ACT 2 – home from the ball yard at 9pm. I wish I could say it was an uneventful drive, unfortunately the dashboard electronics including the AC went out on the Buick after I left Erie. I strongly suspect it was the extreme heat. I talked to ON* twice and their diagnostics did not tell them much as the signal was not telling them what the problem was. They just said, don’t worry about it, take it to your dealer within a week and have it looked at. Easy for them to say from their cool offices in corporate GM/ON*land, while I was hurtling down the I90 E towards Buffalo. I took matters into my own hands, pulled into the Angola service centre, the cool one with the actually Denny’s in it. Parked the Buick in the shade, went in for a cool drink. Came out and gassed the car up and when I started it, the AC was back on, the dashboard electronics were working fine, there was no flashing warnings about theft deterrent systems nor traction control systems. The old girl is due for an oil change anyway so will take her to the shop this week.

Home by 9pm and by 10pm I think I have all the Erie results and the Waterloo results up where they belong. Again, thanks to the softball ladies from the university in Erie for preparing the game summary sheets for me. I have never learned how to read an actual score sheet, and I never will – there is too much danger I might be volunteered to score a game some day and that is just not going to happen. So the game summary sheets, as invented by none other than Gary Baughman, ISC Statistician, are used at ever tournament that alsfastball.com is invited to. We are still missing games 1-2-3 and we have hopes someone will find those and scan them and send them to me.

The hotel recommended by Bill was just great, The Avalon. I had a vision of a typical midsized motel on the outskirts of town where we would be all staying but when my trusty TomTom GPS guided me to this stately old hotel in downtown Erie, I was surprised. It was your typical old grand damme of a hotel in the downtown core. 8 floors I believe, larger than the typical rural motel we normally get to stay at, and it had all the usual bells and whistles including underground parking, included for free. Their internet connection was fantastic. Service was great, breakfast was good and the hotel was close to the park. That is where I did ALL my updates over the weekend. I was offered the use of the ballparkradio wireless stick but it’s kind of a one man dog and since Kyle needed it to broadcast with, I decided to develop my routine around trips back to the hotel. Given the heat on the weekend that was probably a good idea. It gave me a chance to cool down every few hours. Thanks to Kyle Smith for coordinating with the score keepers to hang onto the game summary sheets for me until I returned to the park.

Every few hours I was back to the park, watched a few innings and got to talk to some fans and ball players, some old, some new. It was fantastic to see our good friend Jack Ferguson there. It was the first time I had seen him in a park this year. He hails from the Toronto area and is well known in both fastball circles (as a fan) and in hockey circles (as a scout). Jack always manages to take in a ball game while in town as well, no matter where he goes. This weekend he went to see the local minor league baseball team play, not far from our hotel.

It was nice to see that so many of the ball players brought along their families for the weekend. You can bet that if Bill holds the tournament again next year, more players will bring along the family.

The two most noticeable fans of course in the park were Maz (Tim) and Pat, probably the two best fans the game has ever known. What was special about this weekend was “Erie is their home turf!” I have never ever seen these two guys looking so happy. We got to chat a few times but every one of my trips back to the ball park I took special notice of these two guys beaming from ear to ear talking with anyone and everyone, acting as the two hosts / good will ambassadors of the game. Well done guys, I am so glad I finally got to visit your home town. These two guys have got to be the most dedicated and well known fans of men’s fastball ever to enter a ball yard.

The ball park. And now I have already forgotten the name of the park. Kyle Smith mentioned it several times during his broadcasts on ballparkradio.com The park was not much to look at when I first saw it but after getting the history of the place from Bill’s dad, Hugh Hillhouse, this ballyard held special meaning. The park has been there seventy years I think Hugh said, so you can just imagine the thousands and thousands of games that have been played on this dusty field in the middle of town. The park was not on the outskirts of town, it was right in the heart of the city, sandwiched between a robust residential area and an edgy industrial area. Parking may have been an issue if it were a week day, but on the weekend people seemed to make do by parking in front the businesses that were closed. The park had adequate stands, mainly behind home plate on the main diamond, where I decided to make my stand on my frequent visits. There were also some bleachers down the sides of the park and it seemed people would either stand along the fence or they brought a lawn chair. The park can hold a lot of people. I will not comment on the diamonds, I will leave that to the players. I did notice a small grounds crew efficiently do a quick rake of the batter’s box and re line it after each game. There was a concession stand of sorts and I will leave that analysis to the fans who actually like ballpark food. I was highly distracted by the fact that the drive back to the hotel went past a Tim Hortons, a Wendy’s, an Arby’s, and a golden arches, all of which the Buick steered into on at least one occasion.

Kyle Smith  and the score keepers had a bit of a press box to work in behind home plate and I understand none other than Bill Hillhouse is to thank for the new chicken wire put up as protection on the front. I was invited up to the press box but anything that requires a ladder for admission is not on my wish list.

Jamie, it was great to see you at the ball park in Erie. I am really looking forward to seeing your pictures from the Erie tournament. If they are anything like what you took at the Peligro tournament in New York City, they should be great.

The umpires – aka the Blue Crew. I only knew a few of the umpires this weekend and I am so pleased that Jay Hart was there, he actually looks like an umpire. I will leave the review of the work done by the blue crew to the players who were on the field. I guess I am old fashioned and happen to think that the blue should follow a dress code and maybe just maybe that should include some guidance on hair length. These opinions of course, as usual, are my own and do not reflect those of anyone else. Maybe we are spoiled by the quality of the umpires in Canada in particular and most certainly those we see at the ISC world tournament and indeed those we see at Canadian nationals and what I saw at the 2009 Men’s ISF championships in Saskatoon. I was just surprised to see umpires who do not seem to care what they look like.

The teams Bill Hillhouse picked some good ones for his Erie Tournament. Some of the top ranked teams were there and they did not disappoint. The surprises to me where the two teams I did not know, Blue Lake and the Budweiser All Stars. They played well and had a good time, and both teams ended up playing on Sunday, which is always the goal. Congratulations guys. I got to talk to a lot of the ball players around the hotel and at the park. Everyone was loose this weekend, this was not the World Tournament but it was an important warm up for the World Tournament. At the end of the day, none of what happened will matter in two weeks in Midland, but the timing of Bill’s tournament was important. Only two weeks to go and it’s important to be playing competitive ball to get ready for the Big Show. It was nice to see serious men’s fastball back in Erie. Thank you again Bill Hillhouse.
Take a week off, please..