Ok...Last Post......

Bonjour les gars,
I wanted to share some more last moments from this weekend. Going to get to it now...
We lost. We lost the first game on Saturday and couldn't pull off a win in the 11 inning second game. We had the lead in both games and it really could have gone either way. But that is life and the Woodchucks are moving on. It was a very sad moment in Mudville that day but I didn't feel so much joy in a matter of minutes.

It was just really bizarre. I was completely depressed with tears after I made the last out of the playoffs. I was welcomed with open arms from all of the guys coming out from the bench. I didn't even hear the celebration that was going on behind me. A real brotherhood moment. Don't really know how else to put that. The best part of the whole thing was...

We still drank our beers.

I learned so much yesterday as well as the past eight months. I am going to share pics from yesterday as well as Olivear's and my last song together.









Hope you enjoyed reading my blog. I know you say that you appreciate what I have written but I have to tell you that it was a joy to do.

Hell...I have been on a 8 month vacation really.

I love you guys and I will see you tomorrow. Au Revoir.

My Life Now: Reflection and Future.

Hey guys, I will just be completely honest to start off. I haven't had the muse to write. So I haven't...as you could tell. But I am sitting here in my friends apartment, Pablo, who I live with now, and I saw something. I will get to that later though. I first want to say "Hey" to Phyllis, I will see you really really soon Phyll, I can't wait and I have thought about you so much these past few months. Thanks to everyone else for keeping up. I don't have many pics this post. Just want to write. Sorry, but this is my blog and I can do whatever the hell I want. This is also the last post I will be writing.

The reason why I am writing now is because I found a piece of paper that was in my computer case. On this piece of paper, I had written down just words that would make me remember some things to write at a later time. I will start by telling you the first word on my list.

"Chris-Friend"

Most of you should know Chris Harrison. He has been my savior over here. I am being completely honest when I say, he is the nicest person that I have ever met. But "nice" doesn't even graze the surface. Chris does the things that would make one say, "Is this guy really like this...?" And the answer is yes. I have learned a lot from Chris. I have learned how to suppress anger, stress, French conflicts from him. If I didn't have those nights where we would get a bottle of red, Chris would just listen, and I would just pace and bitch about everything that was happening....I would have cracked. No doubt in my mind. I would not have survived. You can learn something from Chris right now.
What I would like for you to do once you read this, is this...
Do something very special today, out of the norm, for someone or people that you care about. Surprise them with just a gesture of kindness. I'm talking even if you have to do some planning, going out of the way, making a great meal, calling someone to laugh about a childhood memory, reliving a special moment...just something. Do it please. Once you realize how good it feels for the opposing end, you will want to do things like this more often. Hence, creating more light in your life.

The second topic that I wrote down on that piece of paper was,

"Rain- Re-Birth"

I wrote down these words to let me remember my feelings at this very moment. I had realized that my relationship with one of the girls over here was over, I was completely torn up. I called Ian, when he was in Florida, and was in tears. Everything was coming down in my eyes...my heart, the club, my future, my life, everything. But as I was walking from the phone booth back to my apartment something happened. It rained. It was really coming down. I just walked back very casually back to my apartment. One might think that the rain was symbolizing just more shit that was coming down on top of me but I completely interpretted it a different way. I just stopped outside my apartment, took in the view of Rouen from my street and raised my head to the sky. It was refreshing. If someone saw me...they would have thought I was high or something. But I didn't mind. It felt great. I felt like the water was washing away the negative coat I was wearing. In movies, rain symbolizes a change that is going to happen, a re-birth if you will. The next day was great. I got stronger at this point. Learned a lot about myself at this moment. Just when I thought everything was going in a downward spiral, I realized I am still here. I have support. I have support. I have you.

The last word that I am looking at right now is this,

"Silence"

I want you guys to paint this picture right now. Imagine you are in a different country, foreign environment, whatever. You are by yourself without your constant materialistic companions. I am talking about no cell phone, television, internet, ipod...etc. Now when you woke up this day, you have absolutely nothing planned. You are free to do whatever you wish. But the only thing is this...

You will not utter a word to someone the whole day. No one.

For 24 hours it is just you and your thoughts. Have you ever had a day like this?

I have.

