I'm Home Alone

 

The Renegades get a home run from Spncer Jones
(screenshot of Sean Adams' camerawork)

It's Friday night and I just finished dinner.

Sean is gone and it's just me. Oh, and of course The Cat.

But Sean is at Dutchess Stadium -- oh, wait, Heritage Financial Park -- for opening night. The Renegades are home to play the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

I could have been there. Basically, I can almost visit on any night, though I don't know that for a fact. I've never tested it and try not to overstep my boundaries. 

But when we began to put the PA announcing schedule together, I opted out of the opener.

Truth? I wanted to be there tonight but I didn't feel the need to stomp my feet. So I'm enjoying a quiet Friday at home.

Sean enjoys his job as a camera operator and he's quite good at it. He's also looking forward to me being there on Sunday.

Plus, he texted me right before first pitch to tell me that my voice was in the hype video to open the season. I admit, given I feel like I'm the leader on the Island of Misfit Broadcasters, that news meant something to me.

I'll be there on Sunday as the public address announcer to begin my second season in that role.

It's been asked several times over the past year or so: You're doing what? Why? How could you go back?

There's still some anger from others.

Yet, when I explained my reasoning, everyone got it. Sort of.

But it's simple: did I mention Sean is there?

So that's first and foremost. Oh, and Lori will be there when she returns from Florida. So now I have two family members there.

And Rick Zolzer is there. Zolz and I became closer friends after I started helping him with his show that, eventually, I had a stake in. Let's say that's "paused" for the time being (the show, not the friendship).

Zolz, in fact, insisted on me taking this on last year and stayed on me in the offseason to return. He wanted me to do even more but, in the end, I'm there for my voice. I don't think anyone actually thinks this is where my talent is best used but I'm not the worst PA announcer either!

But I'm also there for a lot of the faces that I get to see and work with as well as the fans who come up and say hello.

There are even fans whose faces light up when they hear it's me on the speakers. Yes, I'm shocked also.

Lastly, I'm there because it's baseball.

And, as I thought about it today, though I'm not there tonight, I've been involved in minor league baseball since 2001. That's something to be proud of. Now, was I there every year from 2001 to now? No, but I've been around it the whole time and the door was always left open.

Then I thought it had all but closed but I got called to fill in to do some play-by-play a few years back.

Then I was hired to do all of the play-by-play for the 2020 season.

We know how that turned out.

So, with a bit of a stacked deck, we powered through a strange 2021 season that I'll take to my grave as some of my finest work.

Outstanding reviews, fans, viral calls, and memories.

So, head held high, I'll walk into Heritage Financial Park on Sunday and use my voice for good.

I get to say I work in organized baseball. Affiliated baseball. New York Yankees affiliated baseball.

There's at least a modicum of respect in all of that.

I'll have fun with an Easter Day crowd on Sunday at the ballpark.