BEIJING — On the opening day of the Olympic softball tournament, they didn't raise a championship flag or hand out rings to defending champions, but a team that is essentially a softball version of the 1927 Yankees Too bad for–the ponytail, of course. You may recall the last time the softball team gathered under the big Olympic top in Athens, the Americans not only won this tournament, they destroyed it, stripped it down, and left it smoldering. The wreckage was left on the side of the road.
Replacing a third of their 15-man roster and pledging to the heavens that parity is growing in women's softball, they defeated Venezuela, the Washington Nationals' equivalent, in their opening game Tuesday by 11. I dismissed it with -0 mercy. -Determined a five-inning rout that included record runs, a combined no-hitter from Jenny Finch and Monica Abbott, and a record-tying three home runs.
Perhaps Venezuela will trade for oil and make a run?
In any case, the most memorable home run of this overly predictable onslaught was the Babe Ruth of softball, America's most feared hitter (though the image of the 1927 Yankees is still fresh in everyone's memory). Hit by Crystal Bastos. game. If the Venezuelan outfielder had played deeper at Fengdai Softball Field, he would have had to purchase bleachers. The home run wasn't that far — Bastos hit a rainbow at Baylor on the 2004 pre-Olympic trip, but she vowed she's still looking — but it was raked, more than 12 feet off the ground. It never went up. She heard a clatter from the railing protecting the front row seats in the center left. When asked how long it took her to leave the stadium, Bastos shot back: “I don't know. Please tell me. I didn't see it.”
Her home runs are sometimes measured with a tape measure and sometimes with a stopwatch.
On a team that seems to be dominated by blondes in the lineup, the dark-skinned 5-foot-8 Bastos cuts a Falstaffian persona, with a rare ability to convey gruffness and sensitivity, menace and empathy at the same time. He is 30 years old. The designated player is the Mother Bear of USA Softball, making sure everyone is happy and everything is in order. Bustos does what he can, including appearing large in the middle of the bus line and helping the bus driver load his luggage.
“Words can't express how much I feel for her,” said Finch, her roommate on the move. (Finch's roommate at home, minor league pitcher Casey Daigle, was in bed with his 2-year-old son, Ace, in Rochester, New York, watching the game, which started just after 12:30 a.m. ET. ) And although she is tough on the field, her heart is so soft and big, she will take a bullet for you. ”
“She's a one-of-a-kind player,” shortstop Natasha Watley said. He is an Ichiro-type slap hitter and even hit a two-run homer to center field on Tuesday. She said: “She believes that she is strict and very intimidating, but she always takes care of you.''
Bustos cares for everyone, including children whose parents are fighting to pay sports-related fees. She put her money where her mouth is, saying things like she thinks right off the bat after her incredible performance in Athens, where she set Olympic records with five home runs, 10 RBIs, and a .923 batting average. I'm putting in a lot of money. Slugging percentage. Based in Cincinnati and Los Angeles, she is from Canyon Country in Los Angeles County and helps pay for young softball players. She hopes to extend that to soccer next year, too. “We go get sponsors,” she said. “This is an expensive sport, so we want kids to get involved.”
Bastos' philanthropy is inspired by her own childhood. She grew up in a working class family, and her two brothers and one sister were all involved in athletics. She had one of her bats all her childhood. It was an aluminum model from Easton that she took to her community college in Palm Beach, but had to get rid of because the paint was gone. “I see kids changing their gloves so often now and I'm thinking, 'Gloves last a long time,'” she said. “We took my glove and sewed it up. You get attached to something. You don't want to see it go.
“I [helping children because of] A lot of the coaching I received.I had an uncle [her great-uncle, the late Jesse Rios] He drove 45 minutes a day to come to work with me. I basically had a travel ball coach pick me up, take me to tournaments, and pay for it. At the time, the fee to play was $250 a year. Giving your brother soccer and your sister softball can be a little expensive. ”
So now Bastos is off the field, back on the field, back, back. A combination like this softball team is second to none.