Sounds very dismal and depressing but I think everyone should have atleast one day like this in their life. One thing that I will take back to the states with me is that I am forming into the person who I want to be. Not caring about my image to other people. Just being me. If you don't like me, then get out of my way. If you are responsive to me, then let's have a glass of wine and play music. I can just hear Alex calling me a damned "hippie" all the way from Dallas right now....I don't care asshole. I still love you though.

That is all I am going to write from my slip of paper. Let me fill you in on just a couple of other things that are going on real quick.

*I am in love with a girl that I met on the train when I took Nena, Mom and Dad back. We have spent almost everyday together since then. I haven't felt like this in a long long time. Her name is Gabrielle Caron. She can speak three languages and doesn't know where life is going to take her the next day. I had the first family dinner last night and I performed pretty well. It was a night full of laughter and bad english/french. They have an apple tree in their yard with huge red apples. For dessert we had an apple tart cake. Really reminded me of home. I was really leary about writing about Gabrielle because as soon as I open my mouth about someone, the Black Cats come out. But this one is different. I know what you are thinking...
"Tony...what are YOU thinking?"
I have to follow my heart. That is all I am going to say about that.

*Bois Guillaume is in the National Finals. Won beat Compiegne in the Best-of-Three Semi-Finals yesteday to advance. I played really well. I picked up the game winner yesterday as well as slugging my 11th and 12th homeruns of the season. We play Montigny next Sat/Sun for the National Title in Paris. The field where I played my first French baseball games. Best-of-Three series. Winner gets a 12,000 eu bonus as well as a ticket to the Elite division next year. I am trying not to stress about it too much because outcomes of these next games help determine what path I will walk next year.

It was sad on Sunday the 19th of October in Bois Guillaume. Not because we advanced to the National Championship but becuase this was the last day that Bois Guillaume's field would see a game played on it. My Minimes field, my cadet's field, my softball girl's field, my team's field,.....

My field.

After the game, Chris came up to me.

"So...you gonna get some dirt or what?!"

Hahahaha. So Chris and I strolled to the pitchers mound and collected some dirt. A great souvenir.

I love you guys and will see you next week.

Happy Birthday Dad

This is just a post for Dad. I love and miss you. Be home soon. I leave you with a good pic.

Fiesole, Italy.

"STAY HERE....DON"T MOVE"

Classic. Hotel De Cathedral.

Hey guys. Well, as some of you probably already know...my parents and aunt made it safely back from their European excursion. We had a blast and I will show you guys the pics after some words. First, I would like to say Happy Birthday Ian, I wish I was there my man, be back soon. Have a good one...maybe Lela will watch Joey for ya tonight. Love ya Ian. To everyone else, thanks for the comments and the encouragement to keep writing on my blog. I have to be honest...it is getting harder to sit down and write about what has been going on. I am ready to see you guys and I can't think about anything else. Karly...I still laugh at your comment, GO TO KCI WHEN I LAND!!!!. Phyllis, love you and I will see you as soon as I get back. One more thing...Ian...my dog better be alive after you took care of him. I am personally taking the accomplishment of having the best dog in the family. Alex...Sachel sucked (from what I hear), and Mandy....I'm sorry...good dog, but I have never had to worry about Jake's rear end getting dirty...haha...you have to be a Lewis to know what I am talking about. Miss you guys and will see you soon.

Concerning baseball. I am just going to give you a rough recap and explanation about what is going on. We have made it through our "pool play" in first place. We advance to the semi-finals with home field advantage. We are waiting to see who we play from the other pool because they started a week after us. Therefore, I have this weekend off and we will host a team in two Sunday's. In the Semi's and Finals you have a best of three series. If we win two games in the Semi Finals...we advance to the France National 1 Championship. This all will go down in a three week span. Semi's October 18th and 19th, and the Finals on the 25th and 26th of October.

My plane ride back is the 28th if everything goes to plan.

Ok. Now to talk a little about the family trip....well, I will just let the pics do the talking. One thing...I was always telling them, "Stay here...don't move." Cause I was scared I was going to lose them at these places in Italy/France. Mom was getting irritated because I was talking down to them...hahaha...I guess I was.


Cinque Terre, Italy


Dad getting much needed smoke.

St. Peter's Plaza


Dad doing the "Pisa Stance" at the Patheon. Rome.


