So...now what?

 

So as I alluded to last night, my Babe Ruth baseball broadcasts possibly aren't over.

With Trumbull and Waterford both advancing to the New England regional, the teams each expressed interest in my joining them in North Providence, RI next Wednesday.

And the word spread to where families were asking if I'd be there next week.

All I could say is "I think so?"

I've cleared my calendar so that I can go but there are always variables and I've learned to be cautious with such things.

Understand that I've been promised many things over the years. Heck, by the end of last night, it appeared that I might play a bigger role in Babe Ruth broadcasting moving forward but those ideas are all lovely until they're either forgotten or turn out to be too expensive or unrealistic or whatever the case.

As of tonight, nothing is in stone. I think I'm getting on the road early Wednesday morning, armed with snacks and other goodies to help me survive possibly calling 17 games over five days.

But, as I've learned, anything can happen. Things like:

- There's no room in the booth.

- They don't like me.

- They don't have power or a place for me to set up.

- Cell service/internet service is unreliable or unavailable.

- The games will be called by a North Providence father and his 12-year-old child.

Whatever the case may be.

Are any of these scenarios true? No, but who is to say?

That's just it: we don't know yet.

So this is my standard routine. Prepare for the worse and hope for the best.

I've done some of my prep work in that I've reviewed the route and looked at the field on Google. If I'm looking at the right place, there is a booth but it is smaller than either the Unity Park or Trumbull High booth. So does that mean I'll need a tent (or my pod) to keep the equipment out of the elements?

Will I need sunscreen and so on?

And, of course, I always have to be cognizant of someone to stop in and take care of Mr. Rascal Squeaky.

These are all things I'll deal with come as we get closer to Wednesday.

Once I'm at a game site, it gets difficult to leave, with games at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. There's a rhythm to it: set up, write lineups, call the game. Repeat.

At the end of the day, it's then off to wherever I'm sleeping. But people want the games put into the archive and I want to pull out any highlights.

During tournament game days, there isn't always time to get food even if there are concessions on-site. So the ability to run to Shaw's grocery store a mile away or the nearest Dunkin Donuts is very limited.

Oh, and I screw it up. Trust me.

I went to the tournament in Trumbull this time armed with bottles of water and a water bottle that had belonged to my mom.

And I lost the water bottle somehow. I'm fairly bummed about that.

Other days I simply forgot to bring a bottle of water which is absolutely essential for a broadcaster, even though it needs to be consumed carefully. When being the lead broadcaster you need to know where the rest room is.

Yes, there are a lot of moving parts that go into this stuff.

Obviously, I can do most of this preparation at the last minute and I have done so many times. So if nothing is confirmed until Tuesday night guess what? I'll still be fine.

But as to that question: Are you going to Rhode Island.

Well...

I think so?