backtobaseball

I had always interpreted the name of this planet in Larry Niven's Known Space as "We constructed it", but it recently occurred to me that it could also mean "We managed to arrive here."

Back in September when I received the inconclusive results showing two Lyme disease antibodies, I didn't give this question much thought. The new decisive results prompted me to track down more info.

I have been bitten by plenty of wood ticks, but I have never noticed any of the tinier deer ticks that are the primary North American vectors (then again, I hear they're easy to overlook). As is frequently the case, I did not develop the circular rash that is the classic early infection sign of Lyme disease. And although many of my recent ailments that I've reported are shared by others with Lyme disease, none are definitive because virtually all of the later stage symptoms have numerous alternative causes (which is why later stage Lyme disease is rarely identified by mainstream physicians).

All in all, there didn't seem to be much to go on in order to figure out where or when I got it.
( Read more )

My doctor had me take a blood test for a wide range of tick-borne diseases. The results arrived last week while I was out of town; when I returned home yesterday, there was an answering machine message from last Tuesday that the doctor wanted "to start me on something right away."

The test showed the presence of plasmid (but not genomic) DNA from Borrelia burgdorferi ("Bb"), the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, detected by PCR, then confirmed by Southern Blot. (The Bb plasmid fragments were only found in my whole blood sample, but not in my blood serum sample. Not sure what the significance of this might be.)

Tests for everything else -- Rickettsia, Babesiosis, and cat-scratch disease -- were negative.

Unfortunately, my doctor is away for two weeks of vacation. But he left instructions to put me on 3 weeks of doxycycline plus some supplements to bolster my liver and kidneys, since extended use of antiobitics can be toxic. I'm a bit unsure about what another round of doxy can accomplish, since I went through a course in September, and also took a course of azithromycin in August. I plan to ask about this as soon as he returns.

It turns out it wasn't taking as long to recover from jogging as it seemed in my "Progress report" a couple weeks ago. Instead, I had experienced a general phenomenon: heart rates while exercising are typically much higher later in the day than in the morning.

Until now, I had only been tracking how my heart rate varied as a function of speed:



After reading the article, I plotted the residuals (differences between actual heart rate vs. the linear model) against time of day:



For a given speed, my heart rate is about 15 beats per second faster later in the day than in the morning.

After controlling for both speed and time of day, my records for the past couple of weeks suggest that I'm recovering just fine from each workout.

To help me avoid things that might be inappropriately triggering my immune system and slowing down my recovery, my doctor had me take a food sensitivity test. Allergix IgG4 Food Antibodies 90 measures (blood) serum antibody levels to 90 food antigens. It showed that I have positive antibody levels (from highest to lowest) to:

Casein (the primary milk protein) >2000 ng/mL
Almond 678
Navy bean 417
Cashew 309
Pinto Bean 118
Mustard 43
Peanut 36
Carrot 12

The Navy Bean allergy is surprising, because I can't recall the last time I've eaten any. But I regularly eat everything else listed above.

I haven't had any notable reactions to any of these foods, although I've suspected some sort of milk sensitivity from even before my current illness, but figured it was just lactose intolerance (due to insufficiency of lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose).

In many cases, one can eliminate an allergic reaction by avoiding the food for a while (and then reintroducing it gradually). I've stopped eating all of these foods, and plan to take a food allergy test every couple of months to see how things develop.

It's especially hard to do without milk, but one bright spot is that in correspondence with their customer support, I found out that the entire line of Matt's Cookies is milk-free.

About 3 months ago I developed Student's Elbow. One more incidence of excessive inflammatory response that I've become susceptible to. But I couldn't think of anything that might have triggered it. I was pretty sure I hadn't bumped it, and I only noticed it when accidentally putting a little weight on it, but I never felt pain from any repetitive activity.

I solved the mystery while cleaning our aquaria this weekend. I remembered that during past cleanings, some cartilage around my left elbow would roll a bit while I poured five-gallon buckets of water. Although this rolling has never been painful, the minor irritation that hadn't given me trouble in past years this time gave rise to bursitis, swelling of the fluid sack that cushions the elbow.

For this cleaning, I switched hands and fortunately, nothing around my right elbow seemed to roll.

I went over new test results with my doctor this week.

