At the studio, friendly razzing between rival teams comes to a peak on game day, and just like our designs, we have refined our heckling to an art. On the diamond, our teasing is outweighed only by our shared laughter and encouragement of each other.
Continuing the tradition from last game, SF Senior Product Designer, Matt Korich was captain of Team Carl, and David Thimm was captain for Team SFMC. SF Design Engineer, Will Koederitz pitched for Team Carl, and SF President, Curt Bailey pitched for SFMC. All was as usual at another SF softball game. But dramatic events were about to unfold.
In the first inning, Team Carl immediately pulled ahead. With a comfortable lead established, the team was relaxed, but Team SFMC put them back on their toes. Several good runs in the next five innings put Team SFMC back on top with a score of 12-7. Meanwhile, Team Carl struggled to close the gap in the score. They had two outs already at the bottom of the seventh, and it looked like Team SFMC would continue to dominate. But in a crazy reversal, team Carl got a 10 run streak on two outs! By their third out, the tides were changed. Team SFMC fought valiantly, but they couldn’t recover. Team Carl vanquished with an end score of 22–17.
There was mixed rejoicing and gnashing of teeth when David brought out the trophy to hand it off to Matt, but regardless of which team we found ourselves on, in the end there were high-fives all around. The evening was perfectly bookended with an impromptu visit to a local ice cream stand, compliments of Curt, and everyone took a load off, enjoying some of Michigan’s finest dairy together. It was the perfect way to end this year’s softball saga, and another great night of SF team bonding for everyone!