Renegades-Spinners at Fenway Park - Part 2 (The Game)

When we last left off, we were approaching gametime. I had suddenly had the realization that I was about to broadcast a game at Fenway Park. Nobody was coming to tell me to stop; this was for real.

At 11:45 AM, Nick Kalogris started the theme music, and as I've become the pre-game host, it was my job to open the broadcast. I don't normally do this, but I knew what I wanted to say:

"Words I never thought I'd say in my life, 'Live from Fenway Park, this is Hudson Valley Renegades Baseball.'"

I'm told that my opening was good in totality, and I guess it sounded OK when I heard it, but I was beginning to hyperventilate as I spoke. Sean Ford thought I was nuts, of course, but I don't take these opportunities lightly. I just didn't want to mess it up. There are times that I get when our audience will be a little larger than usual, or when the stakes are a little higher. This was one of those times.



Eventually it just became baseball. The Gades and Spinners would play a wonderful ballgame. Anthony Scelfo would homer into the bullpen in right center, and the Gades would need to play catchup in the ninth, as they tied the contest at three. I called the fourth through six innings and enjoyed every minute, despite the sleepy offensive performances by each team. That's become a running joke. There are no highlights when I'm behind the mic!

The Gades had their chance to take the lead in the ninth but came up short, and would eventually lose the game in the 12th, 4-3. Sean was gracious enough to let me call the 11th (I didn't know that was coming), and I was a strike away from taking the call for the 13th. Oh well.

We quickly finished up the postgame show so that Sean could catch the team bus back to Lowell (silly guy, he could have gotten a ride from us). Harold and I went downstairs to catch up with my family (cousin Ron and Kris, along with Shelby and Ana) then came back to the booth to watch some of the PawSox/Charlotte Knights game.

We both hated to leave, but it was getting late in the day and we needed to resolve our parking and get to the hotel. What we found out was that media parking would have been free (that would have been nice to know) but after a 20 minute walk, we were back at the garage, and our media credential was enough to get parking down to just $9. We couldn't complain.

We found our accommodations in Billerica to be more than accommodating (thank you, Courtyard by Marriott), and dinner at the Lowell Brew Works hit the spot. We talked about watching a movie in the room, but Harold and I were both out by 10:15.

So ended day one. Day two took us to LeLacheur Park in Lowell for the second meeting between the Gades and the Spinners. We'll carry on from here.