The Home Stretch..

Monday Aug. 31st. 4 home dates with 5 games to go. Seems like last week we were just getting started. But I can tell that we're winding down. All the signs are there: gets dark sooner, need to put on the sweatshirt when the sun goes down, and the field is looking pretty beat. And everyone has the short-timer syndrome. You know, survival mode, just trying to make it to the end. For the full time guys on the staff, its a bunch of long days strung together, fighting the unbelievably crappy weather this year. I know how it wears on me, working all day, then being at the yard until late, then going home to catch a little sleep, then doing it all over again. It catches up with you after 5 and half months. When I arrived on City Island, things were pretty much as they always were, except it wasn't raining for a change. In fact, it was beautiful and the weather forecast for the rest of the week was the same. Quite a change. Don't know if we can deal with it. We'll make do. The crew for the evening: Frank, Izzy, Knute, and myself. As always, pregame was as smooth as silk. No delays, and right to the start of the game. it game 4 of a 4 game set with Connecticut, who had already clinched the Northern division and a playoff spot. The Sens won the first game, lost games 2 and 3, so were looking for a split. A playoff spot is still a possib ility. Things of note tonight: demolition has begun on the left field bleachers. I get to drive a brand new 2010 Ford Taurus chauffeuring a Ford exec to throw out a first pitch. Nice ride. And 1 more thing I'll get to in a second. The Sens jumped on it quickly, grabbing a 5 -1 lead by the end of the 5th. At drag time, the theme was stadium construction. Hard hats all around for the drag. Actually, Frank and I wore our old fireman's helmets. Odd but totally in character for us. After the drag, we had out traditional meal, a Spot Dog. The clock was ticking on the season and Spot Dogs as well, so we wanted to squeeze in as many as we could. After that we loaded up for post-game , then went back to hang out in the cubby. About the top of the 7th, Sarah Keel, 1 of the front office people popped her head into the cubby and asked if we would like to help out with a contest. Usually that's not our thing, but the contest they were about to do usually involved the interns. But since most of the interns had departed for the season, they needed some help for " are you smarter than a Senators intern" They would ask us a question and we would provide 3 answers and they would would have to decide which answer was correct. We were provided with the correct answer before hand, so we had to come up with 2 more plausible answers. The interns just came up with an answer, but we decided to punch it up a little and give an explanation why we thought our answer was correct. Tonight's question: "What state was the potato chip invented in?" Correct answer was New York, provided by me. Izzy said PA, since he read it was the snack food capital of the USA. I said New York, because the hot dog was introduced at ConeyIsland in NY, and the potato chip was the perfect side dish to the hot dog. Frank went with Idaho, because it is the potato growing capital of the USA. The contestant picked Idaho, was wrong and had to admit she was not smarter than the Senators Grounds Crew. Kings of the County! As for the game, the Sens went on to win 8-4, putting them 1 game shy of the magical .500 mark. They haven't been at .500 since the 2nd game of the season. They were 21 games under .500 on June 1st. Its been quite a climb back, so hats off to them. They could have packed it in a long time ago, but never quit. I'd have to put this team just below the 1987 team and the 1999 team, character-wise. If they would happen to make the playoffs, it would be nothing short of amazing. So tomorrow night they go in search of another win. We'll see. So until tomorrow, later