My M. pneumoniae IgG has declined from 394 down to 293, which is good. There doesn't appear to be a definitive test to see if I'm still infected, but at least my immune system thinks it has this under control.

However, my thyroglobulin ab increased a bit, from 609 to 638. My immune system is still attacking my thyroid. My doctor prescribed
low dose naltrexone, which I began taking immediately. My doctor says it has worked for a little over half of his patients.

In the mean time, the thyroid extract seems to be doing its job. Free T3 & T4 increased, respectively, from 2.67 to 4.36 (pg/mL) and from 0.70 to 0.82 (ng/dL). TSH declined from 1.48 to 0.21 (mcIU/ml) which is abnormally low, but if I understand correctly, it's OK because it means my thyroid activity has declined (the correct response when T3 & T4 levels are high), so maybe it won't be attacked as severely by my immune system.

Adrenal system results were mixed. Testosterone and pregnenolone appear to be back to normal, but estradiol (female sex hormone) increased along with them and is now abnormally high. Serotonin fell, down to 25 from an already low 46 ng/mL. I'm sleeping well, so my doctor wonders if I'm converting a lot of it to melatonin. He prescribed 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), a serotonin precursor.

In addition to the new medications, he also recommended several more supplements based on an extensive allergy & nutrition test that I'll describe in a separate report. My daily pill count is now around 70. I drink nearly a half gallon of water each day just to get them all down!

The best news is that my doctor OK'd a return to exercise. I need to start slow and increase very cautiously. On Thursday morning, I jogged a mile in 12 minutes (average heart rate 119), then jogged a mile again 36 hours later and could feel that I had not recovered (12:25, heart rate 125). I'm waiting 48 hours before trying again. Back in June, I was running around 9:30 per mile at this heart rate, so I'm really out of shape.

Ultrasound scan of thyroid showed some heterogeneous density, consistent with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Everything else was negative, so no cancer, goiter, etc.

Due to illness, I was unable to return to action ...

July 7.  Warmed up for a baseball game, feeling great, best I've felt in years.  Walking back to the field after a trip to the port-a-potty, I started to feel tired.  Within seconds, my arms and legs felt like jelly.  I felt "flushed".  My joints, especially my knees, felt achy.  Rough estimate in loss of strength and speed -- about 25% (for example, instead of a 6.0 40 yard dash, closer to 7.5).  That night I had very mild chest congestion.  I occasionally coughed up clear phlegm (but I often do this when I'm healthy!).

Due to illness, I've gotten behind on this blog.  I hope to catch up in the near future, but for now, here's something I found amusing:

http://www.jamesphogan.com/bb/bulletin.php?id=1164

Eschewing suspense: On Saturday, I had the first "walkoff" baseball hit that I can remember.

Bottom of the 7th (in our league, the last inning), score tied at 7, two out, bases loaded.

First pitch, I took an inside fastball for a strike.

Second pitch, ball one.

Third pitch, mild curve inside. I ripped a ground ball down the line past the first baseman. "Foul ball!" ... So close! Maybe just an inch foul, but the right call.

I took two pitches, filling the count.

Then (heh, to build suspense), I fouled off two pitches. This is a skill I seem to have just picked up. In my "first baseball career" (through high school), I rarely hit foul balls.

One of the pitches was a high curve, but I wasn't going to let the umpire make the decision.

Eight pitch: fastball down the middle. I roped a liner straight up the middle. Their centerfielder made a diving attempt, but it got past him and we won the game.

Earlier in the game, I had been caught stealing, and also thrown out in a rundown after trying to score from first on a double. I was also very weak from a strange illness -- almost no other symptoms except mild chest congestion -- that began just before my previous game, and I failed to catch a couple of balls that I could have caught if I wasn't so sluggish.

It was my second 4 for 4 game of the season. My on base percentage now climbed to .721 (31 for 43). I'm back on the leaderboard (top 10) in every offensive category, leading the league in hits, runs, and stolen bases. And still tied for the lead league in homeruns ... with zero.

After four innings on Sunday, we were down 9-0.  Bob had pitched one scoreless inning in relief, but it was a good opportunity to experiment so RJ asked me if I wanted to pitch next.  

I'd had some opportunities to practice, including a session where I pitched 8 simulated at-bats against Gerry and his son Mitch, in which I only gave up one walk (but a lot of hits!).

