to all my friends

July 6th was a long time ago, calendar-ly speaking, but it feels like yesterday that we were listening to country music and drinking Jose at the snow dome. Its been a busy couple of weeks, action packed and not a whole lot of time to write. But here’s a rundown of everything that has happened.

That next week I had to stain the 4 huge barn doors so they looked good for the wedding reception that next weekend. I ran out of stain after the first door and when Annegret went to buy more, she got a different, lighter stain so the other 3 doors are a different color. Funny story about staining those doors…Thursday night we were out partying and drinking and I woke up Friday; 5:30 and in my sleepy, half drunken haze, I rushed to get dressed and ran out the door. I walked to the Dallmann house, determined to get the last 2 doors painted and to practice in an hour and a half. I passed Jorgen at the farm and waved hello, briskly passing in a rush. I got to the barn and gathered my things. I had ran out of stain the day before so I was searching for the new can when I again pulled out my phone to see just how much time I had…it was only at this point, 15 minutes after I first looked at my phone that I realized that it was in fact 5:30 AM and not 5:30 PM like I had originally thought. For some reason I slipped back into US time and didn’t even think about the fact that for the last 4 months I’ve been using a 24 hour system of telling time. Moral of this story is that I’m an idiot. But I went back home, laughing at myself and went back to bed.

The wedding on Saturday was a bit different than in America. Instead of the groom waiting with the rest of the wedding party at the alter as the bride strolls down the aisle, the bride and groom walked down the aisle together, following the priest. And there was no wedding party. It was a 45 minute ceremony, all in German except for a couple of songs that were sung in English. Immediately following the ceremony, we returned to our house to change. The invitation said that the reception was an “elegant rock party.” Rock (with an ‘o’ with the 2 dots above it) when translated to English means skirt. So about 25 of us went out and bought skirts to wear to the party as a joke. We met at Thies’s house and walked over together in a big group, all wearing skirts and ties…it was truly a sight to behold. The reception itself was awesome, the food was phenomenal, the live band, a band from Tostedt Johst and Hasi used to listen to when they were younger, was great, and the beer was free…what more could you ask for. It was one of the best wedding receptions I’ve ever been to and one I will never forget.

The next weekend we traveled to Berlin to play the Challengers. I found out a new rule at this doubleheader, Americans cant play both Shortstop and Catcher at the same time…who knew. So even though we lost the game, it goes down as a forfeit because I was in the 6 spot and Tony was behind the dish. The 2nd game went better for us, we won 12-5...well that’s what the scoreboard showed anyway. But another bonehead managerial move by yours truly put 4 jumpers in that game at the same time…another rule that I never had to worry about until that game and it also went down as a forfeit. During the 1st inning of the 2nd game, Tony was covering 2nd on a double play and the throw took him into the path of the runner and when the dust cleared he had a spike-sized hole in the back of his hand and deep scratches up his forearm. The runner didn’t slide and stepped right on his hand. He had to leave the field and go to the hospital where he got 2 stitches. Later in the 3rd, Heinzy laid down a beautiful bunt and the first baseman was across the base when he went to catch the throw and Heinzy had no choice but to lower his shoulder and run the guy over. He knocked the guy out cold and he too had to be taken to the hospital.

Last weekend we played Hamburg Knights at home in a 2nd man’s game. They kicked our asses in our first meeting at their place, and this time was no different. In the double header we totaled 3 hits. I had 1, and it was a shot that traveled somewhere in the neighborhood of 400ft down the left field line. It is probably the farthest ball I have ever hit. And it was with a wooden bat that Igl told me before the game “doesn’t have any pop.” I beg to differ.

Sunday we traveled to Bremen to take on the Dockers. We swept them at our place and we were looking to do the same this go around. We won the first game 12-7 behind Thies’s arm and a total of 4 hits. They had 6 errors and walked in at least 4 runs. I was 2-3 with 6 RBIs in the first game. The nightcap went a bit differently though. Daniel couldn’t get us out of the 1st inning so I had to come in from right and get 3 outs in the inning. We were able to tie it up in our half of the 2nd but they dinked a couple hits over the 2nd baseman in the home half, and that coupled with us throwing the ball all over God’s creation led to 4 runs…but that’s when the Rain Gods got together with the Baseball Gods and gave us a much needed break. It poured for 45 minutes, the field was practically underwater and before it had even stopped raining, they were out on the field trying to pick up the water with buckets and shovels. We were all laughing and making fun of them because they were fighting a losing battle they never had a chance at winning. The umpires came out and made the decision to call the game, but their coach was pleading for “10 more minutes.” the umpire wasn’t budging and he looked at me and asked what I thought. I told him that I didn’t think 10 minutes would help anything, it was still raining, and they were just ruining their field…I couldn’t tell him that we were completely out of pitching at that point and there was no way in hell I was going to get back on that field if there was a chance for a rainout. I would have been an idiot to have agreed to play that game. So we have to make it up the 8th of august.

It is finally here, the weekend I’ve heard so much about, a major selling point for the Farmers. The 19th edition of this grand production is finally upon us, we have been playing all season for this very moment. The Farmers Cup is the Mecca of baseball prowess, the standard is set at this tournament, and it is where heroes are born and legends are made. An international crowd gathers around the diamond to watch the players perform at the highest level and achieve the unthinkable. But you wont find water, or even Gatorade (actually I’ve yet to see a Gatorade since I’ve been here, and I’m starting to crave one now actually. I Orange G2 would really hit the spot about now) in the dugouts. No, the sports drink of choice at the Farmer’s Cup is good ol’, straight from the tap, beer. It is frowned upon at this venue if you do not start your day with a cool glass of Weitzen. it’s a hangover’s best friend and it makes free swingers out of the most patient hitters. It truly is what the tournament is all about, and I cant even begin to describe how excited I am to experience this first hand.

T-Minus 39 hours.

A-Ron