The View from the Cheap Seats

After skipping Saturday's game to attend a wedding, on Sunday I"ve done something I haven't done in more than a few years. I actually attended a game as a plain old fan. And my wife came too, something else that doesn't happen very often. My wife wanted to go to see a friend of hers throw out a first pitch, and I was not on the work schedule for Sunday, so we loaded up in the Bug (my '73 VW Super Beetle) and headed for the ballpark. It was a gorgeous day for baseball and the boys were riding a 5, count 'em, 5-game winning streak. That's a season high, folks. Were we starting to peek around the corner? Maybe. Even if they lost today, it would still be a pretty good home stand by anybodies standards. We made our way into the park and staked out a spot to watch the first pitch. After they were done, we went over to visit with the boys in the cubby for a few minutes and then headed out to the boardwalk to sample the venues. Since all of the bar stools were occupied, we made our way over to center field and took a spot at the rail by the flagpoles. The view from there is a commanding one. The field looked picture perfect. Even though I know where all the problems and imperfections are, from being up close and personal most nights, I couldn't see any of them. Kudos to Knute, Tim, and the rest of the guys. After hanging there for a few innings, we made our way over to the seats above the left field wall. We found a few and sat for a while, enjoying another great view. Those seats, unfortunately, on a day like today were way too warm for us. The green plastic of the seats absorbed the heat, and they actually got hotter than the aluminum railings. We then moved over to the deck in the left field corner and took a spot along the rail. The view there was also good and the breeze was very refreshing. After that we headed to the Spot stand for a little snack. My wife and I both had one of my favorites, a Grounder. We headed back to the boardwalk to find a place to sit and eat, while we watched the game. I found the surroundings there both delightful and appalling. It was delightful to sit at a picnic table in the shade from the hot sun, with a great view of the game, and eat. The people around me, at times, left a lot to be desired. Please don't get me wrong, I love kids. I have 2 of my own (now grown). I have a slew of nieces and nephews, from toddlers on up. And I understand kids can get rowdy and want to have fun. But for parents to let their kids run absolutely wild is unacceptable. I never let my kids do it, and I can't accept from others either. I cast a shadow on what was, otherwise a very nice afternoon. Maybe I'll suggest to the higher-ups to have some tighter control out there. I think there is a potential to alienate a lot of fans. OK, I'm stepping down off my soapbox now. The game got a little out of hand through the later innings, with New Britain seemingly hitting everything they saw. The Sens managed to get a few back but not quite enough to break through. It was an 11-7 final. We spent the last inning and a half back in the cubby, chatting with the guys. and after the last out, headed to the car. It felt good to just be a fan for a day. maybe I'll do it again someday. In a couple of years. We're out for 7 days, so until next week, later.

Dare to dream, the Sequel

Well, Friday's game wasn't looking too good as I made my way down Front St. after work. I had texted Knute around 3:00 pm looking for some insight as to whether we were playing or not. With the way the rain was still falling, I couldn't imagine we were still on. However, that wasn't the case. Knute replied "We're playing". So I resigned myself to another night of playing in the mud. As I made my way onto the Island, it looked like a bigger crowd than I thought was starting to arrive. Not 5 or 6 thousand big, but a lot more than i thought would be here on a rainy night. As I made my way down the field, it looked like they had just taken off the tarp. The warning track looked like a tributary of the Susquehanna and the umpires box behind first base was a quagmire. The rest of the guys were getting things cleaned up in the bullpens and Tim had started to drag the infield. I got my tools and the chalker and started to prep, wondering if it was all going to come together by game time. A light mist was falling, still, so watering the infield was off the checklist tonight. The chalk in the chalker was of typical consistency on nights like these, thick and chunky. Nothing was going smoothly so far, so I prepared to battle the chalker down the first base line, hoping I wouldn't end up with a 'wall' instead of a line. it actually went far better than I had thought it would, and didn't take near as long. Some wet nights like these, it might take 3 or 4 passes with the chalker to get something resembling a line, and not one that's all that straight. As we finished up, we had the now traditional sprinkling of the Turface and left it to the ballplayers. Being a Friday night, there was a long list of festivities on the slate, starting with a marching band to play the National Anthem. They marched right out to center field, non-standard on a night like tonight, to play. More than a few raised eyebrows. As the game got under way, we staked out out spots in the cubby, with full buckets of Turface as seats tonight. The conversation quickly turned to several different off-color subjects, none of which will be discussed at length here. I wondered a couple of things. Could we get the game in? Could we finish at a reasonable hour? And could we win? We were on a roll this week, so I was hoping that tonight would keep the streak alive. Well we did get the game in, although it was in serious doubt at times, with several visits to the mound and plate for the ritualistic sprinkling of the Turface. Finishing at a reasonable hour just wasn't in the cards tonight. The boys fell behind early, but clawed their way back to tie it up. They had some chances in the 7th and 9th with bases loaded, but couldn't push one across, so to the 10th inning it was. The Rock Cats(New Britain) went 1-2-3 in the top half and the the Sens came to bat. The quickly put runners on 1st and 2nd, with Bill Rinehart due up. He punched a ball over the center fielder's head, plating the winning run, touching off a mini celebration at home plate. A good win. 4 in a row. I guess we can dare to dream. Maybe 5 in a row Saturday night? Stay tuned. Afterwards, it was the usual Friday night post game festivities. The first was a dance troupe on the field to perform. All dressed like Heidi or the Von Trappe kids (from the Sound of Music, don't ask why I know this...).Again, if you hang around long enough you see some weird or should I say, out of the ordinary stuff. And then, of course, Launch-a-ball, and my personal favorite, fireworks. All that plus we got to clean up a muddy mess of a field. Just think, all that and we got paid to do it. Things that make you go hmmmmm. I won't be in attendance Saturday night due to a wedding, so I'll do a combined entry on Sunday evening. Until then, later.

