Albany Awaits

Howdy folks,

Here goes nothing. Actually, here begins something new for me - a blog,
and hopefully my self-titled "trip of a lifetime." Tomorrow morning, or rather in six
short hours my flight depart for Albany, New York, the first inning of my seven inning trip,
if you will. In the next seven days I will watch the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs of the New York Collegiate Baseball League (NYCBL), and most importantly, my great friend Justin Brown play the most beautiful game known to man.

To say that I am excited would be a gross understatement. I am more excited than a 13-year old girl the day before a Justin Bieber concert as I have worked, and waited for this day nearly all summer. This trip was a mere dream on June 5th, the Diamond Dawg's Opening Day. On that pivotal day Justin and I experienced days more than the mirror opposites that Yankees and Red Sox fans are.

That day was my first Saturday at the Mexican restaurant I work at in Irving, Texas. At 4:00 P.M. I began my scheduled shift with $15 in my pocket - money to make change for customers paying with cash. Eight and a half hours later, I left with $5 in my pocket - a total net of -$10 for my exhausting and dizzying night of work. Needless to say, I was as disappointed as Bill Buckner after his infamous play in the World Series. I was in shock.

Thus, I called my hometown friend, Justin, to hear about his Opening Day in Little Falls, New York for the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs. From the moment Justin answered the phone, I could sense the enthusiasm in his voice. Justin began by telling me that a record crowd of 2,161 fans had attended the game. (The population of Little Falls, where the Diamond Dawgs play, is slightly less than 6,000 fans.) The Dawgs starter had gone 5 solid innings before being pulled from the game. That's when Justin got the call, in the 6th inning of the Opening Day game. The crowd and the situation did not faze him; Justin fed off the energy of the crowd. He retired the first batter with an infield pop out. The next batter reached on an error by the second baseman. Justin showed his cool by inducing a fielder's choice by the next batter. And with the crowd urging him on, Justin struck out the next batter, which further delighted the crowd. Justin returned to the bullpen and did something which he had not done before: sign autographs. He did not just sign a few; he signed autographs for the entire remainder of the game.

After Justin had given me as many details of the game as possible, I informed him of what he already knew by stating, "You're going to have the summer of your life." After he agreed I made a bolder statement by saying, "You're going to have the summer of your life. And I'm going to have the trip of my life by going up there to watch you."

Surely enough, my trip begins tomorrow. Or rather, tomorrow is the first inning of my seven inning trip.

Tomorrow's game: 7:00 PM vs. Albany Dutchmen
@ Bleeker Stadium (Albany, NY)