Michealangelo's Piazza. Florence, Italy


Nena in Florence.


Mom and I in Fiesole, Italy.


Mom walking down Italian steps.

A great trip. I loved every second. I hope you guys did too. I love you guys and will keep in touch soon. Happy Bday Ian and I hope "Fire and Ice" 's Cashew Chicken is good. Miss you and 20 MORE DAYS BABAY!

The hills are alive with the sounds of the Lewis's.

Hello my fellow readers. Thank you for keeping up with all of my blogs and extended absence. To Ian, Alex, and Grant….I love how you guys call out the fact that I get excited about a girl and usually it ends up not working….Same thing happened again, but I am seriously getting used to it. To Karly and Tiff, love you guys and I know now that I have two more friends for life now, love you guys and you have made it easier to live over here. To Phyllis, I love you and I am really glad I got to talk to you the other day. I pray for a speedy recovery and I lit a candle for you at Joan of Arc Cathedral. Who else is better to light a candle to for strength huh? To everyone else who reads and doesn’t write, I hope you enjoy my words.

I really don't have an answer for my relationships. The best way I can describe them would be like lighting a string of Black Cat fireworks. You are surprised and excited when you light them but before you know it...the show is over.

Enough of that. I am just going to give you a string of pics of Mom, Dad, and Nena being over here. I want everyone to know that we are constantly talking about you guys and wishing you were here. We have had laughs and conversations about certain things everyone would enjoy. So here are some pics. Enjoy. Love you and talk to you soon.


Outside their hotel next to cathedral



Chateau Clere. A wildlife paradise


Nena baiting a marmot.


Mom and Nena outside Notre Dam


Louvre.


Eiffel Tower Pic


Their having a blast and I am looking out for them. Love you guys and know that you are missed. Pce.

Hey

New post coming in the next couple of days.

Quick hits:

Won last Sunday's games. Now 6-0 in a 10 game playoff schedule

Katie-Me = Se fini.

Mom, Dad, Nena, and I havin a ball.

Italy next Monday.

Love yall. Post pics soon.

A Beziers Beating.

Hello my loved ones. I loved all the comments. Alex, you get the reward for best comment...I had to read it twice to get what you were talking about...then I laughed hysterically...Happy Birthday too. Love you Alex and sorry it's belated. Karly, miss ya and glad you're still on board...gonna party it up KC stylee when I get back, Tiff, thanks for the Myspace message, very sweet and I loved it, Ian, thanks for your humor and wit. Send Willow with Mom and Dad. IF I GET ANOTHER "RED DAWN" I am personally kicking someone's ass.

To Phyllis,
I just recieved the news of what happened and I am terribly depressed. I send all my strength, love, thoughts, and prayers your way. I really wished that wouldn't have happened. We will see Europe together next year.

Finally, to Mom, Dad, and Nena....

I have had to change what I originally wrote because the chippy feeling just isn't there now. I am still thrilled to see you and pray you have a safe journey.

K...Let me just jump to the weekend. This was our only big away trip that we have had this whole season. The Bois Guillaume Woodchucks would depart from Rouen on Saturday, 12:00pm and not arrive in Beziers until 7:40pm. This trip was a lot of fun because it just brought back every road trip memory that I have had on all the baseball teams that I have ever played with.

If you didn't know....on these trips, playing cards is a must, an ipod is definitely needed, and you try to pull the most outrageous/dirtiest shannigans on other team mates. It was a lot of fun. I tought Olivear, Pierre, and Vincent how to play Heart's and Youker(sp?). It was a great time.

We finally got to Beziers and settled in our hotel room. We ate a team dinner and headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest for the next day's games.

This beautiful Mediterranean bordering town sits in the south west corner of France. It was really cool because two weeks earlier, Cole and I passed through this town on our trip from Barcelona to Marseille. Olivear then said to me,

"I have never been this far south in France."
I smirked and replied,
"Oh, this is my second time...no big deal. You should try the crepes."

He gave me a "you smartass" look and we laughed.

Now, I told you the city is beautiful...but....the field.............

Not so much.

It was awful. I have never in my life played on a field in this kind of condition. Jean Luc was fit to be tied because the club spent over 2,000 Eu to get to this place. He was just because this place was embarrasing.

