In-field Fly

Good evening, friends. As I sit at my computer, I find myself excited to no end, about render my version of the story that I consider a highlight of my athletic career. This story is inspired by two things: The notes written by Kenny Johnson on facebook concerning his childhood, as well as the most recent post on Joe Kraftchick's blog. I hope you enjoy, and can catch a glimpse ot the phenomenon that was the black sox.

It was a sunny evening. The stage was set for an epic battle: Black Sox vs. Winnie Rockers...Two rival teams in a league where all that mattered was being better than the team you liked least. It was not so much about winning every game, but about bugging "that team" because your girl just got a triple, or you hit it over their best fielder's head for a homerun, or, most importantly, you kicked the crap out of their team even though they take steroids.

Reliving the day in my head, many of the details are quite blurry. I cannot in fact, even remember which team won that night, although I'm leaning towards the black sox, due to overall superiority. One event, however, stands out clear, as though it happened this afternoon. Up to bat walked Ross Pavan. as I stood on the pitcher's mound (or, more accurately, pitcher's hole), i considered my options. I knew that ross was a decent batter, but, being a fairly obnoxious person, I felt inclined to humiliate him with my superior skills. One out, two to go. My eyes wandered to my left, Rachel standing slightly behind first base, partially blocked from my view by the woman who had just made it to base. I continued to turn, as always, a full 360 in order to ensure my team was paying attention...lance in the field with both hands on knees, ready for what was to come, tara on second looking very non-chelant, and kenny at shortstop, striking a confidant, if not arrogant pose.

I turned to face my enemy, for in a situation such as this, i considered any man prepared to hurl an object in my direction, whether intentionally or not, my enemy. My choice...start with my curve. I became known in the league for a pitch that started way outside, and worked its way back to the strike zone, not a common sight in slowpitch. the ball left my hand, sailed perfectly through the air, and past the sailing bat, right onto home plate, strike one! Now, I should mention, that the specific trajectory and spin which I place on my pitch generally results in one of two things when confronting the average male batter...either a pop fly, easy to catch, or a line drive headed directly towards me, causing many injuries throughout my career.

Pitch two. Fooled him once, I can fool him again. I opted for a variation of the same pitch, where I arc the ball higher, which makes it harder for the batter to hit clean. the swing came, and made contact. The result: and apparent infield fly, an easy out...an automatic out. the ball went up, and I watched as Kenny johnson called for it, with a slightly mischevious look in his eye. the ball was set to land at or near second base. I watched in amazement as Kenny lined up under the ball, and just as it was making its way to his glove, he stepped back. the ball hit the ground just behind second base, whereupon Kenny proceeded to pick it up, touch second base, causing the woman at first to be called ut, and an easy throw to Rachel on first to get ross...a double play to end the inning. In all my life I had never seen this play carried out to such perfection. It brought an instant smile to my face, which was enhanced when I saw the rage in the eyes of Ross Pavan.. "that's cheating, you're cheaters, that wasnt fair!" in fact, the play was perfectly legal, and the nasty comments we recieved stemmed only from the jealousy, for not one man on Ross' team would've had the wits, nor the talent, to carry out such an act of slopitch perfection.

My greatest memory from the Black Sox years, and my thanks to Kenny, Rachel, Ross, girl on first, and myself, for being the characters in such a wonderful moment in history.

A year goes by and I'm staring at my watch again

So, here I sit, staring out the window towards a dozen or so horses lazily eating the hay I brought them a few hours ago.the sun has set, leaving the valley cold and dim, save for a few clouds still reflecting the final rays of bright light for the day. another year has passed, another holiday season gone, and I am left feeling as though 2008 for me was a flurry of activity that never seemed to stop. In the last 12 months I have had 4 different jobs, finished school, travelled around the province, made my way to the east coast, met many new people (and animals), and still I managed to sit at my moms house for over a month doing absolutely nothing except when I wanted to. After all that, here I am, currently covered in dirt, sweat, snow, grease, gas, and hay dust, after a normal days work in beautiful (?) canal flats, B.C. I learned a minute ago that pepsi, seasoned by the distinct flavour of gasoline that found its way onto my face about half an hour ago, acutally tastes pretty good.

After all that I have found myself doing this past year, it is nice to be somewhat settled, having a routine, and a decent job to do. I have learned that, although I am happy where I am for the time being, and don't see myself leaving here too soon, I truly am a Grand Forks boy, and dream of the days when I can live there permanently again. Maybe part of it is that, as I currently have no vehicle, my trips away from the ranch are limited mostly to work related ventures, so I have not had much opportunity to meet anyone around here. I believe that once spring comes, and I can put the old supra back on the road, I will enjoy this place even more.

My latest adventure worthy of note was my trip back to the ranch on the greyhound on sunday night. we stopped in salmo as scheduled (or, an hour late, to be accurate), and upon attempting to pull out from the bus station, the driver succeeded in getting the bus stuck. Now, there wasn't much fresh snow on the ground, the bus simply couldnt get traction on the ice underneath, and any attempt at moving caused the tires to spin and create ruts in the ice, compounding the problem. Many laughed at the situation, and at the bus driver. I, on the other hand, immediately thought back to april of 2005, only days after I bought my nice new truck (kid with more money than brains, I was). Me and my friend Tim went for a drive up fishermans creek road, and after a few kilometers, we came upon a spot in the road where there is a slight hill down, followed by an upslope. now, after all my past 4x4ing adventures, this spot didnt even cross my mind as a problem, but upon reaching the bottom, I quickly realized that it was sheer ice, and I did not have suitable tires for the situation. In the end, we walked about 10 km before being picked up on the highway, and had to get a friend to pull us out the next day. Now, as I thought back to this endeavor while sitting on the swaying bus, I felt only sympathy for the man responsible for bringing a full bus of people to their various destinations. after a few unsuccessful minutes, the driver announced that he would appreciate if any individuals were willing to try pushing. So, on a dark sunday night in salmo B.C. I found mself in the company of a few other "heroic" men trying to push a greyhound bus. Let me tell you...I have pushed vehicles out of stuck situations in the past, but trying to move this bus was like trying to push a solid wall of cement, it had absolutely no effect. We quickly found ourselves feeling quite inadequate, and fairly exhausted. The bus driver was ready to give up, when i spotted a corn broom leaning against a shop door, and quickly instructed the driver to try again. as the tires started spinning effortlessly, I jammed the broom under the drive tire, causing it to catch, and like nothing the bus was moving and free of its rut. The event put us even further behind schedule, meaning I didnt get to bed until 5am, leaving me less than rested for work at 8am.

And Now, as I am Tired and want to go home and shower, I shall end this post. I will ry to update more frequently, so as not to displease my fans. Happy new year to you all, may it bring you humility, sinicism, a sarcastic nature, and most of all, the ability to accept that you are a failure in oh so many ways.

"It's New Years Eve and I feel my insecurities are haunting me like ghosts, this sinking quicksand.
And then with thunderous praise and lofty adoration, a second passes by, yet nothing changes.
I hate my skin, this grave I'm standing in. Another change of years, and I wish I wasn't here."
-Reese Roper