I awoke from my slumber to a text from Whitey. He said he was coming by to pick me up in an hour, but on real time, not Whitey Standard Time. Arriving on time could be a hefty task, but he seemed to feel like he was up to it.
Before heading out I exchanged emails with my mom about the idea of staying in Australia for a little while longer. With Spring Training right around the corner, it may not be worth it to extend my stay here for just another week or two but it could possibly give me a chance to do some exploring outside of Brisbane and an opportunity to see a little more of Australia beyond the office and the ballpark. I still need to figure out things for Spring Training and when I am heading there and details like that before I can adjust my flight home though, if I do.
When I went downstairs to wait for Whitey outside, I stopped by the office in the apartment building. The manager had left a note yesterday informing me that my new key was ready to be picked up, and when I called her, she said to come by first thing in the morning. But the office door was closed and she was nowhere to be seen. I called her cell phone and got no answer. So I gave up and continued outside to wait for my ride.
As I was standing outside, the building manager drove up the driveway and into the parking garage. She saw me and waved, which I figured meant that she recognized that I was waiting for her and my new key. I might have read too much into that, but I was hopeful. I turned around and went back inside to the office. She still wasn’t there. I saw her in her car in the parking garage and kind of awkwardly stared at her for a little while. When she didn’t get out of her car for several minutes I went back outside to find that Whitey and Carl had arrived. So I gave up on the idea of getting the key once again and took off. Please note, Whitey and Carl were only several minutes later than they'd said they'd be.
Whitey and I went to the office and Carl left with the car presumably to go home and shower, and perhaps get his work stuff. His girlfriend left Australia this morning to head back to the States so I guess that means the life swap between Whitey and Carl is complete. Whitey can go back to his bed and apartment and Carl can go back to his mattress on the floor. And for another week, neither of them has a girlfriend around, since Julie doesn’t come back down under until the 13th. At least they have each other.
At the office I decided to try and write a story using quotes and information that I already have. During most of the interviews I’ve done here, I ask the guys what they enjoy about baseball in Australia and/or what people outside of this continent should know about the game down under. I figured I could come up with something with all of the answers I’ve received.
Before getting started, I called my mom. Instead of emailing back and forth about my plans and Spring Training, I thought I would take the opportunity to call. We talked mostly about baseball, except when she interrupted me to tell me about some obese Australian snake she had seen on the news. Apparently the fat snake had to have his diet cut from 10 goats per year to three, because he was on his way to death. I’m not sure why my mom felt that I needed to know any of that, but it efficiently distracted me from talking about baseball for a little while, if that’s what she was trying to do. I got back on track though, and tried to convince my mother that she should watch the Perth Heat stream of Saturday night’s game. It will start just after six in the morning in London, Ontario, Canada, so my mom can take in the whole game. She didn’t seem overly eager to do so but I felt like I was at least a little bit convincing. Mom, don’t forget to watch the game. This is the link. Just one Bandits game all year. You can do it.
At some point, a friend from the Blue Jays sent me the contact information for the Dunedin Blue Jays communications coordinator, so I emailed him about Kenny Wilson, also sending him the story I’d written. If Dunedin wants to use it for their website I am happy to provide them with content, and at the same time attempt to spread the word about the ABL.
Gonzo spent at least half of his morning trying to deal with people from the league about money issues, most of those issues surrounding my bank account. He had to call several people, and in the end they kept insisting that I had been paid. Unfortunately, my bank account begs to differ. The Gonz sent me a bank receipt that someone had forwarded to him, that did make it look like I had been paid, in contradiction with reality. So I called my bank and asked if they could check on the transfer with the receipt number and deposit information and whatever other numbers I had been given. I had no luck with the bank though, and they told me they could only deal with the transfer from the other end. Someone with access to the league’s banking information would have to call to sort it out.
I continued trying to work on my story about the greatness of Australian baseball while I let other people deal with the money. That lasted 10s of minutes before lunch came into the conversation. The first idea we had was to head to Cut-in-Half, but Gonzo warned us that they might not be open, since Australian people still seem to be on holiday time. Carl called and with no answer at the more amusing restaurant, we settled for Subway. I took orders and when Carl couldn’t decide what he wanted, made him come with me to get the food for everyone. I realized that was a poor judgment call when he tried to steal my sub. Okay, he didn’t really try to steal it, but he did mistake mine for his (we did not get the same thing), and started letting the Subway workers to put all kinds of vegetables on it before I realized. They scraped them off and put them on his sub eventually, but I was unimpressed.
When I got back from lunch there was money in my bank account! For the first time since I opened the account and they made me put 50 bucks in there, I have money! I hope the exclamation points are indicative of the amount of excitement that was bursting out of me when I made this discovery. My payment from the league for the month of November now actually belongs to me. It’s a good day.
While I ate my lunch I read about Carlos Zambrano heading to Miami to play for the Marlins. That could prove to be interesting. He and Ozzie Guillen have enough character for any team just individually, but the combination of them, plus Jose Reyes and others, should make for a fun season. I found it interesting that the Cubs are paying almost 75 per cent of Zambrano’s salary still owing, reminding me of the conversation between Brad Pitt and Stephen Bishop in Moneyball. Bishop plays David Justice in the movie, and Pitt reminds him while he’s in the batting cage that the Yankees were paying half his salary to have him play against them. Though the Marlins and the Cubs are not in the same league, I find an uncanny similarity between Justice and Zambrano in that scenario, though they are incredibly different players and characters.
After lunch and my thought-provoking reading, I got back to writing about Aussie baseball. The story was beginning to look pretty lengthy, but I felt like I was on the right track. I wanted to add another American voice to the story at one point, so I texted SJ. He didn’t respond, so I sent a message to Staatz. By the way, Staatz is an awesome name for a baseball player, right? Have I said that before? The California native gave me a usable quote and was happy with how I was using it in my story, so I was on my way to finishing.
Carl and Whitey took off in the early afternoon, without offering me a ride. Whitey was going away for the weekend somewhere and Carl was giving him a ride to his departure destination. I don’t really know anything more about it than that, but I did ask Gonzo if he would be so kind as to give me a ride home when he was going to leave the office because the other two had left me. I didn’t consider walking an option, though I probably should have.
I finished up my story and printed it out so Gonzo could read it. I wanted his opinion, since the article is about the league and why it’s great, and the Gonz is one of the biggest advocates for that cause. Originally I planned on getting a quote from him about it but the article was getting to be pretty long already. As long as it’s interesting throughout the whole piece, I feel I can get away with that. Gonzo read it, gave me a couple of suggestions, I made some changes, and we were done for the day soon after that.
On the ride home we talked about the idea of me coming back again for next season. It’s something that I am beginning to think that I really want to do. I am having a great time here and I think it that could continue for another year. It would be pretty close to being an entirely different experience too, since people like Carl and the player imports with whom I spend some of my time would be gone. With the advance notice I could also probably manage to get here before the beginning of the season next year, getting a jump on things and helping me to be more organized.
We also talked about the idea of going to Adelaide for the last Bandits series of the regular season. Gonzo mentioned that he might be going, because he was invited to play in some sort of old-timer’s game or something. I think if he were going, I would probably solidify my plans to go as well. That way I would at least have someone to watch the games with. And I could write a story about him playing in the old guys’ game. So I asked Gonzo to keep me posted on his plans. Adelaide? Perhaps.
When I got home the door to the office of the apartment building was open and I was able to get my new key from the building manager. I now have the ability to get into the apartment on my own. The independence is overwhelming.
Erin came home shortly after I did and we talked more about the possibility of me coming back to Brisbane for next season. We also talked about the potential for me to help spread the word about baseball in Australia with my writing. And if I have more time to be organized before the season, I feel like I could probably do more writing and more word-spreading.
After our chat, I settled in for an afternoon nap. I got a solid amount of rest and happily woke up on my own. It never feels as good when you wake up to an alarm. Forceful awakening is just cruel, though usual punishment. Feeling ambitious I decided to go for a run on the treadmill before game time. I ran a slow 10 kilometres, which I guess is good, but I need to start going faster and further in the very near future.
I came back upstairs from my run just in time for the Bandits game to begin. Ryan Searle made the start for Brisbane and pitched a great game, though I might argue that he stayed in a little longer than he should have. Hindsight is 20/20 though, right? He got through the first five innings allowing just two runs, on a two-run home run. He was effectively wild, hitting two batters and striking out eight. He started the sixth with another strikeout, but gave up another two runs before being taken out of the game. He had reached 100 pitches at that point, which kind of surprised me because I didn’t think the Cubs prospect would go over 80. And maybe he shouldn’t have.
The Bandits had 11 runs on the board at that point though, so the two extra runs he surrendered didn’t really factor into the equation. Finally the recipient of some run support, Searle got his first-ever ABL victory. It wasn’t easy though, as a one-time nine-run lead turned into a save situation for the visitors. John Veitch came in to close it out and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, which is impressive for this team lately. The game ended 11-8 in Brisbane’s favour, keeping them in fifth place in the standings. That being said, they are also only two-and-a-half games out of the second spot. It’s a tight race.
I sent the story to the media almost immediately, before I realized that I had typed the score wrong. I sent out the final version of the story citing the score as 11-5. Oops. I followed up with another email to everyone to let them know of my mistake. I then got the story up on the website pretty quickly, only to find out that I’d written “offensive outburst” in two paragraphs in a row. I guess I shouldn’t rush things. I changed it on the website and the new version can be found here, but it will remain that way in the version that I sent to the media. Writing game stories in the middle of the night are not my forte. I will try again to be better tomorrow night.
During my website management, and trying to fix all of my mistakes, I got an email from the communications coordinator with the Dunedin Blue Jays. He said that he would be happy to use my story about Kenny Wilson on the website, and will get it up next week. He also asked some questions about my job with the Toronto club and here in the ABL. I wrote back about my experiences and reciprocated with questions about his journey to the minor leagues.
I talked to Carl after he was done working at his job at the bar and I was finished with the game. We had a conversation about what we’ve each been doing during our last couple of weeks apart. Carl spent a lot of time traveling around, sightseeing, being productive and getting away from work. My two weeks were less interesting, and are also documented for the world to read, so if he were truly interested, he could go through all the details. I told BFC how unimpressed I was that he was ignoring my calls and text messages, especially since I wasn’t just calling to be chatty, I had business to attend to. He was apologetic, kind of. We talked about his girlfriend, though technically she isn’t his girlfriend, and the fact that they had a good time together, I think causing him to wonder if they can work things out again when he gets home. That turned into a little bit of a talk about life though, because I don’t know if Carl knows where home is going to be when this season is over. He doesn’t really know what he’s going to do or where he’s going to go, and there wasn’t a whole lot I could contribute to that part of the conversation. Eventually our conversation ended, since Carl was too tired for it to continue.
I didn’t get to sleep until four in the morning, though I have no real explanation for why. Could make for a long day tomorrow.
Saturday, January 07, 2012
You don't see the three-inning save too often (Day 58)
I woke up feeling like I’d barely had any sleep at all. Of course, last night’s 12-inning affair did just end a few short hours ago, but I did manage to get some shuteye once it was finally over.
Afraid that I might be getting sick again, I took some more cold pills, signalling the potential beginning of a disastrous day. I realized I looked even worse than I felt when I saw the bags under my eyes. It kind of felt like my eyes were swollen shut a little bit, though I have experienced that before and today wasn’t nearly as bad.
When I was in university, my friend Sarah and I went on a trip to Orlando, Florida and got to stay at the Universal Studios resorts, because my aunt had a conference for work there. Prior to our trip to the sunshine state (not Queensland, though they both have the same nickname), I decided to get a base tan at home, using a tanning bed. Every time I went, I wore the little protective eye goggles, making sure not to damage my retina. During our trip, one day we were lying out by the pool and I fell asleep in the sun. I didn’t think anything of it until the next morning when I woke up and my eyes were swollen shut. I actually panicked at first and thought I was blind. As it turns out, I didn’t think to put sunscreen on my eyelids and they’d gotten burnt, swelling up overnight. I was not blind. And that’s the experience I had with that. You’re welcome.
I finally decided to get the day started and after showering and getting dressed, I posted Anna’s story on the Brisbane Bandits website. Everyone can read into the life of first baseman David “Goofy” Sutherland now. I’d like to think I am getting better with website management, though I don’t really want to jinx the success that I’ve been having as of late.
Midway through the morning I still hadn’t heard anything from Whitey so I texted him to see if he was still at the immigration office. He warned me yesterday when he dropped me off that he had to head there this morning to deal with something for Julie and that he would just pick me up when it was finished. He responded to my text to let me know that he was indeed still at immigration, and that today would just be a work-from-home kind of day. It made me wish that I hadn’t gotten out of bed and/or showered, but I guess both of those things make me a more civilized human being.
I could have done a lot more during my time at home, but I must admit that I squandered much of the day away. I definitely could have been doing the work that I need to get done for the Blue Jays, including research and compiling information, but I did not do any such thing. Why, you ask? I have no good reason.
Being home alone made me start to feel a little homesick. Not being around people at the office plus not receiving many text messages, since Carl and Whitey are busy and the team is away, made me a little lonely. I got over that loneliness with two things. One, the comfort of knowing how cold it is at home and that there is no baseball being played currently in Canada. And two, an afternoon nap. I needed the extra sleep that I’d lost from last night and it made me feel much better about life in general. Afternoon naps can do that for you. Or at least for me.
When I woke up, I got on my computer. I answered emails while eating and watching DVDs of House, still not getting any work done, for the Blue Jays or for anyone else. I saw that Justin Staatz had posted the game story from last night on his Facebook page, the version that the Courier-Mail put online. I was unimpressed, because their version was just my story without my byline. I sent Staatz a message to say that while I am promoting him, he is certainly not promoting me. That started a conversation about how I should have included information in the story about him pitching on just three days’ rest, and right after a six-hour flight to Perth in the morning, so I guess we both didn’t do things we could have.
When Erin came home from work she asked if I was still expecting her to go to the park again with me for some more circuit training. She had biked to and from work and had gone to the gym in the morning, so didn’t really want to head to Downey Park again. That was fine by me, though it meant that I needed to be really motivated if I was going to get any exercise. However, I lacked that motivation.
I finished up the player cards for the guy who I’ve been emailing with back and forth. Hopefully they can get done before the next home series, especially because if they don’t, I wasted a lot of time on them.
