I’m Going to do a Better Job

There is a man who has been coming to our ball games for a couple of years now. He isn’t related to anyone on the team and wasn’t personal friends with any of us until recently. He drives past another college field on the way here but likes the College of Charleston so he says it’s worth it. I have sat next to him many times and we chat about the games, stats and sometimes my son. We have talked a little about what he does for a living but we have never talked about his personal life. Yesterday we became friends on facebook and I now know so much more. I feel like I should have done a better job being a friend to him because I learned that he lost his daughter a few years ago and she would have been college age now. She was beautiful and I know she must have been a great kid and I bet he would like to talk about her but I never opened that door. Today I am going to start doing a better job being kind to the folks I meet at the field. There is a reason God is bringing them to Patriots Point and who knows what it is, but I know I can do better.

I hope John, another friend,  makes it safely back to Indiana today. He winters on Sullivan’s Island and comes to every home game until he returns to Indiana to coach his own team. He is a great fan and he left yesterday to go back. I’m going to stay in touch with him this season and keep him apprised of how the team is doing. I am going to reach out to the new guy from Seattle who has just started attending our games because he was transferred here for the Boeing plant and loves baseball.

Baseball is a great game and it brings us together for a few hours on the weekend to enjoy the game and cheer on our team and so much more. So I am going to do a better job reaching out because you never know what the person sitting next to you is dealing with and maybe, just maybe, they need a friend.

Baseball this weekend was tough.  Friday was another game I would like to erase. Our starting pitcher, Peterson, got drilled in the leg with a line drive and had to be taken to the hospital for x-rays and of course in a situation like that you lose more than your starting pitrcher.  The team's focus is affected and they are somewhat distracted.  Not to mention the delay and loss of momentum.  I don't really know if it affected us that much or we just didn't play very well after that but it just didn't feel like we had it in us to win.  Peterson is going to be ok, he was badly bruised and will be out for a brief period but will be back this season. Saturday we looked better and were playing like we know we can.  We had several hits by many batters including Epley, Knox, and Blake.  We were able to pull out the win on Saturday.  Sunday was a repeat of Friday night.  Samford does a great job with the small ball logic, they love to bunt and it worked for them-more than once but what can you do?  I did see two things this weekend that I have never witnessed in my long bleacher career (1) Shulze (Samford) went 11 for 15 with 3 homeruns, 2 of them in one game.  He hit off numerous pitchers and hit various styles of pitches but he was hitting the ball solidly his every at bat and I cannot, not give him a shout out.  He was amazing. (2) The second thing I saw was not quite so impressive but has to be listed as the weirdest.  Samford's first baseman was sick, it was obvious he was struggling, then he started throwing up, yep right there on first base where the players dive back down in the dirt on the throw back.  Not once, not twice, but three times. By the second time the crowd was supplying sound effects.  It was crazy I tell you.  But here is the craziest part, they sent back out for another inning.  Yep, never seen that before and never want to see it again.  Crazy.  It did remind us of a great story about a kid that played with Cole when they were about 14 and the kid was getting ready on the mound to throw a pitch and just started peeing all over himself-craziest thing you ever saw but our coach handled it very well when he explained that it happened to him all the time. Great coach, kid no longer plays ball. (I'm just sayin, I'm pretty sure the coach never peed his pants in his life)

Hope you can make it out to the Coastal Game tomorrow at 5:00.  Always a great game and we need mid-week fans.

See you at the field.