Game 17

 

I've done some marathon stretches of games and will hit a new level tomorrow.

It will be the 17th game in six days.

That's probably a record but I really don't know.

The Babe Ruth New England regional ends tomorrow with Waterford, CT playing Pittsfield, MA. The winner is off to Glen Allen, VA for the Babe Ruth 13-year-old World Series.

I'll be right back at it, live around 9:50 a.m.

There are a host of emotions with the end of the tourney.

- Happy: It's over. We survived.

- Gratitude: As happens every year, I make new friends and have a great experience with a group of people in close quarters.

- Sadness:  It's over just as quick as it started.

- Relief: I didn't have throat or voice issues. and problems were minimal. I really struggled with a sore throat and raspy voice when I did 15 games in five days in 2015 but I've gotten better since then somehow.

- Frustration: Wifi was spotty at best and I had to do quite a few games using my cell phone data.

And so on.

For Trumbull, there is disappointment that they won't be playing tomorrow. Waterford eliminated Trumbull, 3-1. The looks on the faces of the players and their families said it all.

The ride is so quick. Within just over 48 hours, at least two teams that I'd gotten used to had been eliminated. Two more teams were gone on Monday.

Two more today.

Tomorrow, we get to the bottom line.

Selfishly, the sad part for me means that I'll likely call my last seven innings of baseball tomorrow. It's certainly not how I wrote it up last September. I thought I'd do more.

Much more.

Instead, I called my first game in March and, tomorrow, I suspect it will be finished for 2022.

Had Trumbull won this tournament, they swore I was going with them to Virginia. Additionally, their 14U team said they'd take me ...

...

to North Dakota. That's where the 14U World Series is.

I began to actually think about such a thing.

Alas, both teams were eliminated today.

Sports are cruel.

There is most certainly gratitude for the ride but I'll now (most likely) head into a funk of no broadcasts until the very end of August or even early September.

(In other words: I'm available)

So, sure, I'll try to travel somewhere in August and whatever and football will be here before we know it.

But, no, this isn't how I wanted it.

Then again, what is?

So I'll try to savor these last seven innings tomorrow.

Savor the last moments in the Trumbull booth.

Savor the time with these people.

Continue to provide the coverage that has received record numbers and many kind words.

Savor the interactions such as with Matt Shampine, the Waterford pitcher who beat Trumbull today. A Babe Ruth Connecticut official told me that he wanted to meet me so I was happy to oblige. We had a brief chat before he and his family departed. I think we were actually both thrilled. We only forgot to get a picture together.

Tomorrow, there are seven more innings of pitch counts and changing defenses and words that will emerge from my lips.

And after it's over?

I'll go to Dutchess Stadium and do PA for the Gades. I'll get my first look at "The Martian."

Eventually, I'll sleep.

It's an exhausting run.

And I'll miss it all.