I checked my credit card statement again today for some reason, even though I cancelled the card when I lost it. Much to my surprise, there were more transactions on my statement. They must have just not come through yet when I last looked. I discovered that the last purchase I made on the card was for a cab, meaning that I did pay for my ride home from the bar on New Year’s Eve. I’m happy about that, and also about the fact that I probably just left all my stuff in the cab. I don’t hold out much hope for getting it back, despite this new information, because I already called the cab company and asked about my lost items and they told me they didn’t have them. I will definitely call again now though. Maybe, just maybe, someone realized my Ontario driver’s license is useless to them.
Before the Bandits game, I worked on some writing and eventually turned on the TV, looking for something to watch other than House. I didn’t think I would find anything, since we only have five channels, but I found an episode of Law and Order. It’s the first time I’ve seen the show since I left home, so that was pretty exciting. It wasn’t SVU, which is my favourite, but it was still something. I watched it until the game started, at which point I got back to work.
Maestri started the game for the Bandits, and continued right where he left off with his ast game when he won the Player of the Week award. He was dealing, though he was working through his pitch count a little faster than what would be ideal. Prior to the game I had asked him to give me the Italian translation for strikeout, which he said is eliminazione al piatto. I wanted to try and somehow get it into my story, but when I realized that my Italian grammar is probably subpar and I don’t even know how to turn the word ‘strikeout’ into ‘strikeouts’, I decided I should just stay away. Maybe next week.
The Italian Stallion got through six innings, giving up just one solo home run and striking out six. That makes him the league leader in innings pitched so far this season and ranks him second in total strikeouts on the year. What a guy. If he’s not doing all the right things in order to get himself a job for when the season is done here, I don’t know what else a guy can do.
SJ came on in relief of his roommie, which would have made for an awkward time if he wasn’t successful on the mound. He was though. SJ lasted the final three innings of the game, giving up a solo shot of his own, but otherwise throwing decently. Though the game ended 6-2, he recorded a save, because he pitched the last three frames. It’s just his second save on the season, in five opportunities. Hopefully it’s a sign of what’s to come though.
I got the story finished and sent to the media almost immediately as the game ended. My only holdup was that I was looking for a picture to go with the story on the website we use for all of our photography and I was thrown off by the date. Because it’s after midnight here, it’s a new day, obviously. That fact was not so obvious to me however, as I was searching for photos from the wrong date. Once I figured it out, I got the story out. Getting it online didn’t take me as long as it had yesterday, so I accomplished that goal, and if you're interested you can find it here.
Having found success I figured it was time to hit the sack. I can only do so much in one day. I’m sure I will be forced into more productivity tomorrow, so I need to rest up for that.
Afraid that I might be getting sick again, I took some more cold pills, signalling the potential beginning of a disastrous day. I realized I looked even worse than I felt when I saw the bags under my eyes. It kind of felt like my eyes were swollen shut a little bit, though I have experienced that before and today wasn’t nearly as bad.
When I was in university, my friend Sarah and I went on a trip to Orlando, Florida and got to stay at the Universal Studios resorts, because my aunt had a conference for work there. Prior to our trip to the sunshine state (not Queensland, though they both have the same nickname), I decided to get a base tan at home, using a tanning bed. Every time I went, I wore the little protective eye goggles, making sure not to damage my retina. During our trip, one day we were lying out by the pool and I fell asleep in the sun. I didn’t think anything of it until the next morning when I woke up and my eyes were swollen shut. I actually panicked at first and thought I was blind. As it turns out, I didn’t think to put sunscreen on my eyelids and they’d gotten burnt, swelling up overnight. I was not blind. And that’s the experience I had with that. You’re welcome.
I finally decided to get the day started and after showering and getting dressed, I posted Anna’s story on the Brisbane Bandits website. Everyone can read into the life of first baseman David “Goofy” Sutherland now. I’d like to think I am getting better with website management, though I don’t really want to jinx the success that I’ve been having as of late.
Midway through the morning I still hadn’t heard anything from Whitey so I texted him to see if he was still at the immigration office. He warned me yesterday when he dropped me off that he had to head there this morning to deal with something for Julie and that he would just pick me up when it was finished. He responded to my text to let me know that he was indeed still at immigration, and that today would just be a work-from-home kind of day. It made me wish that I hadn’t gotten out of bed and/or showered, but I guess both of those things make me a more civilized human being.
I could have done a lot more during my time at home, but I must admit that I squandered much of the day away. I definitely could have been doing the work that I need to get done for the Blue Jays, including research and compiling information, but I did not do any such thing. Why, you ask? I have no good reason.
Being home alone made me start to feel a little homesick. Not being around people at the office plus not receiving many text messages, since Carl and Whitey are busy and the team is away, made me a little lonely. I got over that loneliness with two things. One, the comfort of knowing how cold it is at home and that there is no baseball being played currently in Canada. And two, an afternoon nap. I needed the extra sleep that I’d lost from last night and it made me feel much better about life in general. Afternoon naps can do that for you. Or at least for me.
When I woke up, I got on my computer. I answered emails while eating and watching DVDs of House, still not getting any work done, for the Blue Jays or for anyone else. I saw that Justin Staatz had posted the game story from last night on his Facebook page, the version that the Courier-Mail put online. I was unimpressed, because their version was just my story without my byline. I sent Staatz a message to say that while I am promoting him, he is certainly not promoting me. That started a conversation about how I should have included information in the story about him pitching on just three days’ rest, and right after a six-hour flight to Perth in the morning, so I guess we both didn’t do things we could have.
When Erin came home from work she asked if I was still expecting her to go to the park again with me for some more circuit training. She had biked to and from work and had gone to the gym in the morning, so didn’t really want to head to Downey Park again. That was fine by me, though it meant that I needed to be really motivated if I was going to get any exercise. However, I lacked that motivation.
I finished up the player cards for the guy who I’ve been emailing with back and forth. Hopefully they can get done before the next home series, especially because if they don’t, I wasted a lot of time on them.
I checked my credit card statement again today for some reason, even though I cancelled the card when I lost it. Much to my surprise, there were more transactions on my statement. They must have just not come through yet when I last looked. I discovered that the last purchase I made on the card was for a cab, meaning that I did pay for my ride home from the bar on New Year’s Eve. I’m happy about that, and also about the fact that I probably just left all my stuff in the cab. I don’t hold out much hope for getting it back, despite this new information, because I already called the cab company and asked about my lost items and they told me they didn’t have them. I will definitely call again now though. Maybe, just maybe, someone realized my Ontario driver’s license is useless to them.
Before the Bandits game, I worked on some writing and eventually turned on the TV, looking for something to watch other than House. I didn’t think I would find anything, since we only have five channels, but I found an episode of Law and Order. It’s the first time I’ve seen the show since I left home, so that was pretty exciting. It wasn’t SVU, which is my favourite, but it was still something. I watched it until the game started, at which point I got back to work.
Maestri started the game for the Bandits, and continued right where he left off with his ast game when he won the Player of the Week award. He was dealing, though he was working through his pitch count a little faster than what would be ideal. Prior to the game I had asked him to give me the Italian translation for strikeout, which he said is eliminazione al piatto. I wanted to try and somehow get it into my story, but when I realized that my Italian grammar is probably subpar and I don’t even know how to turn the word ‘strikeout’ into ‘strikeouts’, I decided I should just stay away. Maybe next week.
The Italian Stallion got through six innings, giving up just one solo home run and striking out six. That makes him the league leader in innings pitched so far this season and ranks him second in total strikeouts on the year. What a guy. If he’s not doing all the right things in order to get himself a job for when the season is done here, I don’t know what else a guy can do.
SJ came on in relief of his roommie, which would have made for an awkward time if he wasn’t successful on the mound. He was though. SJ lasted the final three innings of the game, giving up a solo shot of his own, but otherwise throwing decently. Though the game ended 6-2, he recorded a save, because he pitched the last three frames. It’s just his second save on the season, in five opportunities. Hopefully it’s a sign of what’s to come though.
I got the story finished and sent to the media almost immediately as the game ended. My only holdup was that I was looking for a picture to go with the story on the website we use for all of our photography and I was thrown off by the date. Because it’s after midnight here, it’s a new day, obviously. That fact was not so obvious to me however, as I was searching for photos from the wrong date. Once I figured it out, I got the story out. Getting it online didn’t take me as long as it had yesterday, so I accomplished that goal, and if you're interested you can find it here.
Having found success I figured it was time to hit the sack. I can only do so much in one day. I’m sure I will be forced into more productivity tomorrow, so I need to rest up for that.
Thursday, January 05, 2012
What am I, writing about other teams now? (Day 57)
I got up long before I had to leave for the office once again, and decided to get straight to work and start writing about either Rhodes or Wilson. My motivation is overwhelming first thing in the morning. Too bad it always dies off before afternoon hits.
Before I interviewed Wilson on Saturday, I tried to contact the Toronto Blue Jays beat reporter for MLB.com to see if he would be interested in the story. I heard from him this morning, and he let me know that while he doesn’t control the content for the website (which I already knew), he would ask the person who handles the freelance material for the site and get back to me. Because of that, I thought I should perhaps think about starting the Wilson piece, but instead I opted to start writing about the hometown boy, Rory Rhodes.
I was interrupted in my writing about Rhodes by a text from Whitey, talking about picking me up on Whitey Time. The best part is that everyone knows how his clock seems to work, even him. So I had a little time to work on the article before heading to the office. When we did eventually make it to the office, I finished up the piece with few interruptions.
While writing, I did get a couple of emails that I needed to follow up on right away. The guy in charge of making the player cards had gotten back to me with the proper instructions on what was needed on my end, so I told him I would start finishing that up later today, though it might not be just a one-day job. Hopefully we can get those done for the final series of the season. Otherwise I guess all of the effort would be a waste.
Anna, the other main contributor to the Brisbane Bandits website, had also emailed me with a story that she had finished on first baseman David “Goofy” Sutherland. I wrote her back and said that I was trying to get a story up on the website on Rhodes at the moment and that I would hold hers until tomorrow morning, so that we have fresh content for another day. She seemed fine with that, and we continued exchanging emails about various other stories that we are working on or that we hope to get started. Anna is hoping that between us we can get a feature story done on each guy on the team, and I am confident that we can accomplish such a thing.
I got the story on Rhodes up on the website here and then got Anna’s piece ready so that all I will have to do in the morning is click a few buttons and it will be online right away. Anna and I made plans to meet for lunch to discuss our strategies for writing for the remainder of the season, and not long after I was through with my website managing for the morning, she was at the office waiting for me.
We went back to the sushi place around the corner that I like, which I felt was a good choice on Anna’s part, even though I just ate there yesterday. It was still good. We talked a lot about why baseball isn’t more popular here, though neither of us really knew the answer. It’s sad to know that people who work right down the street from the RNA don’t even know that there’s a ball team in town, but both of us have had instances where we’ve heard such responses. We also spent some time discussing all the reasons why the guys on the team should want to do our interviews. Most of them aren’t difficult about it, but whenever I have to ask for their time I feel like I am always taking them away from something more important. I get the impression they have better places to be, but I am just trying to spread the word a little bit about the team, the players and the league. Obviously that’s what Anna is trying to do too. We decided it probably would have been easier from the beginning if we’d had a proper introduction to the team and if they had known right away who we were and what we’re here for. I tried to introduce myself via email a couple weeks after my arrival, but it probably could have been done sooner and more effectively.
Our lunch went on for awhile, since Anna and I have never really gotten the chance to sit down and talk about everything before. It was a good time and good food, and as a pleasant surprise, Anna paid for everything. She said it was a business lunch, not allowing me to give her any money for all the food I had eaten. It quickly went from being a great meal to being fantastic, since free stuff always ups the ante.
When I got back to work, I set to task on writing about Kenny Wilson. I was having a tough time writing it, figuring out how I wanted to approach it so that various publications might want to use it. I decided to start with the angle of discussing former Blue Jays minor leaguers who have spent time in the ABL, including Vernon Wells, Shannon Stewart and Homer Bush, but even that was hard because records of the old league are kind of hard to find and figure out. As I was trying to sort through a book full of ABL records and statistics, Gonzo was going through another copy of the same book, looking at his own numbers. He told us all about his 2002 season, when he hit something like .476 with an OPS of around 1.500 or something ridiculous.
With everyone in the office watching the test cricket match and Gonzo talking about various baseball statistics, I was pretty distracted from my writing. I tried to get through some more of the Wilson story but it was going nowhere fast. It wasn’t long before Whitey, Gonzo and I left the office for the day though, and I started into it again when I got home.
When Erin got home from work, we talked about heading back to Downey Park for some circuit training. She was ready to leave but I thought I was close to finishing the article, so I asked if we could hold off for a little while. I finally got through the Wilson piece and was happy with the product I was putting out. I emailed it first to the Blue Jays beat reporter for MLB.com, letting him know that it was finished, should they be able to use it on the website. I then sent the story to the Assistant General Manager for the Canberra Cavalry, thinking that they might want to use it on their own site. And lastly, I tried to Canadian-it-up a little more, and sent it to the editor at Canadian Baseball Network. By the time I was through all that, the AGM from Canberra had gotten back to me, suggesting that I send the story to the Dunedin Blue Jays, where Wilson played last. I wrote him back thanking him for the suggestion but letting him know that I don’t have any contact information for anyone with the High-A team.
I was finally ready to leave and head to Downey Park with Erin. I needed the exercise, though I definitely could have used more than we got. Halfway through our workout, Erin noticed that the Queensland softball team (equivalent to fastball in Canada) was practicing across the park, so we went and watched them play for awhile. They were just running simple drills, so it wasn’t the most exciting thing to watch. After getting a few bug bites, sitting around in the stands as a spectator, we went back to our training and finished up at the park shortly thereafter.
We made it back to the apartment with enough time for me to work on the player cards before the Bandits game in Perth was slated to commence. I got about halfway through the cards, finally conforming to the proper restrictions. I emailed the guy who is waiting for me to finish, letting him know that I got halfway through and that I will be completely finished tomorrow. That’s the hope anyway, and telling him that makes it more likely that I will do it. Pressure's on.
The game in Perth started at 9:20 p.m. Brisbane time, with a two-hour time difference between here and there. I got to watch the entire game online, which is something I haven’t been able to do before. Heat TV is pretty impressive, at least for the standards I have in place for the league at this point. I was happy not to have to watch the game pitch-by-pitch on GameCast, so my night started off well. I can’t say the same for the Bandits.