Work quickly, change speeds, throw strikes..

Wednesday evening, game 3 of the home stand, rain in the forecast. What? Rain you say. Why it hasn't rained since, when, yesterday. Definitely not looking forward to tonight's game. We dodged the bullet the last couple of nights, but I think our luck is going to run out tonight. We also had some fast games the past 2 nights, with good pitching and good defense and low scores. That tends to speed things up. In fact the title of the post are the words of Ray 'the Rabbit" Miller, who I remember as the pitching coach of those, oh so close to being champions, Pittsburgh Pirates teams of the early 90's. I grew up in western PA, and it was all Pittsburgh, all the time. That was his mantra, and I believe it still rings true today. Games usually take at least 3 hours to play today and there's a lot of farting around by pitchers and batter. In fact, way too much. I was reading an article in this weeks' Sport Illustrated that really magnified the difference between today's game and the players and those of 30-40 years ago. The article was "The Greatest Game Ever Pitched" it was about the perfect game that Harvey Haddix threw for 12 innings against the Milwaukee Braves in 1959. I was all of about a 10 months old at the time, so i don't have any first hand knowledge of the game, just what I've read since. When Haddix took the mound in the bottom of the 13th inning, the article states that the game was 'approaching its third hour' Approaching the 3rd hour. That's quick work. The other thing I thought was kind of funny was that after the 2nd inning, Dick Groat lit his cigarette in the dugout while the Pirates were batting. Smoking in the dugout? Its just weird to think about it today. The game did move along at a brisk pace, and like the evening before, the Sens had 1 big inning and it was all they would need. The rain picked up pretty well after the no-drag drag. Just raking tonight. Every half inning we made a trip to the mound and plate to rake the junk off and spread some Turface. We even had to spread some out on the infield at short and second, because it was even getting a little slick out there, too. The 2 relief pitchers were exact opposites when it came to the mound. Andrew Kown was slipping on the Turface and wanted it raked off. Dave Williams wanted a lot. To each his own I guess. After the game was over, the post game cleanup was short and to the point. We just raked off the junk, quickly filled what few holes there were threw some more Turface around and covered everything up. Bing, bang, boom, just the way I like it. Tomorrow's game is a day game. I'd like to be there, but can't make it. Maybe they boys can get their third win in a row. It would be the first time this year I think. Well, we'll see. I check back in after Friday night's game. The forecast is for, you guessed it, rain. Later.

