What a Difference a Day Makes..

It's a cliche, I know, but its true. We were expecting less pleasant weather for Tuesday's game, but not this much less. When I pulled into the parking lot on City Island, a misty rain was falling and it wasn't cool, it was cold. In perspective, Monday's game time temp. was 81 degrees. Game time temp on Tuesday was 51 degrees. That's 30 degrees lower for the non-math majors. Combined with the mist, it was ugly, totally unlike Monday. That's why my trunk is always full of jackets, sweatshirts, extra shirts, socks, gloves, etc... I'm more prepared now than I ever was as a Boy Scout. The field had gotten a big drink Sunday night with the storm that moved through, so even with the nice weather on Monday, the rain during the day on Tuesday made things a little moist, so pre-game was pretty much keeping things dry. Surprisingly, we started on time, with no incidents. We huddled into the cubby for what we anticipated would be a long evening. Turns out, we were right. The game plodded along at a snail's pace with not much excitement, until about the 6th inning, when manager Stearns took exception with a 3rd strike call on a check swing to Freddie Bynum. From our vantage point in the cubby, we can probably tell as well as anyone in the ballpark if a batter goes around or checks his swing. Stearnsy had a legitimate point, saying that the home plate umpire couldn't see it from his end. He should have asked for help, but didn't, which, with a runner on third and a 3-1 game, was a killer. He had a right to be upset. Unfortunately he got a little carried away, and got tossed. He continued on and got a little personal, and with not many people in the park, you could hear everything that was said. He finally made his way off the field and the game continued on, with the mist and wind picking up a little, making the evening even more enjoyable. In the bottom of the 9th, the Senators mounted a little rally, and tied the score at 3, with the winning run stranded at 3rd base. In the 10th, Zech Zinicola, the Sens most reliable closer, pitched pretty well, but threw a few bad pitches that Erie jumped on and plated 3 runs to make it 6-3. Luke Montz made a nifty save on a throw to the plate that actually saved a run, and looked like it would get them out of the inning, but the Seawolves cashed in, getting the clutch hits. The Sens went quietly in the bottom of the 10th, so it was time to clean up the mess. The mound and plate, once we cleaned up the chunks and debris, were generally in pretty good shape. I don't know why for sure, but on rainy nights there seems to be less damage than on dry nights. My theory is that the clay that we use in the batters' boxes and on the mounds just doesn't dry up and break apart, it stays wet and just packs down. There are the usual holes in the foot plant areas, but nothing near what they are on dry nights. So once we got done, it was back on with the tarp. Yay... Maybe, just maybe, we'll get through a homestand with no tarp pull. Looks like more rain tomorrow, really looking forward to that. Until then, later...