Justin Staatz made the start for Brisbane, throwing a decent game, despite fighting command issues seemingly all night. He got through 5 1/3 innings giving up just two runs, but he walked five batters. Both runs were scored as earned runs, though the second one shouldn’t have been, in my opinion. With runners at first and second, Perth implemented a double steal on a third strike. Bandits catcher Ryan Battaglia threw down to third and missed, sending the ball into the outfield and allowing the runner to score. I believe the inning ended another batter later, causing me to wonder why that run was earned, but I’m not a scorer. So in my mind, Staatz only gave up one earned run, keeping the team in a very good position to win.
The Bandits didn’t score any runs until after he was out of the game though. In his 13 1/3 total innings over two games, the offense has only given Staatz two total runs of support. Tough break for the American right-hander. Brisbane did manage to tie it up in the seventh though, keeping it that way and sending the game into extras. Of course the game would go into extras when I was already tired and it started late. Makes sense.
During the extra innings, I found myself going through all of the other Bandits game scores to figure out how many times they have won and lost in extras, and what their record is one-run games, because it feels like they've had a lot of them. From the online broadcasters I learned that it was the first time the Heat had hosted free baseball at Barbagallo Ballpark. Lucky for them. And through my research, I discovered that heading into tonight’s affair, Brisbane has lost four extra-inning games (and won none), and has a 3-7 record in one-run games.
After the hometown team walked off on error to David Sutherland (which I think should have been scored a hit, but again, not a scorer), the Bandits record in one-run games moved to 3-8 on the season, with now five losses in extras. For some reason, they just can’t get it done in close-and-late situations.
When I finished the story about the game, I sent it away to the media, using my Gmail account for whatever its worth. Then I got the article up on the Bandits website, finally getting everything done at around 2 o’clock in the morning. The game lasted three hours and 43 minutes, so that means it took almost an hour for me to finish up the story, send it to the media and get it on the website. I am hoping to improve upon that number tomorrow.
I’m also hoping to get to sleep earlier tomorrow than tonight. Wishful thinking? I hope not.
Before I interviewed Wilson on Saturday, I tried to contact the Toronto Blue Jays beat reporter for MLB.com to see if he would be interested in the story. I heard from him this morning, and he let me know that while he doesn’t control the content for the website (which I already knew), he would ask the person who handles the freelance material for the site and get back to me. Because of that, I thought I should perhaps think about starting the Wilson piece, but instead I opted to start writing about the hometown boy, Rory Rhodes.
I was interrupted in my writing about Rhodes by a text from Whitey, talking about picking me up on Whitey Time. The best part is that everyone knows how his clock seems to work, even him. So I had a little time to work on the article before heading to the office. When we did eventually make it to the office, I finished up the piece with few interruptions.
While writing, I did get a couple of emails that I needed to follow up on right away. The guy in charge of making the player cards had gotten back to me with the proper instructions on what was needed on my end, so I told him I would start finishing that up later today, though it might not be just a one-day job. Hopefully we can get those done for the final series of the season. Otherwise I guess all of the effort would be a waste.
Anna, the other main contributor to the Brisbane Bandits website, had also emailed me with a story that she had finished on first baseman David “Goofy” Sutherland. I wrote her back and said that I was trying to get a story up on the website on Rhodes at the moment and that I would hold hers until tomorrow morning, so that we have fresh content for another day. She seemed fine with that, and we continued exchanging emails about various other stories that we are working on or that we hope to get started. Anna is hoping that between us we can get a feature story done on each guy on the team, and I am confident that we can accomplish such a thing.
I got the story on Rhodes up on the website here and then got Anna’s piece ready so that all I will have to do in the morning is click a few buttons and it will be online right away. Anna and I made plans to meet for lunch to discuss our strategies for writing for the remainder of the season, and not long after I was through with my website managing for the morning, she was at the office waiting for me.
We went back to the sushi place around the corner that I like, which I felt was a good choice on Anna’s part, even though I just ate there yesterday. It was still good. We talked a lot about why baseball isn’t more popular here, though neither of us really knew the answer. It’s sad to know that people who work right down the street from the RNA don’t even know that there’s a ball team in town, but both of us have had instances where we’ve heard such responses. We also spent some time discussing all the reasons why the guys on the team should want to do our interviews. Most of them aren’t difficult about it, but whenever I have to ask for their time I feel like I am always taking them away from something more important. I get the impression they have better places to be, but I am just trying to spread the word a little bit about the team, the players and the league. Obviously that’s what Anna is trying to do too. We decided it probably would have been easier from the beginning if we’d had a proper introduction to the team and if they had known right away who we were and what we’re here for. I tried to introduce myself via email a couple weeks after my arrival, but it probably could have been done sooner and more effectively.
Our lunch went on for awhile, since Anna and I have never really gotten the chance to sit down and talk about everything before. It was a good time and good food, and as a pleasant surprise, Anna paid for everything. She said it was a business lunch, not allowing me to give her any money for all the food I had eaten. It quickly went from being a great meal to being fantastic, since free stuff always ups the ante.
When I got back to work, I set to task on writing about Kenny Wilson. I was having a tough time writing it, figuring out how I wanted to approach it so that various publications might want to use it. I decided to start with the angle of discussing former Blue Jays minor leaguers who have spent time in the ABL, including Vernon Wells, Shannon Stewart and Homer Bush, but even that was hard because records of the old league are kind of hard to find and figure out. As I was trying to sort through a book full of ABL records and statistics, Gonzo was going through another copy of the same book, looking at his own numbers. He told us all about his 2002 season, when he hit something like .476 with an OPS of around 1.500 or something ridiculous.
With everyone in the office watching the test cricket match and Gonzo talking about various baseball statistics, I was pretty distracted from my writing. I tried to get through some more of the Wilson story but it was going nowhere fast. It wasn’t long before Whitey, Gonzo and I left the office for the day though, and I started into it again when I got home.
When Erin got home from work, we talked about heading back to Downey Park for some circuit training. She was ready to leave but I thought I was close to finishing the article, so I asked if we could hold off for a little while. I finally got through the Wilson piece and was happy with the product I was putting out. I emailed it first to the Blue Jays beat reporter for MLB.com, letting him know that it was finished, should they be able to use it on the website. I then sent the story to the Assistant General Manager for the Canberra Cavalry, thinking that they might want to use it on their own site. And lastly, I tried to Canadian-it-up a little more, and sent it to the editor at Canadian Baseball Network. By the time I was through all that, the AGM from Canberra had gotten back to me, suggesting that I send the story to the Dunedin Blue Jays, where Wilson played last. I wrote him back thanking him for the suggestion but letting him know that I don’t have any contact information for anyone with the High-A team.
I was finally ready to leave and head to Downey Park with Erin. I needed the exercise, though I definitely could have used more than we got. Halfway through our workout, Erin noticed that the Queensland softball team (equivalent to fastball in Canada) was practicing across the park, so we went and watched them play for awhile. They were just running simple drills, so it wasn’t the most exciting thing to watch. After getting a few bug bites, sitting around in the stands as a spectator, we went back to our training and finished up at the park shortly thereafter.
We made it back to the apartment with enough time for me to work on the player cards before the Bandits game in Perth was slated to commence. I got about halfway through the cards, finally conforming to the proper restrictions. I emailed the guy who is waiting for me to finish, letting him know that I got halfway through and that I will be completely finished tomorrow. That’s the hope anyway, and telling him that makes it more likely that I will do it. Pressure's on.
The game in Perth started at 9:20 p.m. Brisbane time, with a two-hour time difference between here and there. I got to watch the entire game online, which is something I haven’t been able to do before. Heat TV is pretty impressive, at least for the standards I have in place for the league at this point. I was happy not to have to watch the game pitch-by-pitch on GameCast, so my night started off well. I can’t say the same for the Bandits.
Justin Staatz made the start for Brisbane, throwing a decent game, despite fighting command issues seemingly all night. He got through 5 1/3 innings giving up just two runs, but he walked five batters. Both runs were scored as earned runs, though the second one shouldn’t have been, in my opinion. With runners at first and second, Perth implemented a double steal on a third strike. Bandits catcher Ryan Battaglia threw down to third and missed, sending the ball into the outfield and allowing the runner to score. I believe the inning ended another batter later, causing me to wonder why that run was earned, but I’m not a scorer. So in my mind, Staatz only gave up one earned run, keeping the team in a very good position to win.
The Bandits didn’t score any runs until after he was out of the game though. In his 13 1/3 total innings over two games, the offense has only given Staatz two total runs of support. Tough break for the American right-hander. Brisbane did manage to tie it up in the seventh though, keeping it that way and sending the game into extras. Of course the game would go into extras when I was already tired and it started late. Makes sense.
During the extra innings, I found myself going through all of the other Bandits game scores to figure out how many times they have won and lost in extras, and what their record is one-run games, because it feels like they've had a lot of them. From the online broadcasters I learned that it was the first time the Heat had hosted free baseball at Barbagallo Ballpark. Lucky for them. And through my research, I discovered that heading into tonight’s affair, Brisbane has lost four extra-inning games (and won none), and has a 3-7 record in one-run games.
After the hometown team walked off on error to David Sutherland (which I think should have been scored a hit, but again, not a scorer), the Bandits record in one-run games moved to 3-8 on the season, with now five losses in extras. For some reason, they just can’t get it done in close-and-late situations.
When I finished the story about the game, I sent it away to the media, using my Gmail account for whatever its worth. Then I got the article up on the Bandits website, finally getting everything done at around 2 o’clock in the morning. The game lasted three hours and 43 minutes, so that means it took almost an hour for me to finish up the story, send it to the media and get it on the website. I am hoping to improve upon that number tomorrow.
I’m also hoping to get to sleep earlier tomorrow than tonight. Wishful thinking? I hope not.
It's not September 28th anymore (Day 56)
I got up early on the first work day of the week. I was showered, dressed, fed and ready to go well before Whitey was supposed to come pick me up. I guess I was feeling ambitious after not really working for a couple of days.
Whitey had informed me that he would be picking me up around 8:30 a.m. for the office, but that was of course in Whitey Standard Time, meaning that he would probably be over around 9:15 a.m. or slightly later. While I waited, I did some journal-writing. I believe that I will soon be back on track, and writing about the most recent day that passed, not having to go through my notes, writing about days beyond that. It will happen.
On our way to the office, Whitey asked if I had seen that Maestri was named Player of the Week for Round 8 of Australian Baseball League action. I told him that I knew, and that Justin Staatz, our newest American import player, was also named a runner-up. I made mention of both such facts in my story about the Bandits making their push for a playoff spot. We decided that instead of just making mention, I should write a story just about them and their personal accolades.
When we got to the office I started writing and decided that I needed quotes to make the story more interesting. It’s not that their pitching performances weren’t enough on their own, but just compiling a bunch of statistics from two games into a story doesn’t exactly suit the Australian audience. Though I will not stray from adding statistics and using baseball language in my stories, I do realize that Australian people don’t always pay attention to that stuff. So there has to be something else to add substance. I texted Maestri to see if he would send me a quote, and then decided to settle on a quote from our Assistant General Manager if that didn’t work out. Whitey came up with something that was good enough and as I was putting it in the article, Maestri got back to me. I had contributions from two sources. Perfect.
I got the story on the website and then asked Whitey to send it to the media. I have trouble sending things from my Brisbane Bandits email account with the proper attachments and formats, and I have a feeling some people would ignore emails from my Gmail account, so it was easier to get Whitey to do it. At least I knew everyone would get it that way, spreading the word about the impressive arms on our staff.
After that, it felt like a good time to have some lunch. I decided I would head down the street in the hopes that the sushi place would be open. If it wasn’t, for the holidays or whatever other reason people might have for shutting down their businesses, Subway is right next door, and always a good second choice. I told Whitey where I was headed and offered to pick him up something should he so choose. He gave me his Subway order and I was on my way. The sushi place was open so I placed my order and then made the short journey to get Whitey’s lunch. His was much faster than mine, though I must admit, mine looked a lot better.
As I usually do while I am eating in the office, I read articles about baseball. Apparently what’s big news in Major League Baseball right now is September 28 (or 28 September for the Australian readers). It was a pretty epic day, the final day of the regular season, seeing two teams overcome huge deficits in the standings to take wild card spots into the playoffs. But if MLB is searching for content that doesn’t happen to be about something that happened three months ago, they could certainly look down under. Right?
I’m not trying to take anything away from September 28, because I had a great time watching the four games that mattered, after seeing the final Florida Marlins game in person at Sun Life Stadium. I was in Miami with my mom and we both enjoyed watching Boston’s collapse in completion, followed by Tampa’s triumphant finish just moments later. But there is still baseball going on now, at this very moment. And I would love for people to hear about it.
I started transcribing my interview with Kenny Wilson after lunch, getting most of the way through it before finishing up the day at the office. Whitey had to leave to head to a meeting in the city and he took me home on his way so that I would be at the apartment when Erin came back from work, so I could let her in. He dropped me off at home, with the keys to the RNA so that I could let everyone in for training later in the day.
At home, I finished transcribing Wilson’s interview and started to think about how to approach writing about him. One of the questions I’d asked Wilson was about whether or not Canadians are different to play with, and how they might be different. He said that Canadians are “happier”, so I tweeted Michael Crouse to ask for his thoughts on the comment. Wilson and Crouse, a native of British Columbia, played a stint together for the Lansing Lugnuts two seasons ago. I thought I might be able to use Crouse’s response in my story but his reply was that he had no idea what Wilson might have been talking about. We are a happy people though. I would agree.
I gave up on writing about Wilson just before heading to practice and instead came up with questions for Josh Roberts and Rory Rhodes. I asked Roberts over the weekend if I could grab a few minutes of his time for an interview, but I never made it to him so I thought practice might be a good opportunity. And I figured I could be ambitious and try to get to talk to Rhodes too. I’m actually surprised that there hasn’t been a story on either of them already, by me or anyone else.
Rhodes is a 20-year-old Minnesota Twins prospect who managed to earn runner-up honours in the ABL Rookie of the Year award voting last season. He didn’t get off to a hot start this season, likely due to the fact that he had a couple injuries, but over the weekend against Canberra it appeared that he might have returned to form. He’s expected to make a big impact eventually though.
Roberts was the team MVP for the Brisbane Bandits last year, and leads the current team in most offensive categories. He made Team Australia in the inaugural ABL All-Star Game this year, getting an assist from right field and hitting a home run. There’s been some talk that he is making a quiet push for a spot on the national team, which would be fantastic for him, though I’m not sure it’s actually on his mind at all. I can ask him in the interview though.