Blackberry Brandy and a Birthday Kiss

Tuesday evening on City Island started out much the same as most others. Another game, same-old, same old. It looked like it was going to rain at some point, so nothing different there . Frank, Alan, Knute, and myself in attendance. Just like Monday. But I had forgotten, today was Frank's birthday. The middle man on the "senior crew" he turned 52 today. We really didn't have anything special planned, though, other than having his name announced with the other birthdays. I heard someone mention that he was asking for kisses before the game. Enough said there. Nothing out of the ordinary for pregame, we blew through it as always. We settled into the cubby and tuned in the Weather Channel to keep an eye on the sky. It was hockey night, too, so we waited for both the Penguins and Bears games to start. Pens at 8, Bears at 8:30. It turned out to be a good night for the Pens and Sens, but a tough one for the Bears. The game rolled along at a brisk pace as it had the night before. Could we get home at a decent hour again? Dare to dream... As it turned out, the game finished a little after 9:30. And the Sens got a nice win, 3-0. We got things cleaned up fairly quickly, and then put the tarp on, as it looked like rain after midnight. . We milled around for a few minutes, chatting, and were going to head out when Tim came up and said "everybody in the back." We made our back to the equipment storage area, where Tim produced a large bottle of blackberry brandy and a bunch of cups. He poured all around and we all drank a toast to Frank. Good stuff! After that we headed out to take advantage of the early exit time. Until tomorrow, here's a big birthday kiss for Frank. XXXXXXX

Life in the fast lane

I may or may not have mentioned in previous posts, that I thought that Monday night games always seem to go faster. This Monday's game was another one in the fast column. As I arrived on City Island, the weather, once again, looked iffy. Once we started with pre game, though, things were starting to clear out. In attendance, Frank Alan, Ryan and myself, as well as Knute. No problems with pregame, although I noticed that the areas on the infield that usually show wear the earliest were lot worse than they usually are this time of year. All the rain, the tarp coverings, and the early work are starting to take their toll. It doesn't generally look this bad until around the 4th of July. But Knute said they've got renovation plans for the next break, which is a little longer than the last few. He said he didn't feel too bad, because a lot of the major league fields on the East Coast have re sodded the wear areas already. The weather is beating them up too. The heavy wear areas on a baseball field are in front and back of the pitcher's mound, the inside corners in front of home plate, the walk up areas from the dugouts behind home plate, the infield edges where the 2nd baseman and shortstop stand, and the areas where the outfielders usually stand. So after we finished up, we took up residence in our usual spot in the 3rd base cubby and watched/listened to a very pretty young lady sing the National Anthem. It was a typical, thin Monday evening crowd. A shame, since it was a decent Monday night. The foe this evening were the New Hampshire FisherCats, in for their only visit of the season. Once again, is was a little "Old Home Week", as their pitching coach this year is Tom Signore. Tom was the Senators' pitching coach back in '04 or '05. As the game progressed, none of us wanted to say it out loud, but it was moving at a rather quick pace. Before we knew it, it was the top of the 5th and the interns had joined us to prep for the drag and their "routine". Tonight's dance was to be to 'Greased Lightning'. They changed their stop point, so there would be less confusion as to which way to go when they were done. Well it was a nice thought. They still screwed it up, so I don't think the little 'chalk talk' I gave them, complete with diagram, before we went out helped much. Oh well, back to the drawing board, so to speak. After that, the game just kept rolling. It was a close one with New Hampshire only leading 2-1 going to the 9th. And it was only 9:10pm. Win or lose, it would be an early night for a change. The Sens lead off with a base hit and and then bunted the runner over to 2nd. another out was recorded and that left the man at 2nd with 2 outs and Luke Montz to the plate. he worked the count and the drove a pitch to deep right center field. From our vantage point in the new bullpen we couldn't see too well, but found out it was caught at the wall. If it had been hit to any other part of the park (except left-center) it would've been gone. And it would've been a walk-off win. But that' sour luck. Afterwards, it was a quick cleanup and we went happily on our way, about 40 minutes earlier than usual. Bonus. See you tomorrow,same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