Their were huge rocks all over infield, the grass hadn't gotten a gulp of water in years, and the outfield fence was being blown over every five minutes. We all started making WWII jokes because the place looked like a battlefield. Here is our dugout....

The field.


You get the point.

We laughing about the place at first but when we started taking BP, we didn't laugh so hard when balls would hop up and hit people in the chest, head, and nuts.

The thought in everyone's mind was.

"Fuck this place."

We did what we had to though, and played ball.

Game 1: Bois Guillaume Woodchucks vs Beziers Pirates
Time: 11:00am
Weather: Overcast and Windy
Attendance: 1. The son of the head coach of Beziers. But a loud little pecker he was.

I have to tell you that in the playoff's, we have two 9 inning games. Long days, but we gotsa pitching.

We started off strong as usual and scored three in the top of the first. Marc started for us. He didn't have his good stuff though. He was complaining because he just couldn't find a rhythm. So this game was a little testy for us.
They scratched two in the bottom of the first and this battling back and forth continued throughout the first seven innings.
They actually made it 5-4 before we tallied 6 runs in the top of the seventh. Their spirits were broke and they caved in to give us the opening win. 11-5.

Now we get a 30 minute break. What the shitty thing was though, was that the first game lasted three and a half hours. Not really giving us a lot of leeway to catch our 6:30pm train back to Rouen.

Another kinda-funny-not-so-funny thing was that most everyone on the team forgot to pack sandwiches for between games. So we scrounged all of our bags and pooled in what we got. We had 3 sandwiches, a little jar of Nutella, a chunk of Camenbear cheese, and a sleeve of chocolate cookies (thanks to Olivear). So all 10 of us had an odd between-game meal.

Game 2: BG Woodchucks vs Beziers Pathetics...I mean Pirates.
Time: 2:30pm
Weather: Sunny and windy as hell.
Attendance: A couple cute gf's of Beziers showed up.

I am not going to say much about this game. We scored 8 runs in the first off of 437829 errors. Final score 25-6. The only cool thing that happened was during my last at bat.
Romain and I always give each other shit about our families. I give him shit because he has a really cute 19 year old sister and he gives me shit about Mom being hot. Just routine baseball banter.
So in this last at bat, he came up to me and said,

"If you hit a homerun, I will give you my sister's number and you can have one night with her. But if you don't hit a homerun, you have to buy me a bottle of whiskey."

I agreed and everyone was just laughing and waiting for my at bat. I told everyone to watch my warmup cuts and I just took some barbarian cuts registering hysterical laughs from the bench.

I step up to the plate.

1st pitch.

Landed 20 feet beyond the center field wall.

I was just hootin' and hollerin' from the base path and guys on the team were rolling on the ground laughing. Romain had a look of shock on his face. I think everyone will remember that moment.

"Dame el numero, puta."

"Ahhhh, femme ta guelle." (Ahhh Shut the Fuck up.)

We gathered our stuff, showered, and headed to the train station. We made it with 7 minutes to spare.

It was a great trip back home. We traveled in 2nd Class on the way to Beziers but we had 1st Class tickets for the return journey.
A great trip home. Romain bought a bottle of whiskey for the debt (no sister), and everyone passed it around while sharing laughs. A great time.
Vincent (back left), Charles (left), and Romain (right)


We arrived late that evening in Rouen and everyone departed ways.
Yesterday, I slept a ton and went for a run. I texted Katie because she was back from Barcelona and asked her if she wanted to hang out. She agreed and I offered to make her dinner and just have a chill evening. So last night, I made us mussels in pasta with a mushroom/onion red sauce accompanied by glasses of Apple Brut Cider and coconut sorbet for dessert. Not bad if I say so myself. We then walked around Rouen at night and stopped at one of the bridges over the Seine. It was beautiful looking at the cathedral from afar and seeing a full moon cast over the water. We just shared conversation the whole time. Came back to my place for red wine and cheese and listened to music. A great night.

Katie and Me


I love you guys and I can't wait to see some of you really soon. Have a safe trip and I'm sure I'll talk to you before you depart. Focker...out.

Things of ole'.

