Let's play two...

Well, after 2 nights off, we finally got back on the field. And for the first time in team history, we started at 10:30 am and it was a double-header. We had quite a crew for a day game, Alan,Izzy, Doug, and myself, the part-timers, along with Newt and Ben, Newt's daytime assistant. We all arrived at around 8:30 am to get things in shape after all of the rain the past 2 days. We were quite fortunate that we didn't play last night, as the damge to the field was almost nil. I don't think the upper brass really has any insight into why we don't like to just "get a game in" on a rainy day. The damage to the field is, most times, substantial. It ends up costing the organization a lot more money in material and man hours to get things back in proper playing condition. If it happens more than 1 or 2 nights in a row, sometimes the damage can never be corrected and could create risky conditions for the players. In the end, it really isn't worth it. Today's pregame prep was as smooth as silk. The weather, although decent at gametime, was a bit cooler than the weekend and as the day went along, we had to deal with some intermittment rain showers, nothing heavy enough to stop the game. We were all shoe-horned into the 3rd base cubby and the topics of conversation varied widely and most were inappropriate enough to be left out of this post. We did resurrect yesterday's catch-phrase as we had several 'windows' of decent weather today.
I'd also like to comment on something I has been remiss in the lasst few games. That is: Spot dog's! The Spot stand was our favorite food stop at the park last year. Andthis year, we've picked up right were we left off. My personal favorite is the Grrrounder. A Grrrounder is a jumbo dog with spicy mustard, pepperjack cheese, grilled onions and Spot chili sauce. We also top ours off with some jalapenos from the condiment stand. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I had my first one the other night. Deee-licious. I believe it is the best food item at Metro Bank Park, without exception.
Our boys did not fare well again today.They were in both games until the end, but just keep making some fundamental mistakes and jsut can't get any clutch hits. A couple of the guys did break out a little today, with Bill Rhinehart getting a couple of hits including a towering home run too dead center field. Matt Whitney also got at least 1 hit that I can remember, so hopefully they all can start to break out a little and maybe pick up a few wins.
Work on the boardwalk continued throughout the game and is moving along nicely. I think I heard it may be open by Mid-May. Judging by the visible progress, I say that might be right.
Other than that, we'l be out for the next seven days, so I'll check in every few days until the next homestand starts on May 1. Later.

2nd verse, same as the first...

Once again, it was a rainout on City Island. After what seemed like a promising afternoon, the skies opened up putting Tuesday evening's game on hold. The only difference today was that we actually made to the ballpark. It was the first appearance of the season for the old rainsuit, probably not the last. It was a good turnout for the crew, though, withmyself, Alan, Doug, Izzy, Ryan, and Frank. It was Frank's first appearance this year for a game. He'd been tied up with long hours at work and has been a little under the weather lately. It was good to have the whole gang there together, even in the rain. We passed the time until a decision was made about the game, by continuously analyzing the radar and generally busting each others balls. When the actual gametime came and went, we, naturally, switched on the Pens-Flyers game and busted each others balls about that ,too. We did have a good time with one of Akron's bullpen guys who joined us in the weather analysis. We got into to an extended discussion about weather "windows", and that became the catch phrase for the evening. We had some musical entertainment in the form of the Middletown High School marching band. They had come to play the National Anthem, but ended up playing stand music and watching it rain. They finally called the game around 7:30, and we cleared out shortly thereafter. We're playing a double-header tomorrow with a 10:30 start. That should be interesting. i have the day off from work, sodoes Alan, Doug and Izzy, so we should be well staffed. Hopefully we can get both games in before the forecasted afternoon showers. Other than that, nothing else new or interesting. More tomorrow.

rained out...

