Back to McCoy
Hello PawSox Fans!
It’s great to be back home! Although the weather has been a bit uncooperative, the PawSox fan base still showed up to cheer on their team. We can all rest assured that warmer, drier days are coming!
In Indy, my driving partner Lou and I head to game at about the 6th inning. We know we had to get some rest before making the journey back to McCoy to have all the equipment ready to go for a 6:00pm game the following evening. There really isn’t much of a window, but we are confident we can do it. This is the first time the PawSox have attempted to try and truck the stuff to Louisville and back from Indianapolis. We have one half completed with success with the trip to Louisville, now the second half, getting it back from Indianapolis must have the same results.
Jeremy Martins the visiting clubhouse manager and his crew assure me they will get the equipment loaded quickly. The trunks that contain all the supplies for the team trainer are essential to a healthy ball club. The balls, under garments, uniforms and a bunch of new bats from the Louisville bat factory must all be loaded in the truck to deliver swiftly and safely back to the confines of McCoy.
In checking MapQuest we learn the trip is approximately 15 hours and 37 minutes. That’s too long! All our fuel stops must be done with pit crew type precision. Lou and I agree that our fuel stops must be swift and without delay. We must have at it!
While waiting we see that its fireworks night in Indy. They cover the outfield with this huge thick plastic cover to protect it. They drive out these cage likes wagons connected together like a train onto the plastic in the outfield.
The wagons contain all the fireworks. They are all wired up as they are brought onto the field and in a very short while they are ready to go. Lou and I watch the fireworks a bit and check on the progress of the equipment to be loaded. Jeremy already has some bags packed and its a great sight to see the progress being made so quickly. We also see the “train” that contained the fireworks are brought back into the loading dock area.
The truck gets filled little by little. Every time a player packs his bag it get tossed onto the truck. Bag by bag the truck gets fuller. The trainer trunks are plopped on and just a few more equipment bags and the dirty laundry and we are ready for departure.
The weather is a bit overcast and there is a threat of severe storms. We say our thank you’s and good-byes jump in the truck and off we go. I take the first leg of the trip. I maneuver through the one ways and soon we are on the highway heading home. After calculating the miles, we set an arrival time for 2:30-3:00 as our goal.
About 20 minutes into the trip we hit some nasty traffic. Once again we watch the minutes tick on the GPS as we hopelessly watch. You always get that uneasy feeling as the time creeps by and your moving at a snails pace.
After a while the traffic loosens up and we continue our trek. Lou and I chat about his bat making business and how he gets his wood from Bill “Spaceman” Lee way up in Vermont. I learn about the different kind of wood to make bats. Ash and Maple bats. Some players like Ash while other prefer Maple.
We discuss the bat making at Louisville Slugger and the bats they produce every year. The difference in old wood and new wood. The reason a lot of bats break now as opposed to the days gone by is the players like the handles much thinner now.
Suddenly I find myself chatting with myself as Lou is snoring and sound asleep, head bobbing with every bump on the road. I look at the chatter strip and think, should I? Nah, I’ll let him rest.
There is very little traffic and the weather has cleared a bit. Every now and then we hit some rain but for the most part the weather is ok. As the miles go by and the gas tank empties its time to take on fuel. We make a stop in London, Ohio to fill up. We grab a couple of coffees, a few snacks and in minutes we are on the road again with Lou now at the wheel.
Before long Lou is talking to himself as I fall into a deep sleep. The seats don’t look very comfortable but after a few hundred miles they become the best bed in the world!
Many miles later I wake up and sip on my now cold coffee. I see that Lou has this look of concern on his face. The gas tank is very close to being empty and there isn’t a gas station in sight. The light comes on advising that we are almost out of gas. We are surrounded by miles of woods with no sign of any gas station. We keep our fingers crossed. I think to myself, “how do we explain this one?” We have no idea what state we are in.
Up in the distance is a sign we were wishing to see. Gas 4 miles. Does the truck have 4 miles left in it? We take the exit and locate the gas station as the truck starts bucking gasping for fuel! We made it! We are in Falls Creek, Pennsylvania.
The truck gets filled, and our bladders get emptied. Another coffee and more snacks, its now my turn at the wheel once again. Some of that wee hour morning fog starts to roll in and we hit another traffic jam. More of that middle of the night construction that brings a highway down to 1 lane. However, being this time of the morning, traffic is light and the jam isn’t that bad.
It’s always a beautiful sight as dawn breaks on the country roads. The fog is hanging in the open fields and the sun is rising. Its postcard like and if we didn’t have such a tight schedule I would have loved to stop and take some photos. I do my best to take a couple of photos on the fly.
As the sun comes up we have a straight empty road that goes through the cliffs and hills.That makes the drive a bit easier.
Again, the gas tank is near empty and we stop again in a place called Suffern, New York. We go through our same routine and head back out hoping that our next stop will be in Connecticut. We would be back in New England at least and closer to home.
I again try to get some rest knowing that we have a game scheduled for 6:00 pm. I doze on an off for a bit but the anxiety of making it on time is ever present.
We breeze through New York and soon we are in Connecticut. We are ahead of schedule. Lou and I chat again about all the current events. We talk baseball, football, basketball and hockey. We look ahead and traffic is heavy somewhere near exit 65 in Connecticut. We are now in the nightmare of a full blown traffic jam. So close, but yet so far.
I had been in contact with the PawSox clubhouse manager to tell him our location and estimated time of arrival via the Nextel. I call him again to let him know of our dilemma. We are only a couple of hours away and feel that sense of frustration at not being able to do a thing about it.
We listen to the CB radio and learn there is an accident in the area of exit 73. This may take a while. We lose about 50 minutes in traffic before it clears. Again its great to see the Welcome to Rhode Island sign. Barring any more traffic issues, we should still be on schedule. Lou figures this would be a great time to grab some shut eye!
In the area of the 195/95 split I contact our clubhouse guy and tell him we are almost there. He tells me the crew is waiting. We pull in the McCoy lot about 2:20 pm. The clubhouse crew goes to work. The team arrives from the airport about 10-15 minutes after our arrival. Lou and I exchange high fives and a hug. He takes the truck with him to load with bats for Bat Night.
I head to the office and get things prepared for the gates to open at 4:00pm. I head to the hotel up the road, check in and take a shower and a 30 minute power nap. At 6:00 the game starts as scheduled with all the players and staff clad in garments and using equipment that a short while ago was stuck in traffic!
As the game goes on, I do feel the wear and tear of the trip. But it does feel good to be home. It does feel good to be at McCoy and see the fans and the great season ticket holders!
It will be a fun homestand! Its always great at McCoy knowing we are all………..”Here For You!”
Yours in Baseball,
Rick Medeiros
Rick
Just when you think the team is doing enevythirg possible for the fans, you come up with another great promotion, with an excellent goal of increasing child safety.Nice job…as always.Don