Bonjour mon amis et famille. Well here I am again, sitting in my apartment, and thinking about what to write about since I last left you. First off, thanks for the comments and I appreciate the feedback about the video. I have to tell you that the video was a success with the club. All the kids love it and have sent me emails expressing their thanks as well as the parents. Not to toot my own horn, but that last part is pretty good eh? Haha…love you guys. So on with the info…

Cole and his girlfriend, Jen, came to Rouen for the tail end of their “Euro Trip” and they were going to spend the rest of the week with me. We had a blast. I showed them around the town, we went to a castle, and Cole got to make a superb dinner on his birthday. If you don’t know Cole, he is a chef in a high class restaurant in Denver, Colorado. So he kinda surpasses the level of skill that would be on “Cooking with College Dudes.”

Cole's Paella



I have to tell you one more thing about Cole and my trip. Jen had to leave a day earlier so Cole and I had one more day in Rouen. We did something that I haven’t done in over 7 months. We saw a movie at the theatre. So I found out that the only showing of “Batman Dark Knight” in English was at 8:30 at this one cinema. So Cole and I walked over to this place, about 30 minutes walk. It was really funny at first when we took our seats because we were the only goof balls in this huge theatre. I mean, who wants to see a movie in a language they can’t understand. Then a couple of people started strolling in….but I noticed something. They were speaking French. So more people started showing up….and they were speaking French. Well shit…..this better be in English. The previews start commencing. ALL IN FRENCH. Well shit. I could have sworn that this showing was in the original version. Cole was giving me the look like,

“What the fuck Tony, I just wasted 20 bux American on tickets and some shitty Popcorn.”

I just told that we would wait for the first word spoken on the screen and go from there. The movie started…Cole and I were just glued to the screen waiting for the first spoken word. It was English! Cole and I just gave high fives and laughed. We got looks. It was just really funny.

Cole left the next day, Sunday, and I prepared for our first games of the playoffs. Sorry, not going to give and in depth analysis about the games. We played Dunkerque for the 5th and 6th time. We swept them….again. Marc pitched a 1 hit shutout in the first game 7-0 and I picked up the 9 inning win in the second game 11-5. We played well, we hit well…yada yada yada.

Okie dokie. Now let me backtrack a bit. I have to tell you a funny story that happened last Wednesday. I treated Eric to a dinner because we needed to talk about the new club. After Cole, Jen, Eric and I ate and talked for a bit, Cole and Jen retired for the evening because they were pretty train lagged and Eric and I went out for a beer. Eric took me to the “Underground.” It is an Irish pub that is really chill. Eric and I were the only cats in this place besides the stereotypical Ted Dansen Cheer’s bartender. So Eric and I were talking about the next year as well as playing some darts. It was about 10:30pm and I was almost ready to call it a night and head home...
But something magical happened…..

I’m talking “thank you god” magical……

A bus pulls up outside the bar and about 40-50 girls come into the bar.

Eric and I just give each other maniacal grins. Hold on, this is the best part.
They are all English speakers.

So Eric and I got a couple more beers.

It was a great night.

I met a really sweet girl from California. Her name is Katie and we hit it off as soon as we started talking. She is just a sweetheart and we have been hanging out the past couple of days.

Enough of that though. Let me tell you something else that happened this week that I haven’t done since I have been back to the states.
Eric asked me after the games on Sunday if I wanted to stay at his house that night because he wanted to take me trout fishing.

“Oh well, hell yeah.”

So early Monday morning, we headed out to a little rural town outside of Neufchatel. We started at about 8:00am. Another one of Eric’s friends, Michel, joined us. He is a really nice guy who loves to fish. I told him….
”Man, if you love fishing….you need to get to Missouri.”
So we drank beers, bullshitted, and pulled trout out of the lake all day. We left at about 1:00pm for Eric’s to start BBQ’n our bounty. Good day.







I really haven’t mentioned one of my good friends on the team. His name is Vincent, CF, for our team. He is a really cool guy with always something to do. He always has friends with him and he has been a good friend of mine. So here are some pics.



That is about it for now. We go to Beziers this weekend for the next match-up in the playoffs. It is in southern France, along the coast. I will talk to you guys soon and I love and miss you all. Good night.

Hey guys.

Post coming in two days.

2008 Bois Guillaume Season Movie

Here is the movie I made. Two parter. Enjoy.



Also, new post below if you didn't notice.
Love y'all.