Didn't get the game in tonight, too much rain. So to keep the crew bond tight, we all headed to Arooga's out on 22 to eat, drink and hang. The crowd consisted of myself and my wife Leslie, Alan and his girlfriend Sara, my other son Mike, my nephew Dan, Doug, and Newt and his girlfriend Ashleigh. We ate, drank, and generally had a good time, catching up on all of the other stuff we don't get time to talk about when we're at the ballpark.We watched a little hockey, of course, watching the Caps finally beat the Rangers. Other than that, we headed for home relatively early, compared to the last few nights, and looked ahead to tomorrow night's game, which may or may not take place. Sounds like we may be in for some more more rain, which might mean a double-header on Wednesday. Wednesday's game starts at 10:30 am, something new this year. I think its to cater to the school kids who usually come to these early-season day games. We'll see how it works out. A double-header should be over about 2:30 or 3 :00 so that would make a nice early day for us.
I'll check back in tomorrow
'

The view from the cubby, games 3 & 4

I didn't get to post on Saturday night or Sunday morning, due to a late return home on Sat. night and a quick turnaround for Sunday's game, so I'll do double-duty tonight. Saturday night was a gorgeous night for basebal, the best so far. Mid 70's and sunny, certainly not the norm on City Island this time of year. Another enthusiastic and sizeable crowd was on hand, a bit over 4500 I think I heard, also not the norm this time of year. I've always viewed Senators crowds a bit cynically. We've always had the faithfull core of about 800-1500 fans who are always there, but maybe the buzz about the new ballpark and some more energetic marketing by the staff is paying off. The great weather didn't hurt either. The weather is about to take a turn for the worse and of course the beginning of a new week. Monday nights, even in the summer after school has let out, are traditionally deadsville. The only thing good about Monday games, in my experience, are that they are usually pretty speedy affairs. I haven't seen any 1 hr.,59 min. games in quite awhile, but anything under 2 and a half hours is fast. We can't seem to play one in less than 3 hours anymore. With the new 7:00 pm start times, it makes for some late nights and some groggy mornings at work the next day. A couple of those in a row will do me in pretty quickly. Add in some extra inning games or a rain delay and I'll be toast. Saturday night's game was a good example. A 3 hour plus marathon, plus post-game activities,(Launch-a-ball and kids' base-race, plus some sort of student debate thing) gave us an 11:20 exit and about an 11;45 home arrival. Of course, I'm all wound up after all of the activity and wide awake. I usually crawl into bed about 12:30 or 1. Sleeping in is an option on weekends, but not during the week. I did manage to make it to church with my wife this morning. I did manage to get to the back parking lot today. It was great not to have to hike in from the main lot. Saturday and Sunday"s game ended with the same result, with the Sens on the losing end. They made a good showing both days, hit couple of home runsSat. night, (which means we got to shoot off some fireworks!!!!) but they made a lot of fundamental mistakes that cost them both games. Hopefully they"ll work out the kinks and get on the winning track. In past years, I've seen some good starts go south (last year) and some rough starts turn out pretty well(1996). I think all it takes is to plug the right guys in the right spots, with some steady guidance. I think they've got good guidance. John Stearns is the right guy for this team. Not sure about Randy Tomlin or Troy Gingrich yet. Time will tell. I liked both guys as players, so I support them both. For now...
Nothing out of the ordinary happened on the field side the last 2 days. We were a little understaffed Sat. night, just 3 of us. Everything got done, but we had to hustle. I made my semi-annual appearance on the tractor on Sat. night after the game. That always seemed like the glamour job, but I gravitated to lining the field before the game and fixing the plate after. I've gotten pretty good at both, so I'm told. We've all been doing a little of everything due to all of the post-game activities. We had a full crew for Sunday's game. The weather wasn't quite as good as the past few days, but it was perfectly acceptable as April weather goes. It's going to take a turn for the worse the next few days with cooler temps andlots of rain. Couldn't make it through a homestand without a little moisture. And after the game, we got to do my favorite of all activites at the ballyard. Putting on the tarp. The rollout was particularly difficult this year, due to my off-season shoulder injury. I had ibuprofen for supper. It looks like a rainout for Monday, calling for a 90% chance of rain. Works for me, I'll take a night off, especially a Monday. Probably head for Arooga's after work. Maybe catch a little of the Stanley Cup playoffs. We did watch all of the Pens/Flyers games in the cubby Friday and today. Good Friday, bad today for us Pens fans. But the Bears won last night, so we'll probably head for the Giant Center Friday night for game 4. Other than that I'll probably check in on Tues. night or Wed. morning before I head in for the 10:30 am game. (got the day off)

