A big Friday night (Day 38)

Please note: I have some catching up to do on the journal-writing front. I believe that at some point I will indeed catch up, but it might take a couple of days with my computer. I've made notes and have a lot to say, as per usual. But I am currently working on last Friday and it is now Sunday (nine days later for anyone having trouble with the math), so thanks for your patience (or not, mom).

The tuxedo t-shirt does not make the day. The day makes the tuxedo t-shirt.

In a previous journal entry about my tuxedo t-shirt, I thought it was the article of clothing that made me happy. But I think it was because I was happy that I wore it. Because today I wore it again and it just wasn't the same.

I headed to the field in the morning when Carl and Whitey told me they would be around. I obviously haven't learned my lesson on running on their time. It didn't help anyone's day that I wasn't in the best mood to begin with either. Carl and I had already gotten in an argument over nothing in the morning, once again. I guess too much time together can do that to people. I really don't even know what we argue about sometimes.

When they finally arrived and commented on the formality of my attire, I was almost too upset to remember what I was wearing. A bad mood plus waiting around for far longer than anticipated are a recipe for disaster with me, apparently. By disaster, I mean that I just didn't want to talk to them. I put on my headphones and got to cleaning up the garbage.

During the time when I was drowning out the world with my iPod, I missed several phone calls. Chambers had called to let me know that his parents' friends' place in Byron Bay is already occupied so I should continue my search for a temporary residence for all of us, including Chambers' roommate from Czech Republic, who I found out would be joining us. One of the other calls I had missed was from a motel in Byron that I emailed previously, letting me know they still have a vacancy for the days we are looking to go. So that worked out perfectly. I called back and booked for us. We got one standard room, so that should be good for five people right? I didn't quite ask how many beds there are going to be, but I just kind of assume we'll be fine. And since I'm the only girl, I assume I will be fine, most of all.

After figuring that out and texting everyone to let them know that we have a place to stay and we're all set for Byron, I got back to my primary task of cleaning. I kept that up until Gonzo showed up with lunch for Carl, Steve and I. Steve had been doing the groundskeeping all day while we were cleaning. I also then remembered that I had to write a script for Coshi and send it to him. So while I ate my Subway I typed up a little something for him and sent it away.

The cleaning was done but I didn't know if I could leave to head home and shower yet so I stuck around trying to get some things done on my computer. I might have been able to get some journal-writing in but the locker room isn't exactly booming with wireless Internet. So I was just messing around on my computer when Chambers showed up. He was super early for the game so we had some time to talk about Byron and baseball, of course.

I found out that he is from Sydney, not the Gold Coast, where he lives now. He also went and played college ball in Florida for a year but wasn’t happy with the way it was going so came back to play here to Australia.

Chambers also mentioned the hilarious ‘problem’ he has. The team basically makes a big deal out of everything he does, which I don’t think should be a problem at all, likely why I chose to label it as hilarious. I believe it began after he made his first start for the Bandits, which was a really good outing. A blogger wrote an article that was entitled “Who is Steven Chambers?” and the guys gave him a bit of a hard time about that. And then before one of his other starts something was going on and people were bugging him or bugging everyone or something and he said something to the effect of “Come on, leave me alone, I’m starting today,” and now apparently everyone makes a big deal out of that, asking him every day if he’s starting, or if it’s okay to talk to him, things like that. And then to make it even better, at Training with the Pros, during a question-and-answer session with the players, everyone was answering with Steven Chambers answers. I’m pretty sure that the guys said their favourite player is Chambers, and when they grow up, they want to be Chambers, and stuff like that. I think it’s awesome, but I’m not sure he feels the same way. I probably wasn’t helpful to him during that conversation.

SJ arrived next, also pretty early. He didn’t want to talk about baseball with us, particularly me, so we began discussing Byron Bay again. Chambers mentioned that we should come to the Gold Coast in the morning on Thursday, before Alex gets back from the All-Star Game in Perth, and hang out by the beach before heading to Byron. I think both SJ and I figured that wouldn’t be a bad idea at all, so for now, the plan is to spend Thursday at the Gold Coast and then head to Byron Thursday night until Saturday morning.