Paradise: There and Back Again. French International Baseball Tourney

Sunset in Marseille, France

Chillin in Barcelona

What is up my peeps? Well, I know I am going to catch hell from the comments that follow this post….SORRY DAMMIT. I will be posting more now since I am back in Rouen, so just bare with me. Love you guys and hope I still have some of y’alls attention. Goes without saying that I miss you guys so much and I wish you can see what I have seen these past couple of weeks.

Well, I have done quite a bit since I have left you. I have swam with beautiful women in Spain, climbed a summit in Marseille, drank Mango rum in Cannes, admired the beaches of Nice, and walked the streets of Monaco like I owned the place.
Cole, one of my best friends, came over here and we took a little Euro trip. He arrived on the 19th of September and we just took off from there. We started off in Paris….

Lemme tell you one thing. “Tous les truc en France est tres dificil.” Sp? (Everything in France is difficult). I say this because when we arrived in Paris, we just wanted to hop a train to Barcelona as soon as we got there…but…all the trains were booked for the next two days to get out of the country. It is the tail end of the vacation season here and it seems that everyone wants to get out of Northern France to catch the tail end of summer’s rays. So, Cole and I bit the bullet and bought two tickets for an over-nighter to Barcelona. So that meant we had a 7 hour wait in Paris.
I then said to Cole,

“Well….you wanna do Paris in a day?”
“Dude, yeah buddy.”

“Yeah, buddy” was the motto of pretty much the whole trip. So we hiked through all of Paris admiring the major sites. The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Monte Marte, Notre Dam, and the bridges over the Seine. A extremely tiring day, but we got it done. We knew we had a long train ride ahead of us that night (12 hours) so we bought a bottle of the cheapest rum we could have found and boarded the train. I will tell you now that I will never buy “Rum Blanc” ever again. We might as well just taking turns punching each other in the nuts until we past out. But…it did the job and we slept all the way to Spain.

Barcelona, Spain



The craziest town I have ever been to. The best word to describe this Spanish center is Alive. The streets were always filled with people, conga beats, and life. Cole and I took in all the sights as well as relaxed on its Mediterranean coast. I will say one thing…it maybe because I have weak spot for Spanish women, BUT…these women were absolutely beautiful. I have never seen this caliber before. Cole was saying that he felt sorry for the “o.k.” looking girls (which are 10’s in Spfld) because of the competition that is here. So we admired the food, sun, and feminine beauty. Now off to the French Riviera.

Marseille, France




This jewel of a town sits in southern central France with amazing beaches and cliffs that surround the area. The bulk of our Euro trip now was just pretty much beach hopping. So we scouted the area for the best beach and planted.
Just complete relaxation.
Our routine was to buy a bottle of coconut rum, a bakery sandwich, sun tan, listen to music, and toss the frisbee that I brought. Hahahaha, do you think these sun loving French people have ever seen how to really throw and catch a frisbee? Well, the answer is no. It was hilarious to see the looks that we would get when we would launch this bee across the beach. Cole would throw long bombs and I would track it down with laughter. It was absolutely great. I turned into a complete beach bum at this moment. The sun was our long lost companion accompanied by coconut rum leaving a taste of tranquility in our mouths. It is hard to describe the feeling. Laying on a beach, looking at cliffs that over hang the blue coast, and just thinking…..

“I must be doing something right to be able to see this."

Now off to the next paradise.

Nice, France.
Cannes, France.
Monte Carlo, Monaco.
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Nice, France Beach

Nice at Night

Cannes, France

Monte Carlo, Monaco. My ride, Lamborghini Diablo.

Paradise. I have to tell you that I needed this relaxation. Just complete bliss. I really wish I could have lent you my eyes during my time on these beaches. Cole and I shared laughs of old times and reminisced about memories of all of our family and friends. If you guys didn’t know, you guys were laying with us on those beaches.

Now back to reality. Cole went off the Switzerland and Germany while I headed back to Rouen to play in an International Tournament in Paris to give us some warm-up before the French playoffs start. So we split ways. Cole will spend the tail end of his trip with his girlfriend, Jen, in Switz and Ger and end up in Rouen with me for his last couple of days.


Paris, France. International Tournament.

