It's a celebration...

Tuesday night we were back at it after an off day Monday, kind of weird scheduling with a 6 game home stand split by an off day, but a nice break nonetheless. Tuesday night would be a special one. it was Tim Foreman's birthday, his 40th. We had been planning a little post game celebration for about week, so we were looking forward to this evening. Tim had no idea what was going down, so that made it even better. All the guys would be in for tonight, with Doug, Frank, Knute, and myself working the game, and Izzy, Alan, and the day guys sneaking in later to hang out, eat and drink after the game. It was a nice night for baseball on City Island, hot, hazy, and humid which is typical for August, but as you know, the weather has been anything but typical this year. We knocked out our pregame work, while chatting about how we were going to get things setup for the after-game festivities as we were watering the infield. As the game got under way, the Binghamton Mets, out opponent for this series, jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. The boys fought back and put up a 5 spot in the bottom of the 5th and took charge. They tacked on 2 more in the 7th and it finished 7-2. After the game, the party got started. Tim was still unaware of what was going on, I could even smell the turkey frying out back. He was making noises about taking off, so I had to spill the beans. Once we made it to the back, it was time to pull the turkey out of the fryer. I had turned the heat up too high initially, so the oil turned a little dark. When we pulled the bird out, the skin was black. It looked like we had actually fried one of the skunks we shot the other night. Actually, once we peeled back all the blackened skin, the meat underneath was tender, juicy and delicious. Frank had gotten some fresh sausage earlier in the day and had thrown it on the grill, so it was a nice post game feast for all of us. Tim had also accumulated 3 birthday cakes during the course of the evening, so there was plenty of cake as well. We all sat down and had something to eat and then it was time for the birthday toast. Tim poured out the cups of blackberry brandy and we all raised a glass to his 40 years. But it seems we would have a party crasher. Lo and behold, but who should show up, but one of the family of skunks. Knute ran for the pellet gun and the hunt was on. We followed that skunk around (at a safe distance, of course), but in all the time I was there were never quite able to track it down. It was getting late, so it was time to head out. Work in the AM, and another game Wednesday night. So until tomorrow, later..