While we batted in the top of the fifth, I threw some warmup pitches in the bullpen along the right field line.  I started with some fastballs, then tried a simple offspeed pitch Bob's son Mike had shown me a couple weeks ago.  It broke very nicely!

We scored a run in our at bat, so we were down 9-1 when I took the mound in the bottom of the 5th.

It was the first time in my life that I'd ever pitched in an organized baseball game!

Our catcher, Dave (? -- heh, I'm not absolutely sure that's his name), had batted in the top, so it took him a while to put on his gear.  I threw my first few warmup pitches to Nacho, who had caught me warming up.  The actual mound was quite a bit higher than the bullpen mound, so that took a bit of adjustment.

Once Dave was ready, I jogged down to the plate and let him know I threw only two pitches, a fastball and an offspeed pitch.  I then threw a few more warmup pitches.  My offspeed pitch didn't seem to break, and it didn't seem that different in speed.  I'll need more practice!

Our opponents were getting toward the bottom of their 13-man batting lineup.  Their 11th man stepped up to the plate.  Dave gave me a signal.  It kind of looked like two fingers but I wasn't sure.  I threw a fastball and the batter ripped a deep drive to right center.  RJ had replaced me in centerfield and gave it everything he had but couldn't get to it.  It went for a triple.  I belatedly remembered to back up the throw to third base.

The next batter ripped another drive to right center, which went for a double, scoring the runner from third.  This time I remembered to back up third.

Fortunately, I got the 13th man to pop out.

I was having a hard time reading Dave's signals.  He'd flash them very quickly, to avoid letting the other team see them, but frankly, I don't think the man on 2nd was going to steal our signals.

Now their leadoff hitter was up.  He'd hit the crap out of the ball twice against our starting pitcher.

My first three pitches to him were over the middle but high, although one of them seemed like it could have been called a strike.  My fourth pitch was low and inside.  But the batter was still standing there.  I guess the umpire did call the lowest pitch a strike.  But then I missed again and walked him.

I can't remember what I threw the next two batters, who had also hammered our starter, but I did try to throw the offspeed pitch.  Maybe that's how I got them to tap weakly into fielder's choices.

So a rocky start to my pitching debut, but not so bad all in all.

My ERA is a very "healthy" 7.00 (one earned run in one inning, 7 innings per complete game).

 In a French class in grad school, I mis-translated "Je me souviens" as "I remember myself" (not realizing that the complete verb was the reflexive "se souvenir").  Yes, my translation looked odd, but it did seem to me to express a certain feeling.

As I played on Sunday, I increasingly remembered my childhood self, the joy of each moment of playing baseball.  I had been wondering what would happen as the novelty and excitement (and moments of terror!) of returning to baseball faded, and I'm delighted to find out that it's being replaced with simple pleasure and recognition.

We were facing one of the top pitchers in the league, Clyde, a 63 year old lefty.  No velocity to speak of -- in fact, he seems to use lack of speed as an edge.  3 wins, no losses on the season, with one save and an ERA of 0.91.  (Last year he led the league with an ERA of 1.65.)

I stepped up to the plate to lead off the game, concerned about what tricky pitches he might slip by me.  I wound up battling him to a deep count, fouling off a 2-2 pitch, before doubling the ball past their left fielder.

Our next three hitters made decent contact, but left me stranded at second base.

Then Clyde's team batted.  Jay was pitching, and in his previous two starts he'd been very tough for our opponents to hit.  But their first few batters crushed the ball, into both gaps and over our left fielder's head.  By far the best team hitting I've seen this year.  ... I was told they don't usually hit this well.

By the second time I got to bat, we were down 6-0.  I battled Clyde again, fouling off a couple of 2 strike pitches, then flew out easily to the left fielder.

[More to follow in a separate post]

 It was over 90 degrees at the start of our game on Tuesday.  Out of curiosity, I wore my heart rate monitor.  For the 3+ hours from the time I started warming up through the end of my game, my average heart rate was 120 bpm.  If the relationship between calorie expenditure and heart rate from my fitness test is applicable under these conditions, then I burned around 2000 calories.  (I've tried searching the internet for information on how ambient temperature affects the relationship between heart rate and calories burned, but haven't found anything helpful.)

