All About the Love

Apparently I will be playing a substantially diminished role with the Pinetoppers. I have to come to realize, however, that perhaps that's not such a bad thing.

If you remember, we play at the same ballpark every day and now we play the exact same team every single day, but we are the only team that represents Macon and so we are permanently the home team. This means that we always get to hit last; we get to show up to the ballpark later; we get the better dugout; we get the better locker room; we get the better helmets; we get asked to sign autographs; we get songs played for us as we walk up to bat and during batting practice; and we get to be cheered for on a regular basis. Trust me, I realize how completely unfair this is to the Albanidgeville Robins Capital Quail Aviators (that would be the other 3 teams combined into one away team); however, I am just a player with no voice with which to speak to the powers that be. Besides, seeing as how I wound up on the good side of the deal I have chosen not to dwell upon the injustices of the Peach State League as a whole and instead concentrate on making the most of my unique opportunity and have the best experience possible as a Macon Pinetopper.

Tonight was my first opportunity to really get the "home team" experience. Saturday nights at Luther Williams Field are really a lot of fun. The seats are filled and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this may very well be the best crowd I've ever played in front of. When the fans show up, they are completely and totally into the game unlike anywhere else I've been. It may just be a thousand people but they cheer like they're at least five times that size...really pretty cool.

That's not my favorite part, though. The best part is that this ballpark is absolutely crawling with kids. Every single one of them wants to give you a high five, cheer for you, talk to you, and most of all, beg for baseballs. There is no telling how many baseballs I gave away tonight. Since I was never told not to I can claim ignorance, but I had to have single-handedly caused a ball shortage in the Peach State League tonight. After the game there was a huge hula hoop contest on the field which I just had to get in on even though I lost miserable though I will say I probably performed better than anyone in the park would have imagined beforehand. I even got to save the little girl who eventually won it when her hula hoop broke. She was hooping along when the thing just plain busted and she was seconds away from busting into tears when I flew in and saved the day with a new hula hoop. We then had a surprisingly impressive fireworks show followed by meeting and signing autographs and taking pictures with hundreds of fans young and old down on the field. In a span of maybe twenty minutes I had a chance to make hundreds of people smile and feel special and I have been on an absolute emotional high ever since. Seriously, how amazing is that? Just by smiling at someone and being kind I might have made a hundred people's day. That is just plain ridiculous! That, not being a hall of famer or an all-star, is the real dream come true. I may not be playing every day or even every other day, but I can honestly say I have never enjoyed playing baseball as much as I am right now.

Baseball and I have always had a love-hate relationship, but tonight it's all about the love.