What a night! The Outlaws came up short in their comeback bid, but an exciting ballgame nonetheless. Really loved the heart the guys showed in fighting back, and as G-rated insider information goes, manager Cadaret said on the bus ride back to the hotel, "We played a full nine." Meaning, he appreciated and recognized the effort and spirit of the ballclub. A lot has gone on in the past 48 hours. The final cuts, the long bus trip, the rain showers here in Tucson, falling in an 8-1 hole...but the guys didn't let the battle end until that final pitch.
Geez...I love this job. Probably we're all getting spoiled here at Hi Corbett. From the spacious clubhouse to the immaculate pressbox, the facilities here in Tucson are certainly first-class. Wish we had more than just two trips down here to the Old Pueblo. I opened up the side-window in the booth early in the afternoon after the bus arrived around 3:30 p.m. As the game drew nearer, I wondered how I could get this large window right in front of me open. Being non-mechanical (other than a piano-moving employment history), I saw a couple wires connected to the window, and figured, "don't tug on it...probably more expensive to replace than I can afford". So...as first pitch drew near, I asked the helpful media staff, and MAGIC! The window opened with a press of a button. Like some fancy luxury box at an NFL stadium, all I had to do was press a button and the windows' hydralics kicked right in, opening me up to the sounds and smells of the ballpark. As I said...MAGIC!
And what a place to make my professional baseball debut. In a town I love, inside my own booth larger than rooms I've rented in college for months at a time. I was nervous, and I was studdering. Jim Ru..Ra...Ra...Ruuu....Rushford...curse him! My sister-in-law is a speech pathologist, maybe I need to phone her up. Maybe I just need to breathe easier and deeper, and overall pay more attention to my broadcast physiological mechanisms. Maybe I need to stand up. Might try that. But...overall, I felt like I hit my groove later in the ballgame, just as the Outlaws themselves did, and I'm thinking as opposed to a week into the season, perhaps before we leave Tucson I'll be settled into my rhythm.
As I said, what a vocation I convinced Mr. Jacey to pay me for. I went into the clubhouse and got my pre-game interviews with Cadaret and Silverman, and then, just sat out on the concourse at Hi Corbett at a picnic table filling out my scorebook with the lineups. A cover-band was playing oldies from the 60's, the kettle corn and churros and grilled goods made for a potent aroma, and excited fans (over 4,000 of them) filled the ballpark with the necessary opening night buzz.
Ya know, operating on three and a half hours sleep, I was fueled all day with the adrenaline as if I were batting clean-up at Wrigely Field. They'll be only one "first game", and while I grade myself at a 4 out of 10...I can promise, it'll get smoother.
But, I'm going to enjoy some sleep if I don't stay up watching this replay of the Lakers-Nuggets playoff game. Just being in a hotel room on a "business trip" is exciting and something I wouldn't do otherwise. Breakfast ends at 9 a.m., bus leaves to take the guys the gym at 10 a.m. Don't know if I'll make either...
Geez...I love this job. Probably we're all getting spoiled here at Hi Corbett. From the spacious clubhouse to the immaculate pressbox, the facilities here in Tucson are certainly first-class. Wish we had more than just two trips down here to the Old Pueblo. I opened up the side-window in the booth early in the afternoon after the bus arrived around 3:30 p.m. As the game drew nearer, I wondered how I could get this large window right in front of me open. Being non-mechanical (other than a piano-moving employment history), I saw a couple wires connected to the window, and figured, "don't tug on it...probably more expensive to replace than I can afford". So...as first pitch drew near, I asked the helpful media staff, and MAGIC! The window opened with a press of a button. Like some fancy luxury box at an NFL stadium, all I had to do was press a button and the windows' hydralics kicked right in, opening me up to the sounds and smells of the ballpark. As I said...MAGIC!
And what a place to make my professional baseball debut. In a town I love, inside my own booth larger than rooms I've rented in college for months at a time. I was nervous, and I was studdering. Jim Ru..Ra...Ra...Ruuu....Rushford...curse him! My sister-in-law is a speech pathologist, maybe I need to phone her up. Maybe I just need to breathe easier and deeper, and overall pay more attention to my broadcast physiological mechanisms. Maybe I need to stand up. Might try that. But...overall, I felt like I hit my groove later in the ballgame, just as the Outlaws themselves did, and I'm thinking as opposed to a week into the season, perhaps before we leave Tucson I'll be settled into my rhythm.
As I said, what a vocation I convinced Mr. Jacey to pay me for. I went into the clubhouse and got my pre-game interviews with Cadaret and Silverman, and then, just sat out on the concourse at Hi Corbett at a picnic table filling out my scorebook with the lineups. A cover-band was playing oldies from the 60's, the kettle corn and churros and grilled goods made for a potent aroma, and excited fans (over 4,000 of them) filled the ballpark with the necessary opening night buzz.
Ya know, operating on three and a half hours sleep, I was fueled all day with the adrenaline as if I were batting clean-up at Wrigely Field. They'll be only one "first game", and while I grade myself at a 4 out of 10...I can promise, it'll get smoother.
But, I'm going to enjoy some sleep if I don't stay up watching this replay of the Lakers-Nuggets playoff game. Just being in a hotel room on a "business trip" is exciting and something I wouldn't do otherwise. Breakfast ends at 9 a.m., bus leaves to take the guys the gym at 10 a.m. Don't know if I'll make either...
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