As I got to the gates outside of the Showgrounds, I saw Durket coming from the other direction. We walked the rest of the way together, though the gates were open so I was wondering why I needed to be there in the first place. As we made our way around the field, I saw SJ in the bullpen, presumably giving a pitching lesson to two of the kids we had Christmas brunch with. On the other side of the fence, Watto was playing t-ball with his son Joshua. There were more kids under the age of 10 on the field than adults. I walked over to talk to Watto and little Josh, soon finding out that although the gates were open, the locker room was not, so I left them to solve that problem.
As I opened up the clubhouse, I ran into Gonzo outside. He asked if I had been paid, which I have not. We drove around to a place where we could park and I pulled out my computer so we could double check my account numbers. The people at the league office had told Gonzo that they had sent at least one payment my way, which seems impossible because I have received no money. In the end we concluded that they might have had my account number and branch number backwards, but Gonzo set to fix that right away. He also fronted me some money so I wouldn’t be living on my credit card for at least a few days, and could pay my rent and things of that nature.
When we were done dealing with the business side of things, Gonzo and I went to join in the fun on the field. We started playing some ball with Watto and Joshua, eventually just trying to field all the balls that Joshua was hitting off the tee. Joshua is only five and he has a better swing than I ever did. When he got tired of hitting to us, Gonzo and I started playing catch. Eventually KJ’s son, Younger KJ, joined us. Gonzo wanted to keep throwing harder and from further distances, both being potentially embarrassing for me. He wasn’t throwing hard to me though, because I am sure he was afraid of breaking my face or something. But as we moved back, I warned him that I didn’t think I could throw that far, and he told me just to add an arc to the ball. I did, but I probably erased any thought that I might have some athleticism from the minds of the players who were watching. My throws made it to the intended target, eventually, but it wasn’t always pretty.
When the team started doing their warm-ups, almost running over us in the field, we started to get the infield ready for practice. Gonzo, Younger KJ and I took the sandbags and tarps off the bases, brought the screens in from the bullpen and set everything up for batting practice. Then Gonzo and I sat and watched Younger KJ taking ground balls at shortstop from his dad. He’s a 14-year-old infielder for the 16U Queensland team, heading for nationals in a couple days, so I guess he thought he could use the extra practice. I am sure he didn’t anticipate the abuse he would take from Gonzo though, chirping him from the sidelines.
Practice didn’t last long, having only three groups of hitters and with the pitchers seemingly not doing much. I don't think too many guys needed to throw bullpens. When we were putting everything back on the field before heading home, I happened to run into Rhodes at first base, and asked him if I could grab five minutes from him before he took off. I don’t think he wanted to but when I offered alternative options of doing it another day, or via email, I think he realized that I wasn’t going to give up. So he gave in. My interview took almost six minutes, so I was slightly off on my estimate, but he wasn’t outwardly upset about it.
I missed out on Roberts once again, since he was nowhere to be found after I left Rhodes. I'll get those questions answered someday. On my way off the field, a few of the guys were standing around talking, and Maestri and SJ decided to bring me into the conversation and talk about my New Year’s Eve. Hopefully I can live it down someday.
SJ started telling me that he has a hilarious picture of me and I tried to stop him mid-sentence. I told him that I don’t want to know about it, nor do I want to see it. Although I convinced him not to show me, he proceeded to let me know that it’s a picture of me trying to send a text on my phone. I apparently have one eye closed, the other one is squinty and I am holding my phone super close to my face. It sounds like something I would do, so I don’t think I ever need to see the photo evidence. If it shows up on his blog somehow though, I am sure my mom will let me know. You’re a faithful reader of his now, right mom? It’s too bad he hasn’t posted anything new since Byron Bay, but he is still better with getting pictures up than I am.
I made SJ give me a ride home, despite how short of a drive it was. He and Maestri made fun of me a little more during the ride, making me happy that it didn’t last long. It made me feel pretty lazy though, so I decided to go for a run in the apartment building ‘gym’ after that.
I got downstairs and much to my surprise, someone else was in the treadmill/exercise bike room. I was beginning to think other people didn’t even live in this building, but there was one, on the treadmill I had been hoping to use. I got on the exercise bike instead, figuring I could wait out the walker. It didn’t take long, as she left after about 10 minutes or so. That’s when I switched to the treadmill, starting out my run at a pace I thought I could continue for a decent amount of time. I was wrong, clearly overestimating myself and having to slow down. It’s disappointing and I have some significant work to do on my running.
If I were back in the northern hemisphere right now, I would be heading to Florida at some point this week to run the Goofy Challenge at Disney World. I did the Challenge last year, and signed up to do it again before knowing that I was heading down under. The race consists of a half marathon on the Saturday and a full marathon on the Sunday. That’s 39.3 miles of running in one weekend, or 63.3 kilometres. The most disappointing part of that is that I wouldn’t have even been nearly ready for it. I really need to get back in shape and sign up for a race in the near future to keep me motivated. I should start looking into some.
After my disappointing hour in the ‘gym’ I showered and transcribed my interview with Rhodes before heading to bed. I had to do something productive to finish the day out on a good note.
Whitey had informed me that he would be picking me up around 8:30 a.m. for the office, but that was of course in Whitey Standard Time, meaning that he would probably be over around 9:15 a.m. or slightly later. While I waited, I did some journal-writing. I believe that I will soon be back on track, and writing about the most recent day that passed, not having to go through my notes, writing about days beyond that. It will happen.
On our way to the office, Whitey asked if I had seen that Maestri was named Player of the Week for Round 8 of Australian Baseball League action. I told him that I knew, and that Justin Staatz, our newest American import player, was also named a runner-up. I made mention of both such facts in my story about the Bandits making their push for a playoff spot. We decided that instead of just making mention, I should write a story just about them and their personal accolades.
When we got to the office I started writing and decided that I needed quotes to make the story more interesting. It’s not that their pitching performances weren’t enough on their own, but just compiling a bunch of statistics from two games into a story doesn’t exactly suit the Australian audience. Though I will not stray from adding statistics and using baseball language in my stories, I do realize that Australian people don’t always pay attention to that stuff. So there has to be something else to add substance. I texted Maestri to see if he would send me a quote, and then decided to settle on a quote from our Assistant General Manager if that didn’t work out. Whitey came up with something that was good enough and as I was putting it in the article, Maestri got back to me. I had contributions from two sources. Perfect.
I got the story on the website and then asked Whitey to send it to the media. I have trouble sending things from my Brisbane Bandits email account with the proper attachments and formats, and I have a feeling some people would ignore emails from my Gmail account, so it was easier to get Whitey to do it. At least I knew everyone would get it that way, spreading the word about the impressive arms on our staff.
After that, it felt like a good time to have some lunch. I decided I would head down the street in the hopes that the sushi place would be open. If it wasn’t, for the holidays or whatever other reason people might have for shutting down their businesses, Subway is right next door, and always a good second choice. I told Whitey where I was headed and offered to pick him up something should he so choose. He gave me his Subway order and I was on my way. The sushi place was open so I placed my order and then made the short journey to get Whitey’s lunch. His was much faster than mine, though I must admit, mine looked a lot better.
As I usually do while I am eating in the office, I read articles about baseball. Apparently what’s big news in Major League Baseball right now is September 28 (or 28 September for the Australian readers). It was a pretty epic day, the final day of the regular season, seeing two teams overcome huge deficits in the standings to take wild card spots into the playoffs. But if MLB is searching for content that doesn’t happen to be about something that happened three months ago, they could certainly look down under. Right?
I’m not trying to take anything away from September 28, because I had a great time watching the four games that mattered, after seeing the final Florida Marlins game in person at Sun Life Stadium. I was in Miami with my mom and we both enjoyed watching Boston’s collapse in completion, followed by Tampa’s triumphant finish just moments later. But there is still baseball going on now, at this very moment. And I would love for people to hear about it.
I started transcribing my interview with Kenny Wilson after lunch, getting most of the way through it before finishing up the day at the office. Whitey had to leave to head to a meeting in the city and he took me home on his way so that I would be at the apartment when Erin came back from work, so I could let her in. He dropped me off at home, with the keys to the RNA so that I could let everyone in for training later in the day.
At home, I finished transcribing Wilson’s interview and started to think about how to approach writing about him. One of the questions I’d asked Wilson was about whether or not Canadians are different to play with, and how they might be different. He said that Canadians are “happier”, so I tweeted Michael Crouse to ask for his thoughts on the comment. Wilson and Crouse, a native of British Columbia, played a stint together for the Lansing Lugnuts two seasons ago. I thought I might be able to use Crouse’s response in my story but his reply was that he had no idea what Wilson might have been talking about. We are a happy people though. I would agree.
I gave up on writing about Wilson just before heading to practice and instead came up with questions for Josh Roberts and Rory Rhodes. I asked Roberts over the weekend if I could grab a few minutes of his time for an interview, but I never made it to him so I thought practice might be a good opportunity. And I figured I could be ambitious and try to get to talk to Rhodes too. I’m actually surprised that there hasn’t been a story on either of them already, by me or anyone else.
Rhodes is a 20-year-old Minnesota Twins prospect who managed to earn runner-up honours in the ABL Rookie of the Year award voting last season. He didn’t get off to a hot start this season, likely due to the fact that he had a couple injuries, but over the weekend against Canberra it appeared that he might have returned to form. He’s expected to make a big impact eventually though.
Roberts was the team MVP for the Brisbane Bandits last year, and leads the current team in most offensive categories. He made Team Australia in the inaugural ABL All-Star Game this year, getting an assist from right field and hitting a home run. There’s been some talk that he is making a quiet push for a spot on the national team, which would be fantastic for him, though I’m not sure it’s actually on his mind at all. I can ask him in the interview though.
As I got to the gates outside of the Showgrounds, I saw Durket coming from the other direction. We walked the rest of the way together, though the gates were open so I was wondering why I needed to be there in the first place. As we made our way around the field, I saw SJ in the bullpen, presumably giving a pitching lesson to two of the kids we had Christmas brunch with. On the other side of the fence, Watto was playing t-ball with his son Joshua. There were more kids under the age of 10 on the field than adults. I walked over to talk to Watto and little Josh, soon finding out that although the gates were open, the locker room was not, so I left them to solve that problem.
As I opened up the clubhouse, I ran into Gonzo outside. He asked if I had been paid, which I have not. We drove around to a place where we could park and I pulled out my computer so we could double check my account numbers. The people at the league office had told Gonzo that they had sent at least one payment my way, which seems impossible because I have received no money. In the end we concluded that they might have had my account number and branch number backwards, but Gonzo set to fix that right away. He also fronted me some money so I wouldn’t be living on my credit card for at least a few days, and could pay my rent and things of that nature.
When we were done dealing with the business side of things, Gonzo and I went to join in the fun on the field. We started playing some ball with Watto and Joshua, eventually just trying to field all the balls that Joshua was hitting off the tee. Joshua is only five and he has a better swing than I ever did. When he got tired of hitting to us, Gonzo and I started playing catch. Eventually KJ’s son, Younger KJ, joined us. Gonzo wanted to keep throwing harder and from further distances, both being potentially embarrassing for me. He wasn’t throwing hard to me though, because I am sure he was afraid of breaking my face or something. But as we moved back, I warned him that I didn’t think I could throw that far, and he told me just to add an arc to the ball. I did, but I probably erased any thought that I might have some athleticism from the minds of the players who were watching. My throws made it to the intended target, eventually, but it wasn’t always pretty.
When the team started doing their warm-ups, almost running over us in the field, we started to get the infield ready for practice. Gonzo, Younger KJ and I took the sandbags and tarps off the bases, brought the screens in from the bullpen and set everything up for batting practice. Then Gonzo and I sat and watched Younger KJ taking ground balls at shortstop from his dad. He’s a 14-year-old infielder for the 16U Queensland team, heading for nationals in a couple days, so I guess he thought he could use the extra practice. I am sure he didn’t anticipate the abuse he would take from Gonzo though, chirping him from the sidelines.
Practice didn’t last long, having only three groups of hitters and with the pitchers seemingly not doing much. I don't think too many guys needed to throw bullpens. When we were putting everything back on the field before heading home, I happened to run into Rhodes at first base, and asked him if I could grab five minutes from him before he took off. I don’t think he wanted to but when I offered alternative options of doing it another day, or via email, I think he realized that I wasn’t going to give up. So he gave in. My interview took almost six minutes, so I was slightly off on my estimate, but he wasn’t outwardly upset about it.
I missed out on Roberts once again, since he was nowhere to be found after I left Rhodes. I'll get those questions answered someday. On my way off the field, a few of the guys were standing around talking, and Maestri and SJ decided to bring me into the conversation and talk about my New Year’s Eve. Hopefully I can live it down someday.
SJ started telling me that he has a hilarious picture of me and I tried to stop him mid-sentence. I told him that I don’t want to know about it, nor do I want to see it. Although I convinced him not to show me, he proceeded to let me know that it’s a picture of me trying to send a text on my phone. I apparently have one eye closed, the other one is squinty and I am holding my phone super close to my face. It sounds like something I would do, so I don’t think I ever need to see the photo evidence. If it shows up on his blog somehow though, I am sure my mom will let me know. You’re a faithful reader of his now, right mom? It’s too bad he hasn’t posted anything new since Byron Bay, but he is still better with getting pictures up than I am.
I made SJ give me a ride home, despite how short of a drive it was. He and Maestri made fun of me a little more during the ride, making me happy that it didn’t last long. It made me feel pretty lazy though, so I decided to go for a run in the apartment building ‘gym’ after that.
I got downstairs and much to my surprise, someone else was in the treadmill/exercise bike room. I was beginning to think other people didn’t even live in this building, but there was one, on the treadmill I had been hoping to use. I got on the exercise bike instead, figuring I could wait out the walker. It didn’t take long, as she left after about 10 minutes or so. That’s when I switched to the treadmill, starting out my run at a pace I thought I could continue for a decent amount of time. I was wrong, clearly overestimating myself and having to slow down. It’s disappointing and I have some significant work to do on my running.
If I were back in the northern hemisphere right now, I would be heading to Florida at some point this week to run the Goofy Challenge at Disney World. I did the Challenge last year, and signed up to do it again before knowing that I was heading down under. The race consists of a half marathon on the Saturday and a full marathon on the Sunday. That’s 39.3 miles of running in one weekend, or 63.3 kilometres. The most disappointing part of that is that I wouldn’t have even been nearly ready for it. I really need to get back in shape and sign up for a race in the near future to keep me motivated. I should start looking into some.
