What is the point of recreational league softball, if not to have fun?
Anyone who has played on a perennially underdog softball team will relate to Sometimes Orange Is Almost Gold, a new book chronicling the good-natured, if forlorn, 27-year history of the BOPARC men’s league softball team Chico’s Bail Bonds.
Formed in 1997, the team is named not for its longtime sponsor, 123 Pleasant Street, but for the sponsor of the ragtag team in the 1976 film The Bad News Bears—a reference that maybe foresaw, or maybe predetermined the orange-clad Morgantown team’s trajectory.
More a social club of drinking buddies than a competitive squad, the Bonders, its teams a mix of long-timers and players who came and went over the years, have racked up a 161–450 record through the 2025 season. The upside is, they pretty definitely had more fun than anyone else on the diamond.
What made this book possible—and makes it a fun read—are the self-deprecating post-game summaries players have written from the beginning. Early entries set the part-lampoon, part–trash-talk tone:
1998: 10–12 record
July 8—Chico’s vs Classics
Buenos dias, Chico’s! A hungover team gets clobbered (14–30) by a bunch of hicks. Giuliani skipped mass for this? (Written by pitcher Dave Foreman)
2000: 9–11 record
July 21—Chico’s vs Shady Lane
An eclectic group of Chico’s players gathers late for the 7 p.m. game against the best team in the league. At a time when game faces and oiled gloves are vital for a good showing, the boys stumble and find ways to refuse the big opportunity. Orangemen creatively lose 3–13 at the plate and in the grass, topping off the effort with a Sputnik-like orbital thrown from Foreman’s hand in the general direction of New England. (Written by Foreman)
2002: 3–16 record
August 8—Chico’s vs The Derby
Chico’s loses 17–22. August spends its gold like a dying Caesar as a modest win streak comes to a mortifying end. A third baseman to be named later sets a record for errors in a single game inning, and yes, even a single play. Game halted in 6th inning as the umpires call for a group hug to console the bloodied gloveman. Short on reserves, there is nothing to be done. (Written by first baseman Greg Leatherman)
Sometimes Orange is Almost Gold was put together by shortstop Jim Antonini, who wrote most of the game summaries starting in 2009. You may know Antonini’s work from one of his previous books—most recently, 2024’s The Hot Dog Diaries, a collection of stories from the beloved Greenmont neighborhood bar Gene’s Beer Garden, co-written with bar owner Al Bonner.
Beyond the tongue-in-cheek summaries of every game except for the lost 2003–2006 season write-ups, the book is chock full of photos, player bios, and statistics as well as a record of team culture: bands the players played in, fan art, fashion on the ballfield, and of course, beer.
Sometimes Orange is Almost Gold is available on Antonini’s website.
And if the book inspires you to step up to the plate, sign-ups for BOPARC softball usually take place in March.
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