The Deluge Before the Doubleheader

 

Before the magic. They will play!

There was a doubleheader today.

Two games. Fourteen innings expected.

Brunswick and Fieldston.

Before heading to the field, the process is always the same. 

Try to get rosters (fail). Don't panic. Hope the team has...something.

Do some player research (marginal success).

On a Saturday, with a doubleheader in play, I grab a bottle of water, stop somewhere for a sandwich, and drive to the field.

In this case, I stopped at Stop and Shop and picked up a chicken caesar wrap.

Keep in mind, there is no concession stand. There's no food truck. Heck, there's only a porta potty for a restroom. That, mind you, is better than nothing.

But today had its own wrinkle.

Rain.

Now, rain was expected but I didn't think it would impact the game. I suspected we'd either get rained out ahead of time or it would rain after the game(s) were played.

So NY 118 turned to US 202 to NY 139 to NY 100 to NY 35 to Interstate 684. This is all standard issue.

Pass the rest area at Bedford. Watch for the cops between the rest area and Exit 4. 

Then hit the monsoon near Exit 3. Even then, I figured Brunswick would make every effort to play. I can't think of a time that I got to Wick to be told the game was off.

That's when the phone rang. It was Wayne MacGillicuddy.

"Why did I know this call was coming?" I said.

He told me to not rush, except...

"Ha! I'm five minutes away."

What he didn't tell me was that the doubleheader was canceled or postponed. So, again, I knew there was a chance of playing.

So, I got to the field and decided I'd wait on bringing the equipment over.

The Brunswick Varsity Baseball Field is a fine facility. Wooden "dugouts" (in name only) occupy each baseline. You could eat off the field. It's clean and well-maintained.

Like virtually all prep school baseball fields, it has no press box. I consider it good fortune that there's even power there -- behind home plate and on the scoreboard in right field. Trust me when I say that can be a luxury.

For now, I'm occupying space near the first base (visitors) dugout. Obviously, I'm there at the request and permission of Brunswick.

The area -- as was every area that wasn't on the actual baseball field -- was soaked.

Yet despite pouring rain, the belief was that maybe there would be baseball today.

I read a tweet earlier that posed the question of what to do about spring baseball while pandering to teams about missed games.

What to do? It's spring in the Northeast. In the case of Brunswick, it's spring in New England, even if only by 500 feet or so.

You play ball when you can, where you can, and how you can. You can't "start later." You can't "go past the end of the school year." You play.

In the case of Wick, there was a window to get baseball in today, even after a couple of cracks of thunder sent players indoors and me back to my car.

My chicken caesar wrap awaited. 

I'll spare you any drama. The water was eradicated with leaf blowers before bags of drying agent were applied. Then the field was raked, dragged, and lined.

The first game was supposed to start at 1 p.m. There was talk that the doubleheader would be shortened to one nine-inning affair.

First pitch was thrown at 1:37. The first game went 4.5 innings before Brunswick won in a score-controlled 11-1 affair. The second game went the full seven innings. Wick won that also.

As for the broadcaster (I don't matter, nor should I), I was cold, damp, and muddy. My back hurt. I was out of words.

I did get the roster in question, thanks to Fieldston's team manager who handed me the lineup card before game one and went through each name with me. One player got into game two that wasn't on the roster but we still made it work.

But the whole thing happened as if there had been no rain. Or thunder. Or even hail (briefly).

And yet, rain returned in the seventh inning, not long after I had noted the dark sky on the northwest horizon. Having not used my sports pods after all (I really thought the games would get over), I closed my equipment up in hard plastic cases that kept everything dry.

Then I packed -- quickly -- and was back in the car. Within minutes, the rain cleared out, the sun reemerged, and the most glorious rainbow appeared.  

I wonder what Veronica Corningstone would say about that

I drove home quietly, once again questioning my sanity but realizing I also had my own skill. I have the ability to stand with scouts pressed against me and parents asking "Where can I watch this" while still calling the game. It isn't rocket science but it's something.

My cadence changes when calling a game in this location because of the number of people surrounding me, including the actual participants.

I drove home, not even listening to the Yankees/Red Sox game. I turned that on when I got home, in time to see the Bombers win again.

I made dinner: reheated pizza slices and "Crazy Lady: meatballs (apparently made with extra crazy).

Eventually, I put the Rangers game on as they clinched a playoff spot. With that comfortably in hand, I passed out, in my mother's trusty recliner from Bob's Discount Furniture.

The one that Sean and I took her to buy.

I woke up to spit out 500 or so words.

Now, this is done also.

Tomorrow is more radio. Maybe even some time spent on cleaning out the house.

And back to baseball on Monday.

Weather permitting, of course.