After my disappointing hour in the ‘gym’ I showered and transcribed my interview with Rhodes before heading to bed. I had to do something productive to finish the day out on a good note.
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
A frustrating day (Day 55)
I should probably take some time to try and rebuild whatever parts of my reputation I have tarnished with my actions over the last couple of days.
First of all, I will point out that my behaviour was out of the ordinary. I rarely drink at home, and the amount of alcohol I have ingested during my time in Australia is probably equal to that of what I’ve ingested in the last three years or more in total at home. I’m not a changed person or anything, and I will likely resort back to my old ways once I return to Canada. It just seems to be the baseball life as I am living it right now. I have learned one thing if nothing else though, that being that I cannot keep up with the big boys. Nor should I try.
But for those people reading that don’t know me very well, or for my mom’s friends or extended family, who may or may not be worried about me, I’m fine. I have assured my mother that I haven’t changed my ways in general, I’ve just found that when the opportunity arises here to let loose, I’ve taken it. And it’s been a pretty good time, despite losing half of my worldly possessions and getting the feeling that I should be more embarrassed than I am.
I woke up early today, likely due to the fact that I pretty much went to sleep in the afternoon yesterday and remained in bed until this morning. I didn’t really know what to do with my time, and didn’t feel motivated to get out of bed right away, so I finally finished the book I started reading on the plane ride here. I’ve gotten through one book in like two months. I’m not doing so well. I know my mom and my friend Nicole are very disappointed. Sorry dudes.
Erin was up relatively early for a holiday morning and was headed for the Gold Coast. She left me the keys, since I don’t have any of my own and she figured I might need to leave during the day and I would probably be back before she would.
I texted Carl in the morning a couple times about when we were going to clean the park, or if he was going to help and received no answer. He finally got back to me to tell me that he was going to watch the Giants game so he wouldn’t be doing anything during the morning. I watched the end of the last game of the season for my Buccaneers, their 10th loss in a row, capping off a subpar year after a 2010 season that gave me false hope.
I also got my room cleaned up and did some laundry, in an attempt at feeling like I might be getting my life back together after the weekend. When that was finished, I went out to buy a new phone card, since I had also lost my other one in the mess of New Year’s Eve. Apparently I thought I might call someone as a part of my celebrations, but that did not happen, which is probably better for everyone. One random phone call was enough.
After getting the card and returning back to the apartment, I called one of my London best friends, Amanda, speaking to her over the phone for the first time since I’ve been in Australia. We talked about our respective Christmases, neither of which were overly exciting, and our New Year’s Eves, with mine having the edge in excitement on that one. I asked about volleyball, because Amanda plays for the teams that I used to play for and I miss it a lot. I talked about baseball, though my experiences here aren’t as exciting for all of my friends at home as they are for me. Amanda told me how school has been going for her, as she finishes up a degree in Environmental Sciences.
At some point during the conversation we both realized that I come home relatively soon. I’ve been here longer than the amount of time I have remaining, which is a little sad. While there are times that I get a little homesick, I’m not sure that I will be ready to leave in just five short weeks. The comfort of having Spring Training just around the corner is helpful and when baseball is done in Brisbane I will probably have more desire to leave, but right now it doesn’t seem possible that it will all be over before I know it.
I watched some House on DVD, still trying to catch up on journal-writing, while waiting for the Giants game to end. When it was over, I tried calling and texting Carl and heard nothing in response. I waited awhile and called again, and then waited even longer and called again. And again. I wasn’t having any luck in my attempt to get the keys to the RNA and it was becoming frustrating. I called Whitey for the second time of the day, since he had informed me the first time that Carl had his car, and in the car were the keys to the park. I didn’t know how Whitey could help me, but I at least got one of my phone calls answered. I explained the situation to Whitey and he said he would try Carl and then get back to me.
I didn’t figure that was going to do anything, since I thought Carl must have left his phone somewhere or something like that. It didn’t occur to me that he might actually just be ignoring my calls, which it appears he was, because he answered Whitey right away. That made the whole day slightly more frustrating. It also caused me to wonder what I ever did to BFC to deserve such treatment but I didn’t have a chance to ask, since he clearly didn’t want to talk to me. Carl informed me (only five or six hours after I originally asked) that he did not have the keys that I needed to get into the ballpark and that he had no plans of helping me clean. That was fine, but it certainly would have been nice to know before I spent my entire day waiting around for those answers.
As it turned out, Whitey had the keys the entire time and hadn’t realized because he just thought they were in his car and no one had told him otherwise. He brought them over to my place and I headed straight to the Showgrounds, because afternoon had begun to turn into night and I was soon going to run out of daylight.
I cleaned up the garbage in the stands which was more a tedious job than a difficult one, and kind of boring on my own. Then I decided to help the players out (not that they would even know) and clean up the locker room. I started getting rid of the garbage in the clubhouse, not realizing how big a task that was, but once I started I couldn’t stop without finishing. The worst part was the food garbage, including pizza boxes and cans of various drinks, because they were collecting bugs and other disgusting creatures. Relief came in the form of remembering that there is only one more homestand left, so the guys can’t really mess the place up too much in that time, right?
When that was finished I headed back home to an apartment that smelled like deliciousness. Erin had made brownies and I could only say yes when she offered some to me. My plans to go for a run turned into brownie-eating on the couch, which is probably a good second-best thing to do.
I decided at some point during the night to write a story about the Bandits making a push for playoffs, since after winning three games over the weekend, they are in a three-way tie for fourth place. Four teams make it into playoffs in the Australian Baseball League, so should they be able to hang onto the fourth spot, they would be in. I wrote my story about the team and the positives from the weekend against the Canberra Cavalry and got it up online in record time (a record for me, which doesn’t say much). It can be found here.
While I was posting the story, I got an email from my mom, indicating to me that she was awake over in the wee hours of the Canadian morning, so I decided to call her. We talked about my New Year’s Eve extravaganza mostly, and my earlier conversation with Amanda. I filled her in on the latest Brisbane Bandits news and my hopes for the team to get into playoffs. We talked about what baseball trips we might take this upcoming year and our plans to head to Cooperstown to see my favourite Canadian baseball writer, Bob Elliott, inducted. I’ve never been to Cooperstown and I feel like my first trip couldn’t be at a better time for a better inductee.
The phone call put me past my bedtime and when it ended, so too did my night.
The second day of the year was far less eventful than the first. Thankfully.
First of all, I will point out that my behaviour was out of the ordinary. I rarely drink at home, and the amount of alcohol I have ingested during my time in Australia is probably equal to that of what I’ve ingested in the last three years or more in total at home. I’m not a changed person or anything, and I will likely resort back to my old ways once I return to Canada. It just seems to be the baseball life as I am living it right now. I have learned one thing if nothing else though, that being that I cannot keep up with the big boys. Nor should I try.
But for those people reading that don’t know me very well, or for my mom’s friends or extended family, who may or may not be worried about me, I’m fine. I have assured my mother that I haven’t changed my ways in general, I’ve just found that when the opportunity arises here to let loose, I’ve taken it. And it’s been a pretty good time, despite losing half of my worldly possessions and getting the feeling that I should be more embarrassed than I am.
I woke up early today, likely due to the fact that I pretty much went to sleep in the afternoon yesterday and remained in bed until this morning. I didn’t really know what to do with my time, and didn’t feel motivated to get out of bed right away, so I finally finished the book I started reading on the plane ride here. I’ve gotten through one book in like two months. I’m not doing so well. I know my mom and my friend Nicole are very disappointed. Sorry dudes.
Erin was up relatively early for a holiday morning and was headed for the Gold Coast. She left me the keys, since I don’t have any of my own and she figured I might need to leave during the day and I would probably be back before she would.
I texted Carl in the morning a couple times about when we were going to clean the park, or if he was going to help and received no answer. He finally got back to me to tell me that he was going to watch the Giants game so he wouldn’t be doing anything during the morning. I watched the end of the last game of the season for my Buccaneers, their 10th loss in a row, capping off a subpar year after a 2010 season that gave me false hope.
I also got my room cleaned up and did some laundry, in an attempt at feeling like I might be getting my life back together after the weekend. When that was finished, I went out to buy a new phone card, since I had also lost my other one in the mess of New Year’s Eve. Apparently I thought I might call someone as a part of my celebrations, but that did not happen, which is probably better for everyone. One random phone call was enough.
After getting the card and returning back to the apartment, I called one of my London best friends, Amanda, speaking to her over the phone for the first time since I’ve been in Australia. We talked about our respective Christmases, neither of which were overly exciting, and our New Year’s Eves, with mine having the edge in excitement on that one. I asked about volleyball, because Amanda plays for the teams that I used to play for and I miss it a lot. I talked about baseball, though my experiences here aren’t as exciting for all of my friends at home as they are for me. Amanda told me how school has been going for her, as she finishes up a degree in Environmental Sciences.
At some point during the conversation we both realized that I come home relatively soon. I’ve been here longer than the amount of time I have remaining, which is a little sad. While there are times that I get a little homesick, I’m not sure that I will be ready to leave in just five short weeks. The comfort of having Spring Training just around the corner is helpful and when baseball is done in Brisbane I will probably have more desire to leave, but right now it doesn’t seem possible that it will all be over before I know it.
I watched some House on DVD, still trying to catch up on journal-writing, while waiting for the Giants game to end. When it was over, I tried calling and texting Carl and heard nothing in response. I waited awhile and called again, and then waited even longer and called again. And again. I wasn’t having any luck in my attempt to get the keys to the RNA and it was becoming frustrating. I called Whitey for the second time of the day, since he had informed me the first time that Carl had his car, and in the car were the keys to the park. I didn’t know how Whitey could help me, but I at least got one of my phone calls answered. I explained the situation to Whitey and he said he would try Carl and then get back to me.
I didn’t figure that was going to do anything, since I thought Carl must have left his phone somewhere or something like that. It didn’t occur to me that he might actually just be ignoring my calls, which it appears he was, because he answered Whitey right away. That made the whole day slightly more frustrating. It also caused me to wonder what I ever did to BFC to deserve such treatment but I didn’t have a chance to ask, since he clearly didn’t want to talk to me. Carl informed me (only five or six hours after I originally asked) that he did not have the keys that I needed to get into the ballpark and that he had no plans of helping me clean. That was fine, but it certainly would have been nice to know before I spent my entire day waiting around for those answers.
As it turned out, Whitey had the keys the entire time and hadn’t realized because he just thought they were in his car and no one had told him otherwise. He brought them over to my place and I headed straight to the Showgrounds, because afternoon had begun to turn into night and I was soon going to run out of daylight.
I cleaned up the garbage in the stands which was more a tedious job than a difficult one, and kind of boring on my own. Then I decided to help the players out (not that they would even know) and clean up the locker room. I started getting rid of the garbage in the clubhouse, not realizing how big a task that was, but once I started I couldn’t stop without finishing. The worst part was the food garbage, including pizza boxes and cans of various drinks, because they were collecting bugs and other disgusting creatures. Relief came in the form of remembering that there is only one more homestand left, so the guys can’t really mess the place up too much in that time, right?
When that was finished I headed back home to an apartment that smelled like deliciousness. Erin had made brownies and I could only say yes when she offered some to me. My plans to go for a run turned into brownie-eating on the couch, which is probably a good second-best thing to do.
I decided at some point during the night to write a story about the Bandits making a push for playoffs, since after winning three games over the weekend, they are in a three-way tie for fourth place. Four teams make it into playoffs in the Australian Baseball League, so should they be able to hang onto the fourth spot, they would be in. I wrote my story about the team and the positives from the weekend against the Canberra Cavalry and got it up online in record time (a record for me, which doesn’t say much). It can be found here.
While I was posting the story, I got an email from my mom, indicating to me that she was awake over in the wee hours of the Canadian morning, so I decided to call her. We talked about my New Year’s Eve extravaganza mostly, and my earlier conversation with Amanda. I filled her in on the latest Brisbane Bandits news and my hopes for the team to get into playoffs. We talked about what baseball trips we might take this upcoming year and our plans to head to Cooperstown to see my favourite Canadian baseball writer, Bob Elliott, inducted. I’ve never been to Cooperstown and I feel like my first trip couldn’t be at a better time for a better inductee.
The phone call put me past my bedtime and when it ended, so too did my night.
The second day of the year was far less eventful than the first. Thankfully.
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
I know how to make a momma proud (Day 54)
When I have a hangover, all I want to do is sleep, but it seems that it’s the last thing I am able to do. Today was no different, as I woke up too bright and too early in the morning. My cold didn’t seem to be bothering me at all though, so I guess getting plenty of fluids last night was helpful in that regard.
I wandered around my room looking for my stuff, realizing and slowly remembering that not only had I lost my keys during the epic night before, but I also misplaced my credit card and my Ontario driver’s license. I still have my purse, now empty, and my phone, partially broken, and nothing else that I had taken out with me. I’m glad I’m not one of those people who use their passport as their identification, because that would have been a lot harder to replace than my license.
Several questions came to mind. How did I pay for a cab when I got home, without cash or a credit card? How did I get into the apartment building and up to the second floor, without keys or a swipe card? Why did I come home by myself and when did I lose everyone else? There were more questions than that, but not knowing the answers to those is embarrassing enough. No need to push it.
When I went out into the living room, Erasmus was already awake and he looked fine. I was a little jealous. I woke Durket up and then proceeded to recite for them the list of things I had lost or broken the previous evening. If they weren’t feeling well, I probably made them feel at least a little bit better about their nights. They were better off than I am. They reminded me of what a mess I had been last night, as if I needed reminding. That was helpful.
It wasn’t long before we headed to the ballpark. The guys were better off there, where their stuff was and where there are showers and whatever other resources they need, and I was supposed to be cleaning the field up with Carl. Carl had already called me while I was still at home and I gave him the rundown of my disastrous night, so he had started the cleaning without me. Good choice. I was appreciative of that.
I took Whitey’s keys and opened up the showers for the team, taking much longer than should have been necessary in order to do so. I was walking at a slow pace and functioning at an even slower one. After that I laid around in the locker room for awhile before trying to get outside to help Carl. I filled a bucket with a water and disinfectant mixture and grabbed a sponge. I made it up to the members’ stand before I felt like I needed to be sick. It was a good start.
I couldn’t manage to scrub down the seats because I was too queasy. Even a brief stint of throwing up whatever water I’d had throughout the morning wasn’t helpful. I wanted to head back home but Erin was out and since I lost my keys (in case you forgot about that), I had to wait until she got back. I ended up lying in the dugout on the field, trying to hide from anyone who might want to find me, just waiting it out until Erin returned home.
