Cincinnati, Lightning, Bobble Heads, and Bad Baseball....

I left Celina at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, on my way to Centerville, where I would meet up with youngest son Hal...from there we would make the drive to Cincinnati, grab a bite to eat, and hook up with his father-in-law, Tim and some family members.  The trip was a much better show than the baseball game.

We have been in the mist of a drought for sometime....yesterday, much of the state got plenty of rain, more than enough in the Cincinnati area...back home in Celina, just a few drops....even with another round of lite rain this morning, we remain dry for the most part.

We left Centerville at 4pm or so, and headed south on I-75...the skies to the south, as well as east and west, were dark, and the lightning strikes in all areas were coming at an increasing rate...by the time we reached Sharonville, in the northern bergs of Cincy, the traffic had slowed to a crawl, and the flashing amber signs read "Miles to I-74 Seven, Minutes  to arrive 43"....we crawled along and even though I had forgot to pack the Nikon, Hal and I took photos and some video with the cell phones, moving at less than 10mph allowing for that.  The lightning strikes were intense and spectacular before the heaviest of rain arrived...one bolt, some distance from the roadway caused both of us, and I'm sure other, to jump high in our seats.  Meanwhile in downtown Cincinnati, the Great American Ball Park was pretty much under water...Hal downloaded a live photo showing the water in the outfield...the stadium turf drains quite well thank you, and with the storms scheduled to end around 6pm....the game should get started nearly on time....it did, but the Reds probably wish it hadn't.

We arrived at the parking garage at 5:30 and Tim and family had arrived just before us....we met at Rock Bottom, had some drinks, me opting for a strong dark Stout that is the in house breweries speciality, a bite to eat, a Club Sandwich for me, and at 6:30, with just a sprinkle of rain, we headed to the park for the Reds and Arizona on Jay Bruce Bobble Head Night.  The bobble head was about as good as it got.  Matt Latos, who had not lost since mid-April gave up a two run home run in the top of the first inning, and the Diamondbacks never looked back...putting away the home team in the middle innings and coming away with a 7-1, dropping the Reds into a first place tie with Pittsburgh.

Regardless we had a good time, despite the loss, and the lite drizzle that stayed with us for the first 6 or 7 inning....we left in the 8th inning, the traffic had cleared out, and Hal and I arrived in Centerville about 11pm....I got into the Nitro, stopped by the 24/7 Tim Horton's on the route through home, grabbed a large French Vanilla Coffee to help me stay awake....and I headed back north on 75...finally arriving home at 12:45 this morning.

The Reds are schedule back in action at 1pm today, but the storms are back in Cincinnati this morning, and could put a fly in that ointment.....meanwhile I look forward to my final umpire work this weekend.  Two games with Sam tomorrow at Minster, the a final double header Sunday afternoon at 5pm in Bryan, for the State ACME(High School Summer Baseball) Championships.

Frankly, I will be happy to see it end....just a short break before football officiating begins on August 7th....back later>>>

Photos-(1) Threatening Clouds as we approach Cincinnati on I-75...(2) the Jay Bruce Bobble Head box the first 25,000 received last night at Great American Ballpark (3)The view from our seats in left field as the game got underway and (4) The ACME State Tournament will end my baseball work for the season....that comes this Sunday north in Bryan, Ohio.