I led off the game with a slicing double down the left field line.  The left fielder was playing me to pull, so I was looking for a fastball on the outside half of the plate, got it, and hit it just about perfectly.  RJ walked and Jay hit a ball into the right-center gap, scoring both of us.  (Jay only reached first due to his strained hamstring.)

Scott, a friend from high school who's been teaching for 25+ years at the school where we played our baseball game, and his wife braved the heat to watch several innings of the game.  Soon after they arrived, I made a great catch on a sinking liner over our shortstop.  I also caught a pop up on the infield that our second baseman couldn't get to.

We held a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the 7th.  But our starting pitcher ran out of gas, walking three along with an error, putting the tying run on first with just one out.  RJ brought Jay in to pitch.  Another two walks and an error, and the score was tied with the bases loaded and two out.  But their last batter popped out to second, ending the game in a tie.  We couldn't play extra innings due to darkness ... but it was still 88 degrees.

While my double improved my slugging percentage for the season, I wound up the day reducing my on base percentage as, in my remaining at bats, I flew out to left field, walked and grounded sharply to second base.  

On the drive home, there was a car on fire a mile from my house.  Gerry and I saw the heavy smoke from a distance, then as we approached found the car engulfed in roaring flames, maybe 20 feet high.  I called 911 and the dispatcher (?) inbformed us that a fire truck and police squad car were on the way, and that it had been reported that all of the vehicle's occupants had safely exited.

 How many ways can you get to first base in senior league baseball?

I've come up with 9 so far.

I got to first in a different way in each of my five plate appearances today.

The starting pitcher for the other team was in his seventies!  He pitched in the minor leagues in the 1950s.  He still had decent velocity and great control.  One of my goals going into my first at bat was to avoid hitting it back at him.  But what do you know, I hit a sharp ground ball right back at him and it took a huge bounce of his foot directly to the second baseman.  

My second time up, I just managed to avoid him with a ground ball single up the middle.

For the day, I scored twice and stole one base.  I could have stolen more, but we were up 10-0 when I was on first in the 5th, and 10-2 when I was on first in the 7th, and we didn't want to show up the other team.

... Nine days to the next game.  Hoping my hamstring can fully recover.

 I've had a couple of opportunities to practice with one of my teammates, Gerry, and his son Mitch who just finished his freshman year in high school.  These have been very helpful for my hitting, because Mitch already throws in the low 70s, i.e., possibly faster than anyone in our senior league.

Gerry didn't play baseball growing up, but has been learning about the game as his son grows up.  He owns full catching gear so that his son can practice pitching with him.  But our manager, RJ, has been reluctant to put Gerry behind the plate, not just because of his inexperience, but also because Gerry is left-handed.  (It's pretty hard to find a left-handed catcher's mitt, but Gerry has one!)

For now, RJ has given Gerry a few innings at first base.

At one of our little practices, I showed Gerry how to come off the bag on throws up the line and tag the runner (instead of trying to keep a foot on the bag and not being able to catch the ball).  

In game one of the doubleheader, Gerry made this very play to end the first inning.  He was ecstatic, and came over to thank me.  A very gratifying moment.

Actually, for the most part I had a very good day on Tuesday.  I went four for four, including a double deep into the left-center gap my second time up.  (No telling if I could have turned it into a triple because Bob, the runner ahead of me, stopped at third so I just jogged into second) .  

But after I singled in the bottom of the 6th, I was thrown out trying to steal second.  We were nursing a one run lead, and I had already stolen two bases easily, so with two out and RJ (our manager), a singles hitter up to bat, it was important for me to get into scoring position.  However, with a new pitcher on the mound, I took a cautious lead and didn't get a great jump.  The catcher made a perfect throw and the second baseman tagged me on the arm before I got to the bag.  Lesson learned:  don't stack the odds too deep.

A bit earlier in the game, going into the top of the 6th, RJ had asked me if I could pitch.  Jay had thrown well in his first pitching appearance in the league -- we were leading 7 to 2 -- but had run out of gas.  Bob was our planned reliever, but he had strained his groin (not on my double, I think, but later in the game).  I declined since I have no experience.  We wound up going with our third baseman Tim, who (if I understood correctly) also had no pitching experience, despite having decent velocity and playing in the league since it began 20+ years ago.  Tim did a valiant job, but the umpire was calling a surprisingly small strike zone for senior baseball -- more like a major league zone, frequently calling balls on pitches above the waist (although in the first inning, he called a neck-high strike on me).  