At one point, Watto came up and asked if I was alright. I answered in the negative, obviously. It’s hard to lie when you look the way I did. Then he asked if I’d gotten into my place last night and I responded with a question of whether or not I had told him that. He said no, but I did call Wade Dutton last night. Oops.
Since I have never even had a conversation with our third baseman-turned-centre fielder at the field or otherwise before, it’s hard to imagine why I would have chosen to call him in my drunken state. But it happened. And this new revelation caused me to check my phone for who else I might have disturbed throughout the night. It doesn’t appear that I made any more random phone calls, but I did send several text messages that are not English. A couple of them even have symbols in them that I wouldn’t be able to find back if I tried. Impressive or ridiculous? Draw your own conclusions.
While I was lying on the bench, reflecting on my idiocy, one of my best friends from home, Sarah, called. She made it to Australia! Despite my pleas, she is not coming to Brisbane but it is nice to be able to talk on the phone and text someone in the same time zone. And for that person to be a female nonetheless! Sarah informed me of her plans with her boyfriend while she’s here and gave me a list of days when she is free, if I should be able to make it to Melbourne. Unfortunately she is going to Tasmania when I might have some free time and coming back when the Bandits come back for their next (and last) regular season homestand. So I don’t think it’s going to work out for us to see each other while we’re both down under, but I haven’t given up all hope yet.
After probably an hour or so of being useless, I got the chance to go home and shower. Steve gave me a ride home, feeling sorry for me in my rough state. I felt about 63 per cent better after showering, though the walk back to the park afterward took longer than usual. Once back at the field, I spent an extensive amount of time trying to figure out how to cancel my credit card, since I can’t just dial a 1-800 number from my Australian phone. It doesn’t work the same way as it would at home. Finally I found a website with an Aussie number to use and spent half an hour on hold before getting my card cancelled. President’s Choice Financial will be kind enough to send a replacement card to my home though, so I guess I’ll see that in five or six weeks.
I asked Carl and Whitey to run the soundboard, since I wasn’t really feeling up to anything at all. They did it, and even though I finally just got to sit and watch a Bandits game (I haven’t been able to get away with that before), I couldn’t really enjoy it as much as I would have liked to. First of all, it felt like the longest game ever, despite the fact that it was just over three hours (though that is longer than average for a league that doesn’t have commercial breaks or the like). Second, the Bandits took a lead into the eighth and blew it. Again.
It wasn’t a good day for SJ, though I’m sure no one needed to point that out to him or anyone else on the team. He blew his third save of the weekend (and the season) and took the loss in a 6-4 Bandits defeat. I believe that might mean the role of the closer on the team may remain undefined, but that kind of thing certainly isn’t up to me.
I went home as soon as the game was finished so that Erin would be able to let me in before she took off for the afternoon. I called SJ, since he was so upset about the game, and likely the entire weekend, and I figured that I could cheer him up by letting him know all the ways I tried to ruin my own life last night. Despite not having his slider, he still has his ID, credit cards, keys and a phone that works. I thought maybe hearing more about my situation would help his, but I’m not sure it worked the way I wanted it to. I probably just outlined all of the ways that I am an idiot. He’s probably second-guessing our friendship at this very moment.
After the phone call, I went to bed. Normal bedtime on New Year’s Day is around 6 o’clock at night, right? I took some more cold pills because I had started to feel my cold symptoms coming back during the game. I woke up a couple of times for brief moments, once to let Erin into the apartment, but eventually just went to sleep for the rest of the night.
I am kind of a little bit glad the weekend is over. I’ve never looked forward to a Monday morning more in my life.
I wandered around my room looking for my stuff, realizing and slowly remembering that not only had I lost my keys during the epic night before, but I also misplaced my credit card and my Ontario driver’s license. I still have my purse, now empty, and my phone, partially broken, and nothing else that I had taken out with me. I’m glad I’m not one of those people who use their passport as their identification, because that would have been a lot harder to replace than my license.
Several questions came to mind. How did I pay for a cab when I got home, without cash or a credit card? How did I get into the apartment building and up to the second floor, without keys or a swipe card? Why did I come home by myself and when did I lose everyone else? There were more questions than that, but not knowing the answers to those is embarrassing enough. No need to push it.
When I went out into the living room, Erasmus was already awake and he looked fine. I was a little jealous. I woke Durket up and then proceeded to recite for them the list of things I had lost or broken the previous evening. If they weren’t feeling well, I probably made them feel at least a little bit better about their nights. They were better off than I am. They reminded me of what a mess I had been last night, as if I needed reminding. That was helpful.
It wasn’t long before we headed to the ballpark. The guys were better off there, where their stuff was and where there are showers and whatever other resources they need, and I was supposed to be cleaning the field up with Carl. Carl had already called me while I was still at home and I gave him the rundown of my disastrous night, so he had started the cleaning without me. Good choice. I was appreciative of that.
I took Whitey’s keys and opened up the showers for the team, taking much longer than should have been necessary in order to do so. I was walking at a slow pace and functioning at an even slower one. After that I laid around in the locker room for awhile before trying to get outside to help Carl. I filled a bucket with a water and disinfectant mixture and grabbed a sponge. I made it up to the members’ stand before I felt like I needed to be sick. It was a good start.
I couldn’t manage to scrub down the seats because I was too queasy. Even a brief stint of throwing up whatever water I’d had throughout the morning wasn’t helpful. I wanted to head back home but Erin was out and since I lost my keys (in case you forgot about that), I had to wait until she got back. I ended up lying in the dugout on the field, trying to hide from anyone who might want to find me, just waiting it out until Erin returned home.
At one point, Watto came up and asked if I was alright. I answered in the negative, obviously. It’s hard to lie when you look the way I did. Then he asked if I’d gotten into my place last night and I responded with a question of whether or not I had told him that. He said no, but I did call Wade Dutton last night. Oops.
Since I have never even had a conversation with our third baseman-turned-centre fielder at the field or otherwise before, it’s hard to imagine why I would have chosen to call him in my drunken state. But it happened. And this new revelation caused me to check my phone for who else I might have disturbed throughout the night. It doesn’t appear that I made any more random phone calls, but I did send several text messages that are not English. A couple of them even have symbols in them that I wouldn’t be able to find back if I tried. Impressive or ridiculous? Draw your own conclusions.
While I was lying on the bench, reflecting on my idiocy, one of my best friends from home, Sarah, called. She made it to Australia! Despite my pleas, she is not coming to Brisbane but it is nice to be able to talk on the phone and text someone in the same time zone. And for that person to be a female nonetheless! Sarah informed me of her plans with her boyfriend while she’s here and gave me a list of days when she is free, if I should be able to make it to Melbourne. Unfortunately she is going to Tasmania when I might have some free time and coming back when the Bandits come back for their next (and last) regular season homestand. So I don’t think it’s going to work out for us to see each other while we’re both down under, but I haven’t given up all hope yet.
After probably an hour or so of being useless, I got the chance to go home and shower. Steve gave me a ride home, feeling sorry for me in my rough state. I felt about 63 per cent better after showering, though the walk back to the park afterward took longer than usual. Once back at the field, I spent an extensive amount of time trying to figure out how to cancel my credit card, since I can’t just dial a 1-800 number from my Australian phone. It doesn’t work the same way as it would at home. Finally I found a website with an Aussie number to use and spent half an hour on hold before getting my card cancelled. President’s Choice Financial will be kind enough to send a replacement card to my home though, so I guess I’ll see that in five or six weeks.
I asked Carl and Whitey to run the soundboard, since I wasn’t really feeling up to anything at all. They did it, and even though I finally just got to sit and watch a Bandits game (I haven’t been able to get away with that before), I couldn’t really enjoy it as much as I would have liked to. First of all, it felt like the longest game ever, despite the fact that it was just over three hours (though that is longer than average for a league that doesn’t have commercial breaks or the like). Second, the Bandits took a lead into the eighth and blew it. Again.
It wasn’t a good day for SJ, though I’m sure no one needed to point that out to him or anyone else on the team. He blew his third save of the weekend (and the season) and took the loss in a 6-4 Bandits defeat. I believe that might mean the role of the closer on the team may remain undefined, but that kind of thing certainly isn’t up to me.
I went home as soon as the game was finished so that Erin would be able to let me in before she took off for the afternoon. I called SJ, since he was so upset about the game, and likely the entire weekend, and I figured that I could cheer him up by letting him know all the ways I tried to ruin my own life last night. Despite not having his slider, he still has his ID, credit cards, keys and a phone that works. I thought maybe hearing more about my situation would help his, but I’m not sure it worked the way I wanted it to. I probably just outlined all of the ways that I am an idiot. He’s probably second-guessing our friendship at this very moment.
After the phone call, I went to bed. Normal bedtime on New Year’s Day is around 6 o’clock at night, right? I took some more cold pills because I had started to feel my cold symptoms coming back during the game. I woke up a couple of times for brief moments, once to let Erin into the apartment, but eventually just went to sleep for the rest of the night.
I am kind of a little bit glad the weekend is over. I’ve never looked forward to a Monday morning more in my life.
New Year's Eve (Day 53)
I am a disaster.
That’s a little foreshadowing for you, since I wasn’t quite a disaster first thing in the morning. I woke up still feeling a little sick though and so started the day of taking too many cold pills.
I went to clean up the garbage at the park pretty early in the morning and Alan was already there, helping out with the trash collection. What a guy. I think he had been there super early to let Steve in, and then stayed to be awesome and helpful. I appreciated it. I finished up with the garbage in the members’ stand and set to scrubbing down the seats. Once again, they weren’t too bad, but I still had some work to do. When I was close to getting the seats done, Carl showed up and got out the leaf blower.
I must not have looked very well because he said I should just go home and rest, and not even come back for the games. But I wasn’t about to do that. It’s New Year’s Eve and it would look pretty bad if I skipped work and then went out, right? My thought process was flawed though. I shouldn’t have been thinking about going out. Carl was right, I should have been thinking about getting better. Instead, I took more cold pills.
I did head home to shower and change but I came back right after that for the doubleheader. The first game went really quickly and newcomer Justin Staatz did an amazing job on the mound. He’s an American import who I believe plays club ball here in Australia, but was just added to the roster for the first time this weekend. He threw eight scoreless innings, using only 82 pitches and just allowing one runner past first base. Unfortunately he didn’t get the win, because the lead was blown in the top of the ninth, but the Bandits came out victorious, walking off with a walk-RBI in the bottom half of the inning. What a way to end it.
After the first game, I headed home briefly to take some more medicine, as if that was what I needed. I came back and got some food in me courtesy of the sausage sizzle going on for the players and the volunteers.
Post-sizzle I headed over to the Cavalry locker room because I had made arrangements to interview Blue Jays prospect Kenny Wilson. Originally the Blue Jays sent two guys to Australia, but John Tolisano was injured in the second or third week of the season and they ended up shutting him down and sending him back home. I figured I might as well write the story on Wilson though and see if any publication at home in Toronto is interested in it. If not, I think we talked about Canada and Canadians enough to make a run at getting it on the Canadian Baseball Network website. And I will of course send it to the Cavalry for use on their website, should they so choose.
Wilson is kind of tough for me to figure out because although he’s never batted better than .216 in his career in the minor leagues, the Blue Jays keep moving him up to the next level. I’m sure there’s something they see in him, or maybe they’re just hoping he can produce against pitchers at a higher level, but I’m not sure I get it. He was drafted in the second round (63rd overall) of the 2008 draft as an 18-year-old. He chose to take the $644,000 signing bonus instead of heading to college. He’s here in Australia because he missed half the season earlier this year with Class High A Dunedin, due to a torn labrum. The Jays offered him a chance to put in some time in the ABL and he took it. So we’ll see what I can come up with when I write about him.
When I was done talking to Wilson I was stopped by Tristan Crawford and we spoke again for a little while. It was a better conversation than when I bombarded him about not playing for the Bandits earlier. We talked about his arm injury, which is kind of complicated. He had Tommy John, but during his rehabilitation he apparently recovered too well. His tendon (or something...what am I? A doctor?) was too strong and ended up injuring him further. He said there’s like a one in 500 chance of that happening, and he was just the lucky one. So he is headed back to see Dr. James Andrews again in a week or so to have another surgery. Tough break.
The second game started not long after my social visit, and it was a good one, too. Ryan Searle got his second start of the season and he did a great job for the Bandits, going six innings, giving up two runs (one earned), scattering six hits and striking out six. Once again though, the starting pitcher was not the beneficiary of the win. Brisbane tied the game up in the seventh and then came out huge the next inning, with an eight-run eighth, to take the game 10-2. John Veitch got the win, going the final three innings, not allowing a run.
Following the second game was the fireworks display. It’s the second time we’ve hosted fireworks at the ballpark this season and both times, it’s been great. And as I took in the greatness, I got into the drinking, the beginning of the disastrous evening I was about to have. When the fireworks ended I waited around for pizzas to show up. At the beginning of the second game, Gonzo asked me to order 40 pizzas for the volunteers and players for after the games were finished. The pizza guy called me once to get directions and the second time he called, he told me he had arrived. The only problem was that he wouldn’t drive down into the parking lot of the ballpark and instead I had to meet him on the street. How was I supposed to get 40 pizzas from the street down to the locker room?
Fortunately for me, as I was trying to figure that out, Chambers and Warner came out of the clubhouse and into the parking lot. I asked them to help me and they obliged. The three of us managed to carry all 40 pizzas in one trip, though before someone came to my rescue, I could not see over my pile.
Post-game was pizza-eating time and apparently heavy-drinking time as well. There happened to be free beer awaiting me and I took full advantage. I drank far too quickly, just the beginning of things to come. I had made plans with some of the guys from the team to head out with them, though I think they mostly invited me because I live near the field and they wanted to crash there afterward. But when I saw them after the game, they were all ready to go out and I still had to go home and change. Somehow I convinced SJ to come with me because I didn’t want to head out to where they were on my own.
We got a cab to the Bavarian Beer Cafe and met up with everyone. There, I continued my binge drinking, mixing alcohol further with the drugs I had taken for my cold. I didn’t feel sick though, so there’s a bright side. I did however, get far too wasted. I got denied from another bar we tried to go to for being too drunk. It was by far the worst amount of drunk sloppy disaster I have ever been in my life. I believe I also made Durket wait with me so I could try to get a cab for a long time, so there’s one apology I owe, though I am sure there are many more.