Whitey joined in on the conversation because at some point he figured out that he would be able to come too. His original Christmas plans wouldn’t have allowed him to be away on Christmas Eve, so it wasn’t going to work out, but I guess his plans have changed. So now we’ve got Whitey, SJ, Chambers, his roommate from Czech, Maestri and me. Six people for one standard room. Makes sense to me.

Shortly thereafter I decided it was a good time for me to head home and shower before the game. Gonzo was around and had offered me a ride, so I thought I would take it. He had some errands to run so it wasn’t really out of his way. And since he already knows where I live, it took the embarrassment out of taking someone up on such a short ride. I missed several calls while I was showering, but at least one of them was Gonzo calling to see if I wanted a ride back to the park, because he had finished doing what he needed to get done. Unfortunately I was a little slower on my end though, so I couldn’t take him up on that. I also missed a call from Judy at Cricket Queensland, so I decided to call her on my walk back to the RNA.

Judy was calling to make sure I was still coming to the Twenty20 match on Tuesday at the Gabba and to let me know that she would leave a ticket for me and I should call her when I get there and she can tour me around. All of that was better than anything I could have hoped for, so it made me look forward to going to the match even more than I had been before. Special treatment makes everything a little bit better. She must have somehow known that I started the day out with a tuxedo t-shirt.

When I got back to the park I did a little bit of running around trying to help people out and tried to decide with Carl who would do the soundboard and who would write the game recap. I chose the recap, but Coshi was going to get Carl to practice some announcing during the game, so I knew I would end up doing the sound at some point as well.

The game didn’t go so well. Maestri started and didn’t seem his prototypical self. His line still wasn’t bad, giving up five runs on six hits in six innings, striking out five, but it was too much for the offense to overcome. It ended 6-5 for the Bite, another one-run loss for Brisbane. Not awesome. One of these days, that run will be on our side. Right?

Before the game ended, I stopped to talk to Durket’s family again. They were sitting just down the aisle from where I was so I thought I would head over and say hello. We chatted about hockey, the Blue Jays and my travels, to California and other parts of the US. The only places I’ve seen in Cali though happen to be each of the five Major League ballparks, and whatever might be right around them.

I went with my mom to California in May 2009. It was probably the best baseball trip we’ve done so far. We stayed in Anaheim for the first five days, traveling first to San Diego, taking in a game at PETCO Park. Then we headed to Los Angeles for a day and saw a game at Dodger Stadium, plus took a tour of the park beforehand. Dodger is my mom’s favourite park, mostly because it has a view of the mountains on one side and a view of the beach on the other side. What I remember most about going there though is that she bought a Manny Ramirez shirt for my brother (she gets him a shirt from every park we go to), and the next day he was handed his 50-game suspension. Maybe I'm not the only one in the family who is a baseball jinx.

After Dodger, we saw the Blue Jays play a two-game set against the Angels, right down the road from where we were staying. We hopped on a short flight to San Francisco after that, and we stayed there for the next five days. We first saw the Blue Jays take on the Athletics in Oakland for three games, and then we headed to AT&T Park to see the Giants. I got to see Randy Johnson pitch, and one of my favourite Molina brothers batting cleanup, so it was a good time for all. I’m not sure I got in on the vision that most people have of California though.

After the game finished and I was done writing the game over, I saw the Durkets again, this time with their favourite Bandits reliever (obviously Jon, for those of you who couldn't figure that one out). I wished him a happy birthday, since once it hits midnight, he’ll be as old as I am, but then I got pulled away for a meeting with the other volunteers.

I don't know if I've mentioned it lately, but sometimes we get together after the games to discuss how things have gone on the volunteer end. I think it’s more of a way to say thank you to some people in the hopes that they will come back and give their time again. It probably works. I come back, don’t I?

Everyone also started to get into the beers, but I was too tired to do so. The guys were planning on heading out though I think, since nothing happened for Carl’s birthday yesterday. I wasn’t interested in joining them, so I decided to start my short trek home. As I was heading through the parking lot, I ran into second baseman Brad Dutton. He offered me a ride, and I reluctantly took it, knowing how embarrassingly close I live to the park. I was appreciative though, mostly because I was so tired that walking was the last thing I wanted to do.

I had intentions to write the article on the All-Star Game when I got home, but that didn’t happen. My exhaustion overcame me and I fell asleep almost immediately. Big night.