Mark it down..12 Midnight until 12 Midnight, Thursday, May 5, 2011...NO RAIN! I honestly cannot say when the last time a complete 24 hour day was rain free....maybe one or two times this past month? Anyway not to worry..this morning the rain, albeit lite so far, is back. I've pretty much given up worrying about what the forecast is. I figure they are calling for rain, if we get little or none, great...expect the worst, anything less is a good day.
A Classic Baseball Diamond___
Yesterday I was scheduled to umpire some 50 north of here, in Putnam County...a PCL game between host Kalida and visiting Ottoville. This would be my 3rd game with the visitors, and my first with Kalida, due to the fact I was rained out with them at Delphos St. Johns(big surprise!) earlier in the season. I had not been to Kalida to work in a few years...only because of rainouts. I really like going there, it's usually good baseball, and I like the feel of the stadium, which is older than me. 1949 was the year the Wildcats moved into this classic old style High School ball diamond, the same year I was born some 30 miles away in Van Wert. It has the feel of the old minor league ballparks in the movies "Bull Durham", and "A League of their Own".
I donned the plate gear, my partner was running late coming from Findlay and work, but we started almost on time...the game was a good one for the 4 1/2 innings. A pitchers duel. My strike zone felt good(although some of the fans of course disagreed)..and Ottoville's Big Green was up 1-0...the Church Clock over the left-center field fence showed the game about an hour long at that time...6:05 it read. That's when things changed....
Two close pitches, which I saw as a bit high for my strike zone, led to a walk for the Wildcats...then the bottom dropped out on the Big Green. Kalida scored six in their half of the 5th to go up 6-1...Ottoville countered back with 4 runs, and it would have been more if not for a great leaping stab by the first baseman on a high line drive...that made the score 6-5. Kalida plated another 7 in their 6th inning, and the game ended 13-5..the pitching duel ended with 18 runs, 17 of those in the last 4 half innings. The game took 2 hours 25 minutes...I headed home, as usual taking the back roads, through Ottoville, Fort Jennings, Delphos, and the surrounding rural country through Van Wert and Mercer Counties. It really is a peaceful time. The back country after working a ball game...truly one of my life's small pleasures.Tomorrow, if the rains hold off or are lite enough, the Sectionals begin. Jim Runneals and I are at Crestview in Convoy. The first game will have Lincolnview and Antwerp doing battle...while we will see Ottoville in the second game, as they take on Spencerville...another team I was scheduled with on several occasions, but got them all rained out, or switched for league games. Jim and I do the first two contests, Garry and another umpire will work game #3 to open this D4 Sectional, that will feature Fort Jennings and Wayne Trace. Speaking of which, depending on the amount of rain, I have Wayne Trace at Lima Central Catholic tonight....I repeat, depending on the amount of rain. While Kalida is one of the classic ball diamonds, with sand and clay as an infield, LCC is just a couple of years old, and one of the nicer "new" ballparks in the area.
Herman Cain/Allen West 2012____
It's still very early in the 2012 Presidential race to unseat the Kenyan Marxist that sits in the White House....but I have found a couple of GOP contenders that I would support...and to see them run together, would indeed be sweet. Not only are corporate CEO Herman Cain and Congressman military veteran Allen West great Americans, they are both Conservative and Black...not half assed 50% black, like the phony that sits in the Oval Office now.These men are great American Patriots...not to mention can you imagine the cry and screams coming out of the liberal talking heads and press if these two guys ran against "Dear Ol' Bammy"? You can imagine the filth and lies they would be throwing at these two men for daring to "Leave the Democrat Party Plantation". I hope both run, and would like nothing better to see a Cain/West or West/Cain ticket. And the crushing weight of the lies and the lousy economy would come crashing down on King Barry and his Queen, Michelle Antoinette Obama. To watch the press melt down would be great theater.
On with the work of the day...too wet to mow, guess I'll have another cup of Joe!
back later, enjoy the coming weekend>>>>
Photos-3 views of the classic old ball diamond and stands at Kalida...62 years old and still working(just like me) on a seasonal basis for Wildcat Baseball....you don't see many like this anymore. And Cain/West 2012...a couple of Patriots I could support for President or VP...or both!
1 comment:
Good stuff Pat. We've got one of those old school ball parks here in town that the high school varsity and Babe Ruth Teams play on. Same kind of wooden, covered bleachers and all. I just wish the field was in a little better shape.
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