Eventually I made it home on my own in a cab, but when I arrived I realized that I had lost my keys to the apartment. Not only could I not get into our unit, but I couldn’t get into the building. Unfortunately I don’t remember how I managed it, but I did make it into the building and up to the floor I live on, which requires a swipe card twice. At that point I just figured that Erin wouldn’t be home, so I chose not to knock on the door or to call her. I just decided to sit out in the hallway. I don’t know what I was waiting for or what I thought I was doing, but that’s just another product of me being a disaster.
Eventually Durket and Erasmus found their way to my building, with no help from me I’m sure, and called me to let them in. Since I had no way of doing that, I’m not sure exactly what my plan was. Luckily, Erin was home at the time and hearing me on the phone outside of our apartment woke her up. She let all of us in and was probably the biggest saviour of the night, not to diminish the actions of anyone else who assisted me of course. The extra pizzas that I carried home when I came to change were handy for the hungry guys, making me realize that I’d lost any level of intelligence I had at some point after that genius idea. Offering the pizza was as hospitable as I got though, since I left Durket and Erasmus to themselves in the living room as I retired shortly thereafter.
It didn't take long before I was asleep in my bed, ignoring the world and hoping to remember more in the morning.
Disaster.
Monday, January 02, 2012
No one wants to blow saves or lose games (Day 52)
I woke up feeling like I was about to get sick. I had a sore throat going, with an overarching feel of a cold coming on, so I took some ColdFX (so glad I brought that stuff with me) and headed to the field. Can’t let a little cold get in the way of something like garbage collection. I have priorities.
I gathered up all of the garbage in the stands and then found Gonzo to ask him if he’d gotten new sponges so I could get to scrubbing down the members’ stand. He hadn’t done that yet, so he said I should just come with him to get them. He also needed to get fuel for the leaf blower, for whenever Carl showed up ready to blow out the stands.
Somewhere along the way I learned that the guys had thought I was angry with them last night. I was already starting to not feel well and I just wanted to get out of the park as soon as I could, so I guess they took it as me being mad when I bolted from the RNA. I told Gonzo and Alan that I just wasn’t feeling 100 per cent and it was nothing personal. I’m sure they’re over it.
Gonzo and I took a trip to a hardware store to get a new gas can and some sponges for me, among a bunch of other little necessities for Steve, the one-man groundscrew. While we were gone, Carl had shown up at the ballpark and texted me, but didn’t have much to do without the leaf blower. I asked him to start gathering the garbage in the members’ stand, since when I was there I hadn’t had access to it, so I guess he had one thing he could do.
When we got back that’s what he was doing, but he left to blow out the sunflower seeds and various other small garbage that I left for him and the leaf blower to tackle. I set to scrubbing down the seats, though it didn’t take much because I had done such a thorough job yesterday. Yes, that was me giving props to myself. I think most of the mess yesterday was because the seats hadn’t been cleaned in two weeks though, so it really wasn’t such a huge job today. I was pretty happy about that.
Every time I thought I was good to head back home though, Carl would come up with something for me to do to help him out. I was slightly bitter about it because I had been there for at least an hour before him, cleaning on my own, and figured that he could finish up without me. But I suppose it was my fault for showing up early, so I tried to help out with whatever he asked without sounding too exasperated.
When we were both finished and I actually could head home, Carl and I both stopped and talked to Gonzo and Alan for awhile. Carl had plans to visit the koala sanctuary with his girlfriend during the day, so he asked the native of Australia about it. Alan thought it might be better to do as an all-day activity, so Carl might not get the most out of it, having to head back before game time, but it sounded like Carl was still going to make the attempt nonetheless.
I managed to get home before noon, and decided to try and have a pre-game nap. That worked out for me and I got a significant little amount of rest before waking up and deciding to get back into the day. It probably helped my cold a little bit, though I was still feeling slightly under the weather. With time still remaining before I had to head back to the ballpark, I went to the grocery store, made an attempt at reading some more of my book that I started on the plane ride here and still haven’t finished, started to catch up on another journal or two, and showered. It was a very productive few hours away from the field.
When I got back to the park, I stopped to talk to Chambers, Josh Warner and Chris Lamb in the bullpen. They were working out with a whip (an actual Indiana Jones-type whip), which was very confusing and interesting to me. Apparently using a whip is good for your elbow or something, making it beneficial for pitchers. Lamb was the one who brought it, and he was actually good with it, unlike anyone else who tried. Chambers wasn’t bad, but the first time he used it, he almost hit me on the backswing, causing me to pretty much run and dive for cover, falling along the way.
I had a lot of questions about said whip, but the answers weren’t as exciting as I thought they would be. Lamb had made the purchase online, from a website specializing in whips for farm animals or something. He’d heard from someone else that the practice is good for a throwing arm, and I think he might have specifically said for guys coming back from Tommy John, though I was really distracted by the whole thing and not really paying attention to the answers to my own questions.
On my way out of the bullpen, I ran into SJ and he informed me that he now has a car. I was kind of in disbelief at first, but I guess it’s the truth. The guy who hosted us for Christmas is selling his car, or just not using it while he goes away for a month (one or both of the above may be true, but when he told me this I was probably still thinking about the whip exercises), and asked SJ if he would be interested in borrowing it for the next few weeks. Of course SJ said yes and is now in possession of a Land Rover. I told him that I am expecting rides home from the park from now on. I need to keep safe, right?
Before the game, I got my questions together for my interview with right-handed relief pitcher John Veitch. I’ve been asking him for the last few days if he has time for me to talk to him and we agreed upon tonight after the game, so I needed to be ready for that.
The game itself was not awesome. Chris Mowday got the start, much to my surprise, because so far this year he’s been used only out of the bullpen. I guess it kind of makes sense though because it has appeared as of late that he lost the closing role to SJ. Mowday had a good day, going five innings giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits. That may not sound like the best day, but he kept the team in the game, which is all you really need from your starters. Or at least one would hope.
The Bandits lost it in the back end though. SJ blew the save opportunity and took the loss after Simon Morriss allowed his inherited runner to score in the 10th, plus another runner of his own. It wasn’t a good day for the bullpen. Veitch threw two innings and completed his line with two strikeouts however, so he wasn’t in as sour a mood as everyone else. I was thankful for that, seeing as he was the man I was trying to speak with after the game.
Before the game had ended, Carl asked if I would help out the guys from Fox Sports with a couple of interviews. I said I would, though I made it clear that I really didn’t want to ditch Veitch or put him on the back burner, since I’ve asked him several times to talk with me. I went to the field right after the game in the hopes of finding the guys from Fox immediately. Of course, they were nowhere to be seen. Apparently they were at the other end of the field, which I didn’t realize until pretty much everyone from Canberra had already gone back to the locker room. I managed to get KJ to do an interview for them, hopefully without pestering him too much after a rough game. It’s never pleasant to try and get things done after a loss.
Veitch was waiting patiently for me the entire time, and as I desperately tried to find someone from the Cavalry for Fox, Whitey came onto the field. I passed the buck to him, telling him that Veitch was waiting for me and asking him to grab whomever he could find from the other team and do a short interview with them for Fox. Whitey is good with that kind of stuff and he was able to help me out, so I was super grateful for that.
I’m sure Carl was unimpressed with me ditching the job he’d given me but I was sure I left the task in able hands. I got my interview done with Veitch in six-and-a-half minutes, only slightly more than the six minutes of his time I had told him I would take up. He didn’t seem too put off, but I still felt bad for having him wait around for me.
I walked by Maestri and SJ after the game, and no one was in the best of moods. I tried to be a positive presence, but my happiness probably just made them more upset about the sad end to the game. I didn’t ask SJ for a ride in his new car because I felt bad for him. No one wants to blow saves or lose games, especially when a playoff spot is in reach. So I walked home.
When I got to the apartment, I transcribed the interview with Veitch and made an attempt at starting to write the article, but I was far too tired to get that far. And it’s only the beginning of what is sure to be a long weekend.
I have the same birthday as Scott Boras (Day 51)
I headed to the RNA bright and early in the morning, thinking I might be one of the first people there, if not the first. But upon my arrival I was welcomed by Gonzo, Alan and Steve, all already working.
I picked up all of the garbage in the stands and then set to work on scrubbing down the seats in the members’ stand. It took forever, both because the seats were really dirty, due to not having been cleaned over the last two weeks, and because the sponge I was using was already dirty. I was out of clean sponges and the dirty one just kept moving the dirt around, instead of actually cleaning. Eventually I found something usable in order to finish the job, but I also asked Gonzo if we could get some new sponges before tomorrow so I wouldn’t run into the same problem again. The job took a lot longer than I thought it would, but eventually I finished and headed back home to shower.
Before heading back to the ballpark I had some extra time, since I finished my cleaning in the morning and we made sure yesterday that there wouldn’t be too much for us to do before the fans come pouring in (that's not sarcasm, it's wishful thinking). So I had time to hang out with my good buddy Durket. On his family’s last day in Australia, they are still driving back to Brisbane from Sydney, so he had time to hang with me, too, I guess.
He came over and we went for a swim in the pool at the apartment. The water is super cold, especially on a not-so-sunny day like today, but we braved it. Durket told me about the awesome places he went to in and on the way to Sydney and we talked about the possibility of everyone maybe going on another trip like we did to Byron Bay but perhaps this time he could join in. We also talked about him taking the LSAT in February, which would seem to me like a daunting task to have to look forward to at the end of the season, but he doesn’t seem too worried. I learned that Durket is interested in being a criminal defense attorney. Either that or getting into sports agency. That led us into a conversation about Scott Boras, who I love to hate, mostly because I am jealous of him, and a little bit of me wishes I were him.
For those of you who might be unaware, Boras is one of the biggest agents in the game. He’s had a bunch of huge clients and has landed several large contracts for them, making him the highest paid sports agent in baseball. And a little-known fact, his birthday is the same day as my birthday. You’re welcome.
Durket and I went for a late lunch at the burrito place post-swimming and ran into Gonzo there. Of course Gonzo would be at the burrito place. He was getting lunch for Steve, who had now been at the field for over six hours without anything to eat, so that was probably a wise idea. We each had our own burritos and then decided to head to the park, or back to the park for me.
There wasn’t much that I had to do when I got there, but I was able to help out a little bit, just moving things around and getting the diamond game-ready. I also met Carl’s girlfriend for the first time before the game. We talked about her flight and the fact that she missed her birthday on it. Because of the travel time and crossing the International Date Line, she’d skipped over her entire birthday, so that kind of sucks. She said it wasn’t so bad, because she didn’t want to get another year older anyway. We talked about the ham that she and Carl had cooked for Christmas, which is pretty impressive, and she told me about the Botanical Gardens, which they’d visited previously. It sounds like a nice place, but I don’t know if looking at a bunch of flowers is really my thing, so I might put that down near the bottom of my list.
During the game my main job was to write the story for the website and the media, with minor stints on the soundboard. At one point I might have also had an interesting conversation with a member of the Canberra Cavalry. Tristan Crawford came up to the members’ stand to assist the Brisbane broadcasters during the game with some commentary, since he wasn’t playing due to an arm injury. I’d heard previously that the Crawford brothers kind of chose playing for Canberra over Brisbane, since they are both Queenslanders. I’m not sure if that’s exactly the right way to put it, but I decided to ask Tristan anyway. I was probably a little too blunt about it, but he politely told me that he went to play for Canberra because his coach in the minor leagues also coaches the Cavalry. I asked him a couple more questions, but I was taking both of us away from what we should have been doing, so that didn’t last long.
Maestri was dealing the whole game, so it was a great one to watch. There were scouts from a Japanese independent league there to see him pitch, so he performed well for that. He didn’t know they were there though, I don’t think. He was just being himself on the mound, doing a good job and finding success. It looked at one point like he was having back issues or something but I guess he wasn’t because he pitched a complete game. He finally had some support from the offense too, including two home runs from the light-hitting Brad Dutton.
The Italian Stallion would have had a complete-game one-hit shutout if not for the last play of the game. It was a fly ball to left field that was dropped. Andrew Campbell is normally a middle infielder but the Bandits don’t have many outfielders on reserve, so he found himself in left. There was a runner on second base when the ball was hit and he came in to score, taking away the shutout. Campbell threw the ball to third, where the batter was tagged out trying to stretch the misplay into a three-bagger, ending the game. The most frustrating part was that the dropped ball was ruled a double, adding another hit to Maestri’s line. I spoke to a scorer after the game though and learned that no matter what, if an outfielder makes a reasonable effort for the ball he cannot be charged with an error. It’s not a very good rule, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone doing anything about it, minus my whingeing of course.
During the game, Durket’s dad came over to talk to me so I left my post for a little while to see his family and hear about their trip. I also met Jon’s other brother, who hadn’t been around in Brisbane when they first arrived. He flew in to meet them in Sydney. They told me how great Sydney was and asked about Byron. They also mentioned that they’d been reading my stories online and were enjoying them, which is always nice to hear. The Durket family didn’t get to see Jon pitch in their last Bandits game, but at least they got to see a good one. They flew all the way to Australia to see Jon throw 1 1/3 innings, though they had a good time taking in sights and enjoying more than just baseball.
I said goodbye to the Durket family after the game. It was awesome to meet them, and like I said before, they made me feel a little more at home for some reason. I guess I don’t have a lot of people to talk to outside of the Bandits, so maybe that was it. I wished them a safe flight home for the morning and they were soon on their way.
I ran into SJ and Maestri after that, first congratulating Maestri on the great game he threw and then acknowledging that both of them had new haircuts. I told Maestri he should start getting a haircut every week if he’s going to pitch the way he did. The three of us also discussed the last play of the game being called a double, though it’s just frustrating talking about things that there’s nothing you can do about them.
I started my short trek home but I was quickly stopped. Carla Pinder, Maestri and SJ’s host mom and volunteer extraordinaire, asked if I needed a ride. Though I tried to convince them to let me walk, I gave in and took a ride. Carla didn’t think it was safe, no matter what the distance. I appreciated it though, since I was tired.
It wasn’t bedtime for me yet though. I had a phone date tonight with Nicole. I woke her up early in her morning and we talked for over an hour. It was nice to speak over the phone, instead of just emailing all the time. When I had almost fallen asleep during the conversation a couple times though I figured I should probably head to bed.
