In and Out...Part Deux

Monday's game was another one of those short stays for me on City Island. I had some family social obligations over the weekend, so I missed Saturday and Sunday's games. Just as well from what I read in the web news. However I was confident that the boys could snag a win before the Akron Aeros left town. When I arrived, I was confused at first. The sun was shining and there was no forecast for rain. In fact, this could be the first home stand in quite a while, that we could play and finish without a tarp pull. Not a huge accomplishment in any other season, but this hasn't been any other season, especially in the precipitation column. So pregame work was standard fare this evening, no extra Turface, standard watering of the infield, no tarps on standby, and the cubby buckets were for sitting on tonight, not ready with Turface. We settled into our seats in the cubby and the first topic of the evening was mound clay and techniques for keeping it in the mound and plate. Knute tried a new watering technique tonight, so we'll see if it works any better. The problem with the clay we use now is twofold: If its too wet, its soft and slippery. If its too dry, it breaks up and disintegrates. the pitchers like the mound on the harder side, which means it as to be drier. Trying to get a happy medium with this clay is difficult on a good day. The black clay we used to use was much better, but more expensive, so here we are.
After we finished that conversation, our next discussion was about food, specifically Spot Dogs. The Spot guys came up with a new dog last home stand called the Ollie. It has spicy mustard, barbecue sauce, pepper jack cheese, grilled onions, chili sauce, and ranch dressing.Very tasty. We then decided that we should come up with our own concoction. After much discussion, we came up with nothing. So I guess we"ll think on it on the off days and brainstorm some more when we come back. As for the game, the boys got off to a slow start and were down 2-0, and it was beginning to look like a sweep for Akron. But they chipped away and were up 3-2 after the 7th. In the bottom of the 8th, the wheels really came off for Akron. They made 3 errors and the Sens hit everything that was thrown at them. The final ended up 8-2 and it turned out to be the only win against Akron this year. Until the playoffs. (Playoffs! Whose talking about playoffs?!, But I digress) And it didn't rain. And we didn't have to put the tarp on. Good morning, good afternoon, and good night. Until next time, later.