For good reasons and bad...
For Tommy and I as well as all the others who were able to make the trip it was a dream come true to actually get to meet and fellowship with fellow members of the Hardball Heaven league. Baseman, Blind Squirrels, Ageless One, Tenn Hitters and Halfway Hardballers. Mark, Juan, Mike, Tommy and Randy.
I guess it is true that nothing good happens without a little effort and there were some yeoman efforts put in to make this happen. 1st there was Mark. Mark arranged to get the tickets so we would all be sitting together. He patiently waited outside the park from 2pm till game time (and a little longer) to meet up with the rest of us and see that we all got our tickets and we marched in together.
Then there was Juan. After working a full shift on Friday night and getting off at 6:30am Saturday morning, he hops in the car with friend Lee and embarked on a 7 1/2 hr drive to Cincinnati. Then after getting some extra innings in the game.... they embarked on the 7 1/2 hr return trip home.
Then the trio of Mike, Tommy and Randy. We left Bowling Green, Ky around 9am completely comfortable with the notion that we would be arriving a good hour and a half to two hours before game time. We were in 2 cars as Mike was continuing on to Minn after the game to do some research on his family tree. 16 miles from the park and 2 hours before game time, we stopped and grabbed a sandwich. Taking our time and completely unrushed we ate, stretched and then loaded up for the last leg to park.
FINALLY over an hour and a half from the time we left Burger King, we walk to the front of the ticket area and meet up with Mark and Juan. Tired, frustrated, stiff yet ecstatic to finally meet our fellow Hardball Heaven comrades.
After an abbreviated minute of introductions we made our way to our seats and things started turning for the better. We quickly identified all the players that were owned on league teams. Mark had both pitchers in the game. Mike was hoping for a possible S from Cordero. Mark had J Bruce although he had opted to sit him for the day. Juan was intently interested in the performance of Drew Stubbs. In true Hardball Heaven fashion there was a lot of good natured ribbing as we watched the the game and the updates from around the league. Juan was able to keep us updated on the league scores on his iPhone.
The day was hot. Temperature was in the low 90's at game time but our seats were shaded and it was really very pleasant under the conditions. Great American Ballpark is a beautiful place and from our seats we had an excellent view of the field and were also able to look out over the Ohio River and see Kentucky on the other side. The crowd was very enthusiastic right up to the point where Kemp hit a grand slam that tied the game. (Stars immediately came to all of our minds at this point and the discussion quickly led to the pending trade)
I am convinced that it would take a week to recap all the details and nuances of the whole experience. For those that made it the event was priceless. For those of you that could not...... all I can say is you missed out...big time. We have decided however to make this an annual event and will look to move the meeting site around so hopefully others can find it easier to attend. As great as the whole experience was... there are lots of things that we would change for next time. So start saving your nickels and dimes now and make plans to attend next year when we decide where and when to meet.
As Tommy and I recapped the experience on the way home one thing that we both had noticed right away was how comfortable everyone was when we met. Here we were meeting people for the first time but yet it seemed as though we knew each other well. Totally comfortable and natural feeling. We also couldn't help but feel a little proud of how far our simple idea of assembling a group of active, dedicated fantasy managers had come.
It certainly was a slice of heaven....
No comments:
Post a Comment