I picked up all of the garbage in the stands and then set to work on scrubbing down the seats in the members’ stand. It took forever, both because the seats were really dirty, due to not having been cleaned over the last two weeks, and because the sponge I was using was already dirty. I was out of clean sponges and the dirty one just kept moving the dirt around, instead of actually cleaning. Eventually I found something usable in order to finish the job, but I also asked Gonzo if we could get some new sponges before tomorrow so I wouldn’t run into the same problem again. The job took a lot longer than I thought it would, but eventually I finished and headed back home to shower.
Before heading back to the ballpark I had some extra time, since I finished my cleaning in the morning and we made sure yesterday that there wouldn’t be too much for us to do before the fans come pouring in (that's not sarcasm, it's wishful thinking). So I had time to hang out with my good buddy Durket. On his family’s last day in Australia, they are still driving back to Brisbane from Sydney, so he had time to hang with me, too, I guess.
He came over and we went for a swim in the pool at the apartment. The water is super cold, especially on a not-so-sunny day like today, but we braved it. Durket told me about the awesome places he went to in and on the way to Sydney and we talked about the possibility of everyone maybe going on another trip like we did to Byron Bay but perhaps this time he could join in. We also talked about him taking the LSAT in February, which would seem to me like a daunting task to have to look forward to at the end of the season, but he doesn’t seem too worried. I learned that Durket is interested in being a criminal defense attorney. Either that or getting into sports agency. That led us into a conversation about Scott Boras, who I love to hate, mostly because I am jealous of him, and a little bit of me wishes I were him.
For those of you who might be unaware, Boras is one of the biggest agents in the game. He’s had a bunch of huge clients and has landed several large contracts for them, making him the highest paid sports agent in baseball. And a little-known fact, his birthday is the same day as my birthday. You’re welcome.
Durket and I went for a late lunch at the burrito place post-swimming and ran into Gonzo there. Of course Gonzo would be at the burrito place. He was getting lunch for Steve, who had now been at the field for over six hours without anything to eat, so that was probably a wise idea. We each had our own burritos and then decided to head to the park, or back to the park for me.
There wasn’t much that I had to do when I got there, but I was able to help out a little bit, just moving things around and getting the diamond game-ready. I also met Carl’s girlfriend for the first time before the game. We talked about her flight and the fact that she missed her birthday on it. Because of the travel time and crossing the International Date Line, she’d skipped over her entire birthday, so that kind of sucks. She said it wasn’t so bad, because she didn’t want to get another year older anyway. We talked about the ham that she and Carl had cooked for Christmas, which is pretty impressive, and she told me about the Botanical Gardens, which they’d visited previously. It sounds like a nice place, but I don’t know if looking at a bunch of flowers is really my thing, so I might put that down near the bottom of my list.
During the game my main job was to write the story for the website and the media, with minor stints on the soundboard. At one point I might have also had an interesting conversation with a member of the Canberra Cavalry. Tristan Crawford came up to the members’ stand to assist the Brisbane broadcasters during the game with some commentary, since he wasn’t playing due to an arm injury. I’d heard previously that the Crawford brothers kind of chose playing for Canberra over Brisbane, since they are both Queenslanders. I’m not sure if that’s exactly the right way to put it, but I decided to ask Tristan anyway. I was probably a little too blunt about it, but he politely told me that he went to play for Canberra because his coach in the minor leagues also coaches the Cavalry. I asked him a couple more questions, but I was taking both of us away from what we should have been doing, so that didn’t last long.
Maestri was dealing the whole game, so it was a great one to watch. There were scouts from a Japanese independent league there to see him pitch, so he performed well for that. He didn’t know they were there though, I don’t think. He was just being himself on the mound, doing a good job and finding success. It looked at one point like he was having back issues or something but I guess he wasn’t because he pitched a complete game. He finally had some support from the offense too, including two home runs from the light-hitting Brad Dutton.
The Italian Stallion would have had a complete-game one-hit shutout if not for the last play of the game. It was a fly ball to left field that was dropped. Andrew Campbell is normally a middle infielder but the Bandits don’t have many outfielders on reserve, so he found himself in left. There was a runner on second base when the ball was hit and he came in to score, taking away the shutout. Campbell threw the ball to third, where the batter was tagged out trying to stretch the misplay into a three-bagger, ending the game. The most frustrating part was that the dropped ball was ruled a double, adding another hit to Maestri’s line. I spoke to a scorer after the game though and learned that no matter what, if an outfielder makes a reasonable effort for the ball he cannot be charged with an error. It’s not a very good rule, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone doing anything about it, minus my whingeing of course.
During the game, Durket’s dad came over to talk to me so I left my post for a little while to see his family and hear about their trip. I also met Jon’s other brother, who hadn’t been around in Brisbane when they first arrived. He flew in to meet them in Sydney. They told me how great Sydney was and asked about Byron. They also mentioned that they’d been reading my stories online and were enjoying them, which is always nice to hear. The Durket family didn’t get to see Jon pitch in their last Bandits game, but at least they got to see a good one. They flew all the way to Australia to see Jon throw 1 1/3 innings, though they had a good time taking in sights and enjoying more than just baseball.
I said goodbye to the Durket family after the game. It was awesome to meet them, and like I said before, they made me feel a little more at home for some reason. I guess I don’t have a lot of people to talk to outside of the Bandits, so maybe that was it. I wished them a safe flight home for the morning and they were soon on their way.
I ran into SJ and Maestri after that, first congratulating Maestri on the great game he threw and then acknowledging that both of them had new haircuts. I told Maestri he should start getting a haircut every week if he’s going to pitch the way he did. The three of us also discussed the last play of the game being called a double, though it’s just frustrating talking about things that there’s nothing you can do about them.
I started my short trek home but I was quickly stopped. Carla Pinder, Maestri and SJ’s host mom and volunteer extraordinaire, asked if I needed a ride. Though I tried to convince them to let me walk, I gave in and took a ride. Carla didn’t think it was safe, no matter what the distance. I appreciated it though, since I was tired.
It wasn’t bedtime for me yet though. I had a phone date tonight with Nicole. I woke her up early in her morning and we talked for over an hour. It was nice to speak over the phone, instead of just emailing all the time. When I had almost fallen asleep during the conversation a couple times though I figured I should probably head to bed.
This could be the beginning of a long weekend.
Brunch, nap, circuit training (Day 50)
When I woke up, I got immediately to work. And by that I mean that I posted my story on baseball road trips on the Bandits website. This is it.
After that it was time to head to the RNA to meet Whitey and Carl. I had to open the gates because I still had the keys from last night. It wasn’t too long before the guys showed up, but even when they got there, there wasn’t any immediate instruction from them on what we were doing. It appeared that Carl and I were both awaiting directions from Whitey because Carl didn’t know what we were doing either. After watching Carl walk around frustrated for awhile, I suggested that we go fix the tarps on the outfield fence, and that’s exactly what we did. It certainly was a two-man job, and we got it done pretty quickly.
While we were doing that, Gonzo asked if I’d ever gotten paid. The answer of course is no. I know Gonzo is pretty frustrated about the situation, since he’s been calling people at the ABL and the accountant pretty much every day, trying to get it done. I’ve just started to accept the fact that my bank account lives nearly on empty.
We finished things up around the park not long after that, just fixing some signs and making sure we wouldn’t have too much to do before the first game of the weekend series. Carl took off, because he and his girlfriend were going to make an attempt at heading to the water park during the day. Whitey and Gonzo and I went for lunch, despite the fact that it was not even 11 o’clock in the morning.
When we realized the burrito place was closed, we had to resort to secondary plans. Whitey directed us around his neighbourhood until we found something that was open. The place we ended up at was pretty good. They had amazing smoothies and we were all impressed with everything we ordered. We were there for a good while, talking mostly about the Bandits making a playoff push, where the other teams are in the standings, and how the upcoming weekend would affect everything. No one's lost hope yet, and the Bandits still have a very real chance.
Almost as soon as Gonzo dropped me off at home, I fell asleep. Lately I’ve been starting to feel like I am jetlagged again, if that’s what I even was before. I can’t seem to sleep through the night, and then I take afternoon naps when the opportunity arises.
When I got up, Erin was around. I talked about wanting to go for a run, but I would need to exchange my new running shoes first. She said that she was going out to the grocery store, so she could drop me off on her way if I wanted, because it was starting to look like rain. That sounded good to me, so I took her up on her offer. It didn’t rain while I was out but I did exchange my shoes, got my nails done and got more phone minutes, because mine are starting to run out. Now I can check all those things off my list.
After I got home and had something to eat, I started talking again about going for a run. Perhaps I was thinking that I could convince myself more easily the more I said the words out loud. Erin suggested that instead of just going for a run on my own, I could go with her to a park in the neighbourhood, where there are paths and equipment for circuit training.
We headed to Downey Park, me with my new running shoes, and both of us with our baseball gloves, ready for some physical activity. It’s definitely something I’ve been lacking lately. On our way there, I received a phone call from Shayne, asking if I had the keys to the park for training tonight. I did not, but it got me worried about how the guys were going to get in for their batting practice. Shayne had already called both Whitey and Gonzo and got no answer from them. There wasn’t really anything I could do though since I didn’t have the keys, so he said he would just try them again.
Downey Park was nice, and along the path were stumps doing step-ups (at least that’s what I used them for), bars for chin-ups (I couldn’t do any of those), and other spots for doing push-ups, sit-ups, hurdles and stuff like that. I also did a bunch of jumping jacks, feeling especially motivated.
When we’d had enough of the circuit training (and it didn’t take long to get to that point), we played catch. Erin had also brought a bat with us, so she hit me some ground balls. When I tried to hit her some, it didn’t go as well. The first few I tried to hit ended up being line drives, going well beyond the targeted area. I didn’t get much better, but I did eventually get a few balls near Erin, at least close enough so that she could catch them.
On our way home, I called Whitey to ask about the key situation. Since Carl and I would have to clean the park in the morning before the game, I figured it would be easiest for me to just get the keys from Shayne, who was now in possession of them. I guess he went to Whitey’s place and got them so the guys could get in for batting practice. Erin dropped me off at the RNA and I got the keys from Shayne, but not without taking some heat from the guys about them being stuck without a way in earlier. I'm sure they didn't believe me when I said it wasn't my fault.
I ran home from the park, which took only a few minutes. I showered and started to catch up on some more journal-writing. Erin had cooked both of us spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner, and so I took a break when she said it was ready. It was pretty awesome having dinner cooked for me at home. I feel like I should start cooking more, or at all.
After that it was pretty close to bedtime, save for some more journal-writing and net-surfing.
After that it was time to head to the RNA to meet Whitey and Carl. I had to open the gates because I still had the keys from last night. It wasn’t too long before the guys showed up, but even when they got there, there wasn’t any immediate instruction from them on what we were doing. It appeared that Carl and I were both awaiting directions from Whitey because Carl didn’t know what we were doing either. After watching Carl walk around frustrated for awhile, I suggested that we go fix the tarps on the outfield fence, and that’s exactly what we did. It certainly was a two-man job, and we got it done pretty quickly.
While we were doing that, Gonzo asked if I’d ever gotten paid. The answer of course is no. I know Gonzo is pretty frustrated about the situation, since he’s been calling people at the ABL and the accountant pretty much every day, trying to get it done. I’ve just started to accept the fact that my bank account lives nearly on empty.
We finished things up around the park not long after that, just fixing some signs and making sure we wouldn’t have too much to do before the first game of the weekend series. Carl took off, because he and his girlfriend were going to make an attempt at heading to the water park during the day. Whitey and Gonzo and I went for lunch, despite the fact that it was not even 11 o’clock in the morning.
When we realized the burrito place was closed, we had to resort to secondary plans. Whitey directed us around his neighbourhood until we found something that was open. The place we ended up at was pretty good. They had amazing smoothies and we were all impressed with everything we ordered. We were there for a good while, talking mostly about the Bandits making a playoff push, where the other teams are in the standings, and how the upcoming weekend would affect everything. No one's lost hope yet, and the Bandits still have a very real chance.
Almost as soon as Gonzo dropped me off at home, I fell asleep. Lately I’ve been starting to feel like I am jetlagged again, if that’s what I even was before. I can’t seem to sleep through the night, and then I take afternoon naps when the opportunity arises.
When I got up, Erin was around. I talked about wanting to go for a run, but I would need to exchange my new running shoes first. She said that she was going out to the grocery store, so she could drop me off on her way if I wanted, because it was starting to look like rain. That sounded good to me, so I took her up on her offer. It didn’t rain while I was out but I did exchange my shoes, got my nails done and got more phone minutes, because mine are starting to run out. Now I can check all those things off my list.
After I got home and had something to eat, I started talking again about going for a run. Perhaps I was thinking that I could convince myself more easily the more I said the words out loud. Erin suggested that instead of just going for a run on my own, I could go with her to a park in the neighbourhood, where there are paths and equipment for circuit training.
We headed to Downey Park, me with my new running shoes, and both of us with our baseball gloves, ready for some physical activity. It’s definitely something I’ve been lacking lately. On our way there, I received a phone call from Shayne, asking if I had the keys to the park for training tonight. I did not, but it got me worried about how the guys were going to get in for their batting practice. Shayne had already called both Whitey and Gonzo and got no answer from them. There wasn’t really anything I could do though since I didn’t have the keys, so he said he would just try them again.
Downey Park was nice, and along the path were stumps doing step-ups (at least that’s what I used them for), bars for chin-ups (I couldn’t do any of those), and other spots for doing push-ups, sit-ups, hurdles and stuff like that. I also did a bunch of jumping jacks, feeling especially motivated.
When we’d had enough of the circuit training (and it didn’t take long to get to that point), we played catch. Erin had also brought a bat with us, so she hit me some ground balls. When I tried to hit her some, it didn’t go as well. The first few I tried to hit ended up being line drives, going well beyond the targeted area. I didn’t get much better, but I did eventually get a few balls near Erin, at least close enough so that she could catch them.
On our way home, I called Whitey to ask about the key situation. Since Carl and I would have to clean the park in the morning before the game, I figured it would be easiest for me to just get the keys from Shayne, who was now in possession of them. I guess he went to Whitey’s place and got them so the guys could get in for batting practice. Erin dropped me off at the RNA and I got the keys from Shayne, but not without taking some heat from the guys about them being stuck without a way in earlier. I'm sure they didn't believe me when I said it wasn't my fault.
I ran home from the park, which took only a few minutes. I showered and started to catch up on some more journal-writing. Erin had cooked both of us spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner, and so I took a break when she said it was ready. It was pretty awesome having dinner cooked for me at home. I feel like I should start cooking more, or at all.
After that it was pretty close to bedtime, save for some more journal-writing and net-surfing.
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