From Norwich with love

 

From Section 11, Row P, Seat 12!

I wasn't sure I was going to call a doubleheader today until yesterday when Brunswick's Wayne McGillicuddy told me we were on.

It's basically a two-hour drive from Mahopac to Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT but it's a nice trip on a Saturday morning. Plus it's a trip to a (now former) minor league stadium, so I figured it would be nice to sit in a booth and watch the Bruins and Chancellors of St. Thomas More.

Yeah. About that...

My "booth." Really.

I was there in plenty of time. It was roughly two hours before first pitch. I had the equipment and was armed with food and drinks.

The Bruins because, essentially, Connecticut traffic is the work of the devil. By the time Wayne and I convened to set up the camera to connect to Local Live, I had concocted a plan. My goal was that I'd sit in the booth and we'd set the camera up just outside of the booth. Simple, right?

Those in charge of Dodd Stadium -- from the Norwich Sea Unicorns -- did not concur.

"We can't let you in the booth," Wayne and I were told.

I know -- from experience -- that there are home and radio booths that are private rooms at Dodd Stadium. So even if anyone else was in the main press box, I would have been off in a completely separate room.

So what could it have been (other than some kind of COVID protocol) and does it really matter?

Plenty of room!

No. It doesn't.

The thing is that, despite everything, we do the job. We can gripe all we want, and I basically bit through my tongue to keep from saying anything to the Sea Unicorn people, but there is still a job to be done.

So I called 14 innings of fascinating and, at times, strange baseball. The Bruins and Cancellors played two good one-run games. Each team won one game and had a chance to steal the other.

Oh, and it rained during the second game. It's not like I have electronic equipment with me or anything like that. Yet, being the prepared should that I am, I brought a tarp with me.

There was no room for my pod!

In the meantime, I kept an eye on the Yankees and the Renegades as they both played. That kept me occupied as I made the trip home.

And now? Our next broadcast is...

is?

Tomorrow, when I'll be a guest of Rick Zolzer on his sports talk show on WKIP at noon.

Oh, you mean my next game broadcast?

It's Tuesday night at 6:55 p.m. when the Hudson Valley Renegades host the Aberdeen IronBirds at Dutchess Stadium.

The final tuneup is over.

It's almost go time.