Ex-Presidents fans are grumbling after their team has again opened the 2002 intramural coed softball season with three consecutive losses.

Expectations had been high for the team this season. Fans and players alike had hoped to win at least one game after the Ex-Presidents finished last year 0-7. The hot rumor after last week’s loss was that manager Bill Walsh’s job is not as safe as it once was. Whispers in the front office have mentioned Felipe Alou.

It’s unfortunate that the manager is always the one to suffer when it’s the players who haven’t performed. Slugging first baseman Dustin Maxam has been in a hitting funk all season, but did log a triple last week and looks to be getting back to old form. Third baseman John Liu is leading the team with five errors in three games. He looks to be shaping up, having committed only one error in the last game.

The one consistent part of the team has been the outfield. Left fielder Milton Wong has a slugging percentage of 1.100. Center fielder Dana Stribbling has a batting average just under .500, and utility outfielder John Harter has generated half of the team’s total runs this season.

Designated hitter Ryan Rodiguez is finally getting healthy from an ankle injury and should add needed power to the lineup. Right fielder Sarah Turner has opened up her stance and is pulling the ball with pop into right field. Catcher Bree Zimmerman has been working with Tony Gwynn off and on all week to fix her swing. Shortstop Ricky Lazzerini has cut three-tenths of a second off her throws to first. Middle infielder Tanya Orth is moving in the order so her .556 batting average will hit with runners on base, and second baseman Justin Goldman, just acquired last week from the Royals, will only get better as he adjusts to his new team.

The Ex-Presidents are getting better, but they are still the Milwaukee Brewers of UCSB coed softball. Maybe when you’re the Yankees, you’re justified in being upset when you lose. But a team that has lost 10 in a row shouldn’t be surprised if they lose their 11th game in a row. So come six o’clock this Wednesday at Storke Field, I’ll have a few drinks before the Ex-Presidents play and not feel so poor if they lose.