I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
A fun weekend at the ballpark ended just a short time ago, and I’m not so sure how to feel about the latter half.
We split a doubleheader on Saturday evening, which was a nice result against a Bowie club that has, as of late, put on quite a show in the EL. We packed the house with 8,000+ of our closest friends, too. But the highlight of the evening, for me at least, was seeing an old pal that I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. My pal Sylvia brought over 300 fans to the ballpark, hoping to see yours truly get back into his “Let’s Go Rock Cats” act…and she certainly wasn’t disappointed. Her group was treated to loud, raucous chants, and they joined right in. And it sure was fantastic to see her again, catching up on old times and making sure her group had a good time. And that’s one of the best parts of the Rock Cats—the friends we make. We can go for inordinately long periods of time without seeing each other…but when those friends we make return, it’s a wonderful thing.
Sadly, we had to say goodbye to one of our ushers who is moving on to Florida to enjoy his retirement. J.R. was the guy who broke me in 8 years ago. I started in New Britain on a very cold Sunday afternoon in April, after a week and a half of “snow outs". We got a break in the weather with a little bit of sun and got two game in that day, with J.R. showing me the ropes and insisting that it won’t be 37*F for long—not to mention talking me out of giving it up for fear of frostbite! Over the years, we had some fun times that gave us tons of laughs, and we reminisced about them today…
- The Saturday evening game we played one cold May…in the rain…for 15 innings…losing a chance to win in the 12th, 13th and 14th. While that wasn’t funny…we did lose it in the 15th, in front of 3 dozen fans. J.R. and I handed out Krispy Kreme donuts to those who hung around, and apologized for the loss! We were drowned rats by the end of the night.
- The Friday evening fireworks night a couple of years ago when I split my pants when I slipped on a stair. We leaned against the wall for the better part of 7 innings, hiding the big ol’ rip in my backside. We waited until all the fans had left so I wouldn’t show them my skivvies!
- Launch-A-Ball night last year when I took a BASEBALL, not a tennis ball, off the dome. It hurt like hell, felt like a bomb went off in my head, and caused me to fall over—hard—and land right on top of J.R. We weren’t sure who’s headache was worse.
- The Bob Dylan concert a couple of years ago where Dylan “sang” for an hour (in a downpour), unintelligibly, and then just walked out without even acknowledging the fans. The again, he did say, “hello, Worcester.”
- The 2003 EL All Star Game…good times.
- The 2007 EL All Star Game in Norwich, where I played Rocky in the fog and he wandered around in the Rookie costume with me…all while sweating off a good 15 lbs. Want a good way to lose some weight, just put one of those suits around and take a walk!
We watched hundreds of games together, hoped for a playoff spot, begged for winning streaks, and had one helluva good time. I’m going to miss J.R.—we had a lot of good times. But I’m happy he’s made it to retirement and a beautiful new condo in FL.
Godspeed, pal. Catch you down the road, my friend.