Call to the Bullpen

Well it's Thursday, and the last game of the 7 game home stand. I was supposed to have the night off to go have a few adult beverages at our favorite watering hole, Arooga's. And as a bonus, it was a free glass night, with our new favorite beer, Leinenkugel's. (The Summer Shandy rocks!) It didn't quite work out that way. I got a call earlier in the day from Knute, saying Doug, who was scheduled to work, hurt his knee and was unavailable. Could I make it in? I was really looking forward to a night off after 3 late nights in a row and the threat of rain again. But, Semper Fi, so I made the trip to City Island. It was dry as I left the office parking lot, but did not look at all promising. As I headed down Front St., the roads were wet like it had been raining but had stopped. However, I couldn't help but think the skies could open up at any second, and I would get very,very wet. When I arrived, Izzy was just coming in also, and he said"What the heck are you doing here?" I explained I was here due to Doug's injury and we both lamented the fact that it was going to be a long evening and we were destined to get wet. Frank was already there and was bringing back the hitting cage as we turned the corner. We unloaded it and headed up the field to get going. We dove right in and got things ready quickly. I t was a good thing, too, because as soon as we were finished it started. The tarp was still rolled out, so we quickly put it on and covered the bullpens as a light, but steady rain started to fall. We've had nights that it was lot worse, so we figured maybe we'd just wait it out. Then the radar watch began, and the debating about whether to wait it out or postpone the game. We'd already lost a game with Erie earlier in the season, with a double-header scheduled for late June. I'm sure the management wheels were already turning trying to figure out how we could get this one in to avoid another double-header. I didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon, so we headed back to our cubby to stay dry, check some TV and shoot the bull. As the time passed, we made regular visits to the other dugout to check on the weather status. Things didn't improve much, and finally around 8:40 they called it. We put the sandbags on the tarp and tied up some loose ends and that was that. What a way to end a home stand. It certainly has been an unusual year for weather, with all the rain delays and rain outs. I can only remember 1 year that was close to this one, 1997, I think. I trained most of the month of May, and was not real nice for the rest of the summer. But I guess 2 out of 14 isn't too bad an average. Other than that, not too much too report, except for an outstanding Spot Dog. I had my usual 'Grounder' but on a pretzel roll this time. I've gotten to know the people at the Spot stand pretty well and they agreed to make me a "special", since there weren't any long lines. Most excellent. Next home stand starts Monday, a pretty quick turnaround. But its the weekend and that will give me some time to get a little extra sleep and get some things done around the house. Maybe the boys will win a few down in Bowie. I"ll check in again after Monday's game. Later...

Izzy's metaphor...

Wednesday night, game 6 of the home stand. A couple of late nights in a row wear me down pretty quick. I'm not as durable as I was when I started 14 years ago, I guess. Old age, relatively speaking of course, will do that to you I guess. Sucks. As I arrived on the field, i saw the ever-present (or so it seems) tarp was still rolled out on the field. Gonna be another one of those nights. In attendance, Alan, Izzy, Ryan and myself, as well as our fearless leader. We got a quick start to pre-game and finished in good time. No issues, even with all the previous days' moisture. As for the title of this entry, it goes to one of the pre-game festivities this evening. It was Bike Night. A group of local mostly Harley riders were in attendance, and paraded around the warning track before the start of the game. As they were making their way around the outfield track, one of the Senator players came out of the dugout with a bicycle and headed out to catch the biker group. At that point, Izzy stated " This is kind of like the Senators and the rest of the Eastern League this year. Motorcycles out front leading the pack, and the Sens on a bicycle trying to catch them." Very interesting. As for the game, the boys jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st. I thought, hey, maybe we'll get a W tonight. That optimism was short-lived, however, as Erie put up 3 in the top of the 2nd. They stretched it to 5-2 in the next few innings. At drag time, the interns were once again cued up, with 'Jump on it' the selection again this evening. The dance went well. i wish I could say as much for the drag. They got confused as they resumed dragging, and missed huge sections of the infield. I tried to pick up as much as I could but there just wasn't enough time. So back to the drawing board, more practice and philosophical discussions. After the drag and a Spot Dog, I headed out back to check on the post-game supplies and found that Izzy had already gotten things squared away. I parked the vehicles by the gate and headed up to the boardwalk to watch the rest of the game from various areas. Since we had already sat in the bar stools in right field I went over to left field this time. Not bad at all. I also sat in the left field "cheap seats" for half an inning, also not bad at all. In the meantime the boys had scratched out a few more runs making it 5-4. I had joked earlier, that they would tie it up in the bottom of the 9th again and force extra innings again. No way that I really wanted that though. While I was sitting in left field, The boys strung together a couple of hits and managed to tie the score, the go-ahead hit coming from an unlikely source, Michael Martinez. He's been struggling all year, below the Mendoza line. So it must have felt good to get a clutch hit. Baby steps. I started back to the right field side, thinking it might be a good time for the Viking Rally Horn. Someone must have read my mind, as it went off, just as I passed behind the batters eye. It must have done the trick, because in the bottom of the 9th, the boys got a runner to 2nd and an error by the Erie 2nd baseman got the winning run home. It was a nice walk-off win. No post-game festivities tonight except for the...... wait for it...... tarp pull. looks like a good chance for more rain tomorrow night, but I am off, so maybe I'll stay dry. Until next time, most likely Monday night, see ya.