We wound up losing the game 9-7.

So I am going to have to learn how to pitch.  I've always wanted to try it, but I want to be prepared when I do.

Anyway, I'm now on the league's leader board in every offensive category -- batting average (seventh), slugging percentage (ninth), RBI (tied for fifth), HR (heh, still tied for first with zero),  hits (second behind Jay), runs and stolen bases (tied for first).  ... And, for you Moneyball fans, I've gotten on base fifteen times out of twenty plate appearances.

Going to have to catch up on reporting last week's doubleheader later on.

Today we played the team our manager, RJ,  played on last year.  He really wanted to win.  We started our "ace", Randy, who is called on to pitch the big games for any age group (28+, 38+ & 48+).  He struck out the side in the top of the first.

In the bottom of the first, I led off with a walk.  Yet another lefty, and as it turned out, the best one yet.  But he was a bit tight and wild in the first inning. I stole second on the first pitch to RJ.  I think the ball hit one of my shoes as I got to second base.  The shortstop said "I didn't think you were going."  And in fact, I had forgotten I was going to steal until the ball left the pitcher's hand, but I went anyway.

RJ then singled, and I scored on a sacrifice fly by our next batter.  1-0.  Their lefty  struck out our cleanup hitter, but then walked two and gave up a single, so we scored 2 more.

In the top of the 3rd, our infield defense fell apart and we gave up 5 unearned runs on three errors.

In the bottom of the 3rd, I grounded out to first base (I almost beat it out anyway), but then got to pinch run when our third hitter doubled (we can designate two batters to receive  courtesy runners).  I scored one of our four runs as we retook the lead 7-5.

In the bottom of the fourth, I hit a grounder through the first baseman to drive in a run, then stole second, took third when the throw sailed into the outfield, and scored on a wild pitch.  As it turned out, we needed that 9th run to win the game.

In the top of the sixth, our infield defense fell apart again.  The score was 9-8 with the bases loaded and one out.  The 5th batter in their lineup hit a liner between me and our left fielder, but I caught it and then threw out the runner on third when he tagged up and tried to score the tying run.

We played a doubleheader today, the only one on our schedule.

I'll try to report on the events in a series of installments.

Thanks in very large part to the fact that we've played 4 games while some other teams have only played one, I am currently tied for 2nd in the league in hits, runs and stolen bases, and tied for third in RBIs.

 On Wednesday I played in my first night baseball game ever.  Unfortunately, the field where we played was fairly low quality, so it was difficult to see that well, especially in the outfield.

My hamstrings were a bit tight (from playing a softball doubleheader on Sunday after the baseball opener), so I started the game as a designated hitter (DH), batting 8th out of 14 spots in the lineup (and 16 batters in all; I'll explain some other time!).

We were down 3-1 going into the bottom of the 3rd when I headed for the batter's box.  I again forgot my batting helmet, but again, fortunately, someone noticed.  With a 1-1 count, I was looking for a low outside fastball, and either these pitchers are very predictable and accurate, or I've been getting lucky, because once again i got the pitch I was looking for.  I hit a soft liner into left field for a single.

Tim, our next batter, smashed the first pitch over the left fielder's head.  I had to focus on jogging smoothly rather than sprinting, but I still scored easily.  My first run scored!  Tim made it to second on his reconstructed knee.  He's been playing in the league since it began (but not all of it in the 48+ division).  Tim's pinch runner eventually scored to tie the game.

I then played a couple of innings in center field.  Fortunately, nothing was hit to me because I'm not sure I would have seen it.  Later in the game, another of our centerfielders made what looked like a routine catch on a high fly, but I knew it had been a challenge.

In the bottom of the 6th, I batted with one on and no out.  We were down 5-4.  I hit a fly ball to right which was caught.  Worse than that, our runner kept going for another couple of steps and was thrown out returning to first.

That wound up being the final score.  We were quite lucky to get that many runs, having left only one man on base.  The team on base percentage was .231.  Despite that, once again we could have won with better defense.

... Doubleheader tomorrow (Sunday)!