Call to the Bullpen

Well it's Thursday, and the last game of the 7 game home stand. I was supposed to have the night off to go have a few adult beverages at our favorite watering hole, Arooga's. And as a bonus, it was a free glass night, with our new favorite beer, Leinenkugel's. (The Summer Shandy rocks!) It didn't quite work out that way. I got a call earlier in the day from Knute, saying Doug, who was scheduled to work, hurt his knee and was unavailable. Could I make it in? I was really looking forward to a night off after 3 late nights in a row and the threat of rain again. But, Semper Fi, so I made the trip to City Island. It was dry as I left the office parking lot, but did not look at all promising. As I headed down Front St., the roads were wet like it had been raining but had stopped. However, I couldn't help but think the skies could open up at any second, and I would get very,very wet. When I arrived, Izzy was just coming in also, and he said"What the heck are you doing here?" I explained I was here due to Doug's injury and we both lamented the fact that it was going to be a long evening and we were destined to get wet. Frank was already there and was bringing back the hitting cage as we turned the corner. We unloaded it and headed up the field to get going. We dove right in and got things ready quickly. I t was a good thing, too, because as soon as we were finished it started. The tarp was still rolled out, so we quickly put it on and covered the bullpens as a light, but steady rain started to fall. We've had nights that it was lot worse, so we figured maybe we'd just wait it out. Then the radar watch began, and the debating about whether to wait it out or postpone the game. We'd already lost a game with Erie earlier in the season, with a double-header scheduled for late June. I'm sure the management wheels were already turning trying to figure out how we could get this one in to avoid another double-header. I didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon, so we headed back to our cubby to stay dry, check some TV and shoot the bull. As the time passed, we made regular visits to the other dugout to check on the weather status. Things didn't improve much, and finally around 8:40 they called it. We put the sandbags on the tarp and tied up some loose ends and that was that. What a way to end a home stand. It certainly has been an unusual year for weather, with all the rain delays and rain outs. I can only remember 1 year that was close to this one, 1997, I think. I trained most of the month of May, and was not real nice for the rest of the summer. But I guess 2 out of 14 isn't too bad an average. Other than that, not too much too report, except for an outstanding Spot Dog. I had my usual 'Grounder' but on a pretzel roll this time. I've gotten to know the people at the Spot stand pretty well and they agreed to make me a "special", since there weren't any long lines. Most excellent. Next home stand starts Monday, a pretty quick turnaround. But its the weekend and that will give me some time to get a little extra sleep and get some things done around the house. Maybe the boys will win a few down in Bowie. I"ll check in again after Monday's game. Later...