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You're enablers, all of you. Just because we've recently become inexplicably obsessed with media softball games doesn't mean you have to encourage us. We were hoping, after all, that if we just ignored this new neurosis it would eventually go away. But instead a new email arrived to keep our obsessive fires burning.

We've already given you The New Yorker's take on its recent softball loss to Vanity Fair. Now, Rashomonianly, it's time for VF's perspective. Unlike the The New Yorker's tale, VF's does not quote Henry V. More surprisingly, however, it also does not give us any inkling of what this means for Gayfryd Steinberg.

The VF email is after the jump, and while we're at it, we might as well mention: BusinessWeek takes on Fast Company in Central Park at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. We're hoping for at least three different accounts of that grudge match.

Earlier:
 'New Yorker' Suffers Crushing Softball Loss to 'VF'
Today's Game: 'New Yorker' vs. 'Vanity Fair'

Last night, on Central Park's electromagnetically funky field 11, the Vanity Fair softball team served yet another heaping helping of humble pie to their elevator-bank rivals at The New Yorker. The score was 7-3.

Ladies and gentlemen, V.F. is now a .500 ballteam.

The game got off to a slow start, with both teams going scoreless in the first. The New Yorker put up the first crooked numbers in the second, on a hot shot to short right field, an overthrow to third, and a big two-run base hit. That made it 2-0 bad guys, which is where the score stayed for two more innings, as both offenses struggled against diabolically stingy pitching. On our side, said pitching came courtesy of co-aces Chris "Hillbilly" Hickman and Matt "Permanent" Pressman.

Joel "Kamikaze" Katz and David "Friendelman" Gendelman led off the fourth with consecutive outs (they'd make up for it later), but Mike "Maximum" Sacks came through with a single and was followed by Fred "Overdrive" Turner, who hussled out a squib grounder and reaped the reward when an overthrow landed him on second and Sacks on third. That brought up Justin "Future Man" Bishop, who, after a momentary consultation with Mike "Coach" Hogan, settled on a course of action. On a night when many batters looked at a half dozen or more unhittable lollipop lobs, Future Man bore down on the very first pitch and roped it into right field, where the New Yorker had stationed one of its less formidable defensive players. The upshot: three-run home run. Veefers lead 3-2.

It stayed there for quite a while, too, thanks in part to V.F.'s airtight D. Ben "Eddie Van" Kalin and Julian "Bulldog" Sancton were clutch in the infield, and both Lindsay "Bucky" Bucha and Sarah "Hurricane" Haynes faithfully absorbed the blows of a thousand errant pitches behind the plate.

The defensive highlight: another Future Man-Chris "Catfish" George combo. Future Man charged a short liner to center and hucked the ball to Catfish, catching the New Yorker's Field "Field" Maloney, who was running from first, in a pickle between second and third. Catfish chased him up the line, then tossed the ball to Overdrive at second, who laid down the tag as Field slid-fell on his leg. Overdrive's resulting condition would have warranted a visit from the team medic if we had a team medic.

V.F. broke the game open a few innings later. First, Kamikaze reached second on a bloop. Then Friendelman smashed a triple to right that knocked him in. Friendelman scored on a sacrifice grounder by Overdrive, and then Future Man came through with his second two-out home run of the night, a line drive to left that landed in another ZIP code, which made it 6-3 good guys.

Both teams scored one more run each: Coach drove Hillbilly in with a single to left, and some New Yorker guy with bright orange socks hit a solo home run to right field. By then it was really dark, and the only thing you could see was that guy's socks, the flourescent green night ball, and the glint of beer cans as we emptied the cooler and made our way to Tap a Keg.

Special thanks to Mary "Front Office" Flynn, Adam "Madman" Nadler, Jennifer "Turnifer" Turner, and player-spectator Rhoda "Fiery 1" Boone, who brought along a contingent of newly converted fans who shall remain nameless for their own protection.