Opening series...

Our first series is in the books and we’re on our way back to Greensboro. I figured I have a few hours to burn so why not fill some of it with one of my favorite things to do, blog.

We ended up going 3-1 on the weekend. The first game we won 3-2, the second one 3-2, the third 6-4, and we lost the final game of the series 4-3. All four games of the series we found ourselves behind at some point in the game and in every one we ended up at some point making up the difference. Our team seems to have a lot of fight and for now everyone is pulling for each other, something that is very rare in minor league ball. All that is easy to do whenever you’re winning games, the real character of a team shows through when you go through down times.

I swung the bat pretty well for the three games that I played in, but I don’t like to dwell on either my negatives or positives too much. I’ve always thought that if they could come out with a drug that could eliminate your memory from at bat to at bat it would be that best performance enhancer ever. Like my dad has always said “It’s a short ride from the penthouse to the outhouse.”

August was a very unique city. For those of you that don’t know, the Masters is played in Augusta. If you don’t know what the Master is, it’s probably the biggest golf tournament there is. The tournament begins on the coming Thursday, with the practice rounds beginning tomorrow. Everything in the city revolves around the tournament. I can only imagine how much revenue the town makes off of the tournament. Even Augusta’s minor league team has a tie to the Masters. Their name is the Greenjackets, which happens to be what you receive if you win the Masters, a green jacket. On the trip from the hotel to the field we passed by the 8 entrances to the golf course and we also passed by about 50 scalpers on the sides of the road looking to either buy or sell practice round tickets. Another interesting tidbit about the Greenjackets is that their promotional crew wears caddy outfits with the names of famous golfers on their backs. As for their field it wasn’t too bad. The outfield was a little rough and it was an older stadium which gave it a nice homey feel.

Brock Bond, a former Missouri Tiger standout, plays second base for Augusta. I had a great time catching up with him; it’s always so nice to see a familiar face on the opposing team. Obviously I wanted to win every game but I also wanted Brock to do well. He’s one of the best teammates anyone could ask for; he literally fought for all of us. In the final game of the series I encountered a tough situation. I was on first base and there was a ball hit to the shortstop. I busted my butt over to second base so that I could break up the double play. Every time I go into the base I have the mindset that I don’t want the second baseman to be able to make a good throw to first to double up our guy. The only thing about this time was that Brock was on the other end of the collision. I slid in hard and I definitely paid for it more than he did. I caught a knee to the head and a cleat to the shin. I was fine but I thought that it was such a coincidence that the time that I break up a double play during the series it just so happens to be against one of my better friends.

Tomorrow we open our home schedule against the Hickory Crawdads, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. It should be fun; the management has said that they are expecting to have at least 10,000 people. Plus it’s supposed to be a nice night, I can’t wait. I’m sure I’ll be nervous for my first at bat, just like I was for my first game against Augusta. I got my strikeout out of the way and I was good from there!

I’ve already made it through more games than I did last year, a definite plus. I’m also having more fun than anyone right now playing the game that I love. I feel absolutely blessed every time I’m able to step out on the field and play the game that my dad groomed me to play ever since I was a little kid.

Make sure you vote on my new poll question.

*Tough times bring out the best, and sometimes the worst, in all of us.