A couple weeks have gone by since I last posted anything on here but it is with good reason as I have been busy non stop during this time. My family and Kelsey came out to visit last week, and we had a great time together. We had some good dinners, some good partying and they got to see some great games in unbelievable weather while out here. 75-80 and sunny without a cloud in the sky is hard to beat. I pitched that Wednesday of the week they were here, had a solid outing going 4 innings only giving up a run before I was taken out because of a strict pitch count. Every game since 2 weeks ago has been a sell out up here and it feels like it...the crowd is so loud to the point where the opposing team's pitcher has to step off the mound just to concentrate. We had been on a skid until last week when all of a sudden we had turned it around. From being 8 games out to all of a sudden in the lead to get the last playoff spot from our division, the turn around has been fierce. The last game of the series while my family was here, we were down 4 going into the 9th and the chances of winning were looking bleak. However, somehow we managed to tie the game and send it into extra innings only to have our right fielder Nick Baligod come up with the bases loaded and send one over the right field fence for a walk off grand slam. I have never been in a stadium and heard it erupt like that. That started the road to this come back and now we sit on another 4 game win streak and in the drivers seat...for the most part. While my family was here, Zach, Kelsey and myself all got to go down town after the big wins and celebrate with the team. They got to see how the city treats us when we play well, walking past the lines and right into the clubs and bars and people giving you high fives that work the doors telling you good game. We had some great nights and the team had a great time making Kelsey and Zach feel right at home. We road tripped to Salem, Oregon for a 3 game series 7 hours away...a brutal place mixing the desert of the northwest with whatever kind of landscape Oregon has to offer elsewhere and basically creating a state-sized porta-potty that happens to host Nike's headquarters and has no sales tax. Yakima, Washington is to be included in that large porta-potty as well. The only place to eat there is Denny's as well as apparently the only place to go out is Denny's considering they have a full bar inside. One can ironically only have so many grand slams so I went with microwave burritos from Wal-mart. Following the conclusion of the series we head out and got back to Vancouver at around 5 in the morning. I talked to a few people at Temple from the baseball team on the trip. (Shout out to the guys at Temple, hope you all do the fall justice in all aspects.)
Anyway, that brings me to our current 5 game series with Tri-city (the Colorado Rockies). We won the first 3 games and I came out to pitch the 4th game this evening. I went 5 innings allowing 1 hit and one run, solid outing I'd say. It was our last night game in Vancouver at least for the regular season, so of course fireworks and everything were all present at the field. In the sushi race Chef Wasabi ended his 36 game losing streak, distracting Mrs. BC roll and Mr. Kappa Maki and streaking across the finish line. The grounds crew while dragging the field in their usual manner performed a dance, this time the full Party Rock Anthem dance and the crowd gave them a standing ovation, by far the most impressive of the summer and they have a lot of good ones (if you'd like to see the video, Garret Maines posted it on my facebook). It was a solid way to bring the night games to a close at the stadium and the fans were extremely appreciative. Tomorrow is our final home game and it is a nooner, which implies that it starts at noon but for some reason actually begins at 1...I know I know, Canadians...just make the game at noon and call canadian bacon "ham" because we all know what it is. Sometimes the things that make the most sense baffle those in the truth north. Bringing me to another point as I go off on a quick tangent...a case of 24 Pabst Blue Ribbon costs 25$ here...someone please vote that person out of office that decided to make the tax that high. Urine shouldn't cost 25$ even if it does have the blue ribbon on it. Anyway, tomorrow should be a good night after the game, I believe we have a team bbq after and them I'm sure the team will head out in the city to celebrate. We head to Boise, Idaho on Monday, a short 12-14 hour bus ride depending on who is telling you and finish the regular season there. If we make playoffs, we come back to the 'couve and get ready to play...if not we fly home out of Boise and I start my off season. Either way, I have at least one more game to pitch this year, hopefully more if we make playoffs. Oh, yea, if I don't post before, Temple Football please wax Nova opening night. Keep looking up.
-Ben
No comments:
Post a Comment