Four hours? Didn't feel like it

You never want to see the tarp on the field

The dark skies were an ominous sign.

Games in Brooklyn, Somerset (NJ), and the Bronx had all been postponed.

The radar looked questionable and the tarp was on the field.

Yet, with just a 16-minute delay, the Renegades played and completed a 10 inning contest last night at Dutchess Stadium.

The result? Jersey Shore 6, Hudson Valley 3. The Gades had a lead going into the ninth before the BlueClaws tied it with two out and then won it in the 10th.

Total time on the air, including commercials? Three hours and fifty-six minutes.

Somehow, it didn't feel like that.

Don't get me wrong, as it wasn't the most crisply-played game ever. There were errors, passed balls, wild pitches, a manager ejection, mound visits, a balk, moments of heavy rain, and perhaps more that I'm forgetting.

In a remarkable newsflash, it was hardly flawless play-by-play by the broadcaster either.

Yet I soaked it all up.

Granted, I sat for the call, which isn't entirely usual. I stand so often unless the circumstances are prime for me to sit.

My position at Dutchess Stadium doesn't make standing easy as I have equipment that would block my view.

So I sit on a high stool and call the action.

As we went on the air at 7 p.m. -- five minutes before our normal first pitch -- I had to fill some time due to the threat of the weather. So I read the league leaders and the standings and the schedule and described what I was watching on the field.

It was only 21 minutes of fill time before the first pitch and the National Anthem took up a few of those, so it wasn't really heavy lifting.

Poor Sean didn't have the option of sitting, as he stood behind a camera until I implored him to rest between innings.

Having suffered from foot pain my entire life, I sympathize with him.

Other camera people stood and endured the weather. None of us were immune from the events of the evening. The entire crew made the night work.

On the way home, I warned Sean of what is yet to come.

"We're just getting started," I said. "We haven't had a real four-hour-plus slobber knocker yet."

We haven't dealt with a long rain delay yet, either.

He's just getting started and learning to love it and I actually think he does.

And, clearly, when it settles in, I love it all too.

Nearly four hours on the air and nearly eight in the ballpark? 

Sure! Why not?

You have to be a little crazy to do what we do.