the view from the cubby

Well, game # 2 is in the book. Things were pretty much back to the usual routine last night, with all the hoopla of opening night out of the way. I gotta say again, that hike in from the parking lot sucks. I'm going to see if I can talk my way in the back tonight. We did have one change in the routine, though. We(the grounds crew) now have charge of fire control. The new scoreboard is rigged with 6 bays of fireworks. They all work via remote control, which we keep in the cubby. They can be set off 1 bay at a time or all 6 at once.
I guess I should explain what I mean by the "cubby". The cubby is the smaller section on the end of each dugout. Traditionally, we used to hang out, during the game, in the 1st base cubby. We keep our rakes, drying agent, etc. in there in case of rain or other problems that might crop up during the game. We also store the screen drags we use at the end of the 5th inning to groom the field. Over the past few seasons, its become quite crowded with photographers, interns, you name it. So we made the decision to move to the 3rd base side. We got the place all to ourselves. Nobody really likes it over there due to the setting sun in the evening shining right in your eyes. Doesn't bother us, though. We have out tv in there to monitor the weather and we could watch the Pens/Flyers game last night. We're predominantly Pens fans, so we were happy with the outcome of last night's game. I wanted to shoot off all the fireworks when the Pens won, but got a quick thumbs-down on that. Damn it.
We never did get to shoot off any fireworks. No home runs for us, unfortunately. The game moved at a snail's pace last night. The Sens. pitcher was 1 of their top prospects, Ross Detweiler. he didn't have a good night, was lifted in the 3rd inning, losing 5-1. Jack Spradlin came on in relief, pitched well, as did the rest of the bullpen. The Sens made a late charge to come within 6-5, and Leonard Davis (I think) just missed a home run in the 8th inning with a guy aboard. With the old fence configuration, it would have been gone. It was hit right in the area where the fence angles back in right-center field. It used to be 375 feet in that area, but is closer to 400 now, and that ball hit off the fence. Oh well, progress...
The scoreboard functioned much better last night without the jittery look it had on opening night. Very impressive. Also impressive are the new on-field promotions. They're different than the same old stuff we've been seeing for the last 10 or so years, so it really is a breath of fresh air.
Can't remember if I mentioned in previous post, but the grounds crew should be fairly easy to "spot" this year. Our shirts and sweatshirts are bright orange. This is quite a departure form the navy blue, or black, or gray that we've had in past years. If you've been past the the"Spot" hot dog stand inside the ballpark this year, you'll notice their traditional orange Spot shirts. Ours are the same color.
Speaking of the Spot, it quickly became our favorite food stop. I personally found the food at the other stands, lacking. Compared to years past, the food quality is lower and the prices higher, although not rediculous. This year, though, I noticed that at the 1st base grill, where we have eaten a lot over the years, the prices took a huge spike. I'm sorry, but I'm not paying $8 for a cheeseburger or a chicken sandwich, at any ballpark. But that's just me. I will be eating Spot dogs or bringing my own.
As I said, the game really dragged last night, and to make matters worse, they did the launch-a-ball contest, and there were fireworks after the game. (so there you go Pens!!!!) I will go on record as not being a big fan of fireworks at the ballpark. At least when I'm working. Usually too much post-game clean-up, but last night there was almost none. Apparently, the fireworks guys set a few things on fire behind the fence, so that was a little exciting. We finally slogged through the rest of the post-game work, had our traditionasl post-game chat, and packed it in for the night. And made the long hike back out to the parking lot. Did I mention how much I hated that....
Back at it tonight for # 3

70 more to go...

