A bad hat and a badder suit

 2 November 2021

Day 3 started with promising hopes. Today was picture day so we all made our way over to Clover Park for team pictures and pictures of ourselves in the middle of all of the coaches. Dr. Andrews' Waiting Room opened the day on field 5. We trailed early 2-0 but it could have been worse if not for a top-notch defensive play by Chris DiLorenzo to end the inning. Unfortunately, we lost Chris to a leg injury in the next inning. I felt even worse for him given that his lovely wife Kristen had only minutes prior arrived at the field to see him play. But Chris is such a gamer that while he couldn't play defensively he continued to take his at bats with a runner taking his place on the basepaths. 

I've had better days at the plate. Seth Davis totally ate my lunch even though I hit two long drives, foul, down the left field line. I struck out on all three of my plate appearances in game 1 today, giving me the "golden sombrero" which is a baseball term for exactly that- 3 strikeouts in 3 at bats. Four strikeouts in four at bats is the platinum sombrero. I played some first base and was later moved to right field for the remainder of the contest. We ended up dropping the game by a 13-4 score. We actually had 12 hits but we could not capitalize on the bulk of them.  

Following lunch we got back together for game 2 of the day, once again to be played on field 5. We knew we had our work cut out for us given that the opposing starting pitcher was David Reale, who'd won today's gold rope for his complete game yesterday. It was a close contest. We trailed 3-1 after 4 innings. That was the score when I batted in the 5th. I managed to bloop one over the head of the second baseman to drive in a run to make it 3-2. But the next batter grounded int a double play and the rally ended abruptly. It just felt good to get my first hit of camp thus far. I spent the day defensively in right field, as nagging injuries have caused us to have some players out of their most natural positions, first base being my own. 

While we could have had more luck with the men in blue, we never gave up for one minute and for that we should be proud. We had 14 hits of our own while only allowing 6 to our opponents, so we really did play well for the entire game. 

Tonight we made our way over to Clover Park for the Charity Casino Night. While we could win coupons which could be used for autographed Mets items in a raffle-style format, the proceeds of our money will be going to a charity Calle Hope for Heroes, which assists our veterans in searches for housing and employment when the government doesn't do enough for them. 

I stunned the masses at casino night by my evening attire. A number of months ago I purchased a Mets suit. You heard right, as suit made of 217% polyester with Mets logos and colors covering it in its entirety. I believe I bought it during the height of COVID, probably at 3 a.m. on either amazon.com or eBay.com. I can't remember which. But it has been in my closet for over a year now and no better time to bust it out than tonight. For the most part there was stunned amazement, and others were so enthralled that they asked to take pictures with yours truly. My top request for a pic with me come from Ron Swoboda himself. I was honored to to have him ask me to take it with him. I need to ask him to send me a copy on from his phone. 

I've read some of the comments to my daily blog from campers who will be here next week. Some are rookies who are in high anticipation of being here and experiencing what all of us are doing this week. 

Tomorrow we get back on the field in the morning with the hilarious Kangaroo Court scheduled for 6:30. Messers Flynn and Wine will be handing out justice in a way that has to be seen to be believed. My team is 0-3 thus far but we are better than that. My batting average jumped a whopping 111 points today to......... .111. I've hit the ball well at times. Crash McCray said the sac fly I had yesterday was the longest drive he's ever seen me hit.

But before I go, we have tonight's quote which is from former pitcher Jim Bouton: "You want proof that baseball players are smarter than football players? How often do you see a baseball team get penalized for too many men on the field?"

That's all I've got for now. Hope you've enjoyed it. See ya tomorrow.