Sunday, March 14, 2010

On the Cusp...

Hey Y'all. Its been about 4 months since I've posted, so look out, I've saving up, and its all about to pour out. We had scheduled a get-together with all the guys for a Saturday night in December. But as luck would have it, it was the Saturday that we got the snowstorm.The only attendees were myself, Alan, Knute and Asheleigh. My other son Mike tagged along, too so a good time was had by all, although the other guys were sorely missed. Earlier in December Doug and I met up and hooked up with Tim and Knute at the ballpark to get the 20 cent tour. Everything was still in the early stages of construction, but we were excited to see things taking shape and could envision the finished product. I've been following the action via the picture posts on the Senators website and the further along they get, the more anxious I get for the season to start. This place will be a jewel of minor league ballparks and a completely different experience for Harrisburg baseball fans. Lemme tell ya folks, if you haven't been to a game in a while, this is the year to go. I mean, we'll even have dugout suites! That's going to be the best place to see a game. And it looks like we're going to have a primo spot right on the 3rd base side. I'm planning to make another visit on March 22nd to check things out. March 22nd is 8 days from now, a Monday. A Monday, you say. What, no work, you say? I say, nay, nay. I am off that day, the last day of my mini spring vacation. On the 18th, I will be meeting my brother-in-law Ed in Baltimore to board a plane for Florida and a few days of Spring Training. We've been talking about going ever since they moved back East. And with all the crappy weather we've had this winter, we need this! We're heading into Tampa, getting there around noon and at 7 pm we'll be taking in the World Champion New York Yankees vs. the Tampa Bay Rays. Should be a great start to the weekend. On Friday, we head over to Bradenton. At 1 pm we see the Boston Red Sox and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Later in the day we'll get to see the Baltimore Orioles take on the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater. On Saturday, we head down to Sarasota and check in on the Orioles once again as they take on, once again, the Pirates. After that, we're going to stop in and see Ed's mom, who lives in Sarasota. Sunday morning, we pack up and head back to reality. But, by then, it will be 1 more day in fantasy land with a visit to the new ball yard. If you're not counting, tomorrow, March 15th will make it 1 month to opening night on City Island. 30 short days. And this season should be 1 for the books. An awesome new ballpark, the Eastern League All-Star game in July, and, hopefully, a team good enough to take us back to somewhere we haven't been for a while. Can you say "The Play-offs". I knew you could.... And as an added bonus, maybe the circus will come to town. A.k.a. a visit from Steven Strasburg. So stay tuned, because I'll be here to document it every step of the way. I'll start by checking in from Spring Training later this week.
Stay tuned!
Later...