Well, opening night # 14 (for me, anyway) is in the book. It was, uncharacteristically, sunny and warm. The field looked awesome, and as I stated in an earlier post, it won't look that good until next opening day. But we'll all do our best to keep it looking top-shelf. A large, very enthusiastic crowd was on hand, 4034 I think i heard announced, pretty good as opening nights go. We hardly ever sell out for opening night, as a matter of fact, I don't ever recall a sellout for an opener. I think its the combination of traditionally crappy weather and a Thursday night, a tough night for familes with school still in. The renovations are moving right along and I hear that the boardwalk might be open by mid-May. Towards the end of the game, the crew and I went out into the area that will be the new bullpen area. The view of the gaame there was great, and up on the boardwalk the views should be outstanding!. I think it will be a great place to hang out for the casual fan who like to socialize and for parents with small kids who want to come to a game, but have restless youngsters. The pregame ritual went off without a hitch, with crewmembers in attendance being: myself, Doug, Alan, Izzy, the new kid Ryan, and, of course, Newt. Frank was unable to attend, due to work committents, and he was missed. With all the work being done to the ballpark, we were unable to to park in out usual location, behind the outfield wall. So the hike in from the regular parking lot sucked. The walk back out after the game sucked even more. As usual it was the usual opening night chaos with all of the pomp and circumstance. Once the game got started, we settled in to the familiar routine. The new scoreboard is indeed impressive, although they have some issues with the display that are being worked on. It was a little jittery most of the time, but I heard they should be worked out by the end of the homestand.The boys played a good game, with Marvin Lowrance parking one in the new left field seats to open the scoring. I t went back and forth until the late innings, when the Sens with a 3-2 lead put Mike Daniel up to pinch hit. he deposited one over the right-center field wall to bump the lead to 4-2. I the bottom of the 8th we got a couple of guys aboard and Javi Herrera hit a 3-run jack to make it 7-2, and that was the final. Post game got off to its usual delay due to the Launch-a-ball game so we had to wait them out. By the time we got finished, it was pushing the 11th hour, so it would be late until I got home. Getting up in morning was a blast! well back at it friday night. it's supposed to be a lot warmer, should be a great night for a ball game.

almost opening night...

I'm sitting here going over my prep list for opening night. I give it far more thought than I used to in the first few seasons, but I've learned a few things the hard way in years' past. I've learned over the years to carefully watch the weather and be prepared for any contingency. The weather this year looks favorable, maybe a bit on the cool side, so nylon pants, my crew sweatshirt and jacket need be present. I always pack extra socks, shirts and at least 2 pairs of shoes, as well as rain shoes, and extra gloves. The older I get, the less tolerant i am of the cold (until I get used to it) and wet feet (I never get used to that). At the ballpark out favorite topic is usually the weather, and we watch the Weather Channel ad nauseum. Opening night is always exciting, but there is too much hoopla before the game. things are much better once things get under way. As in past years, the road hasn't been to kind to the team thus far. Hopefully they can salvage a win or 2 before Thursday. The other thing about opening night that I love and hate is seeing the field. Its pristine right now, but it will never look better than it does on opening night until next opening night. It's all downhill from here, much as Tim and Newt (and the rest of us part-timers to aa lesser extent) try. It will always look good throughout the year, due to their skill, just not as good as that first night. I can't remember if I mentioned my other cowoirkers in my first post, but they are Frank Raudensky and Doug Husted, as well as my son Alan, plus a few others that come and go. Frank used to be a the visiting clubhouse manager, but the hours got to be too long and came to the grounds crew a few years ago. Doug was an usher and gate attendant for a few years, left, and came back a few years ago also. He is retired, but works for Susquehanna Twp. taking care of their athletic fields from spring to fall. Frank is a licensed electrician. Alan is an H/R specialist. We all do this strictly part-time, but spend a lot of time on City Island for 6 or 7 months out of the year. I have the most seniority on the crew, but am younger than Frank and Doug. We're all over the age of 50, so we joke about being Tim's "senior crew". The other odd thing is we all hurt our left shoulder in the off-season (doing non-work related things) and Alan hurt his in college, so we all refer to each other as "Lefty". My other baseball related activity I'm working on is a template for the Senators' "H" logo that we can use on each side of the mound like some of the big league clubs do. Other than that, I'm just biding my time until Thursday evening when I step ontothe field for the 14th year. I'll check in again Friday morning.