There is an article on WEEI's site about Red Sox players and ping-pong: who are the best and worst. "Among the players listed in the elite tier were Holt, Kelly and Deven Marrero. Several said Betts and Chris Sale are the team's best with a ping-pong paddle, with Sale having the edge." However, the opinion on the worst player was unanimous: Eduardo Rodriguez, with Holt and Kelly saying he should just stop playing.
The bit about Rodriguez reminded me of days gone by, when I was stationed in southern Italy. My three roommates and I were serious contract bridge players and we, at times, had as many as eight people in our room playing bridge. Occasionally we'd go over to the Airman's Club and play ping-pong. One time there was this small Japanese-American dressed in Navy work clothes watching us and he asked if he could play the winner...in one of the extremely rare games that I won. He beat me handily and we got talking and found he liked to play bridge and chess, a game that I played well. Come on over to our room.
Anyway, he became a regular. One morning after I had just gotten in bed after finishing a midnight-shift and eating breakfast, he came by and said, "Let's go play some ping-pong."
We went over to the club and he pulled an old beat-up paddle out of his rear pocket and proceeded to ask:
"How many points do you want me to spot you?" I don't know. What do you think. "19"
"Do you want me to make each return to the right-hand or left-hand side of the table?" Forehand? Backhand? Right-hand! "It's your point if I don't make it to the right-hand side."
"Do you want me to make every return with my forehand or backhand?" Backhand! "Okay, it's your point if I fail to make the return with my backhand."
He beat me by two points.
Thus began a friendship. I was a better bridge player and had a very slight edge in chess...and lost and lost and lost at the ping-pong table. After about six months, he said, "It's about time for you to start taking lessons," and began building up a game that fit my abilities. I got nine points off him once (which was nine more than I got when he started my lessons) and felt like I won a gold medal. I never got to be a good player but people had to work to beat me.
Don finished second in the game in an Armed Forces European-wide tournament not long after.
The bit about Rodriguez reminded me of days gone by, when I was stationed in southern Italy. My three roommates and I were serious contract bridge players and we, at times, had as many as eight people in our room playing bridge. Occasionally we'd go over to the Airman's Club and play ping-pong. One time there was this small Japanese-American dressed in Navy work clothes watching us and he asked if he could play the winner...in one of the extremely rare games that I won. He beat me handily and we got talking and found he liked to play bridge and chess, a game that I played well. Come on over to our room.
Anyway, he became a regular. One morning after I had just gotten in bed after finishing a midnight-shift and eating breakfast, he came by and said, "Let's go play some ping-pong."
We went over to the club and he pulled an old beat-up paddle out of his rear pocket and proceeded to ask:
"How many points do you want me to spot you?" I don't know. What do you think. "19"
"Do you want me to make each return to the right-hand or left-hand side of the table?" Forehand? Backhand? Right-hand! "It's your point if I don't make it to the right-hand side."
"Do you want me to make every return with my forehand or backhand?" Backhand! "Okay, it's your point if I fail to make the return with my backhand."
He beat me by two points.
Thus began a friendship. I was a better bridge player and had a very slight edge in chess...and lost and lost and lost at the ping-pong table. After about six months, he said, "It's about time for you to start taking lessons," and began building up a game that fit my abilities. I got nine points off him once (which was nine more than I got when he started my lessons) and felt like I won a gold medal. I never got to be a good player but people had to work to beat me.
Don finished second in the game in an Armed Forces European-wide tournament not long after.