There were 5 teams in this tournament. Bois Guillaume, a team from England, two teams from the Paris area, and team comprised of Hispanic ball players. Let me start off by saying, I would like to have punched whoever was in charge of our schedule right in the fucking mouth.
Saturday morning start time 11:30. Triple Header. Back-to-back-to-back.
First game was against PUC. Paris…U…ummm…C. That’s all I know. We came out really strong. Eric Coutu, a Canadian, took the mound for us and pitched really well. It was good to see that we hit really well despite the fact we have had a two month baseball hiatus. We killed them. 13-2.
Next game. The English team. They were the strongest team in the tournament that we faced. It was kinda funny because they only had one guy on the team who was actually from England. The rest of the players were either American or Canadian. I got the start on the mound for us. I pitched really well keeping them off balance with the ol’ knuck. We just crushed them. 11-5. I was kinda worried about not hitting after a while but I was just knocking the damn cover off the ball. It was also just incredibly cool to be able to bullshit with the other team. I was just chattering up a storm with everyone of their players. Giving and receiving compliments. A good hearted team and an even better win.
Last game of a horrible Saturday was against the other Paris team. Killed them….8-1.


Once our grueling day was over, we marched back to our hotels with the feeling of just complete soreness and fatigue. We were all just bushed. We had an oriental dinner at a shitty buffet and collapsed in our hotel beds once our hunger was satisfied.


Day 2. We were only going to have two games today. Thank god. We guaranteed a spot in the Championship game due to our triple-header sweep the day before. So the game against the Latinos was…well…….not so serious. We switched everyone around, putting guys in different positions, and just really played half-asleep. I was so fucking tired I told Jean Luc I was going to sit this one out and just coach on the base path. We lost the game against the Latinos…it seemed it was a huge victory for them but we could really give a shit to be completely honest.

Championship Game
Bois Guillaume Woodchucks vs Courdan Pirates
Game Time: 3:00 pm
Weather: Sunny
Attendence: a good 150.

Now this is the same English team. I have to start by saying I was just completely fucking pissed. This tournament was fucked up from the get go. We walked all over everyone in the tournament but if we lost to this English team, we would get second. Just complete bullshit. Oh, and one other thing.
We were the only team using wooden bats.
A fucking joke. This is baseball ladies and gents. Not fucking beer league.
Anyway, Bernie got the start for us. First play of the game set the tone for the first 3 innings. A ground ball to me deep in the hole….I gun it over to Arthur…it pulls him off the bag a bit but 3 steps ahead of the runner….the runner runs completely out of the base path and dives in avoiding a tag.

“SAFE.”

I was fucking livid. I was shouting shitty French at the umpire explaining to him fundamental baseball rules that you can not run outside the line on the way to first. The call stood and I was just completely pissed. I will say that it was the first time, since that I have been on a ball field here, having the attitude of…
Fuck this place. Fuck these people. I want to go home.
We made three more errors in the inning going down 4-0 in the first inning.
We were dead the first three innings. I was not saying a word being a little baby bitch and our team chemistry was awful. It wasn’t until the 4th inning that something game changing happened.
I know I have told you about Eric Coutu before but I am going to take time to tell you what he did in this game. He took me aside and told me,

“Tony, we need you. You are not here. We can not win unless you pull us together.”

I gave him a dejected knod.

He strode up to the plate in the bottom of the 4th with two runners on and two outs. He got down 0-2. I was getting my glove ready to take the field after the third out but I then heard the crush of wood on a baseball. Eric hit an opposite field double scoring in two runs. He slid into second safely but at a cost. He badly twisted his ankle. He gave his all that at bat. He put us back into the game, but more importantly he brought me back to into the game and into sanity.
We had to substitute a runner for him and Eric was greeted by high fives when he limped off the field. It was the spark we needed.
Bernie’s arm was hurting him so he came out. I decided to pitch my second game in two days. I know your guys are just pissed right now knowing that I threw on 10 hours rest but my arm was good. I threw about 40 out of 60 pitch knuckle balls the day before, so I was good. Relax…Alex. Don’t want to hear it. So I took the mound.
They scored in the top of the 5th off a couple of errors giving themselves a four run deficit again. In the bottom of the inning, I snapped out of my mood and hit a 2 run triple to narrow the lead back to 2. 6-4 going into the last inning.
I strode up to the mound again…tired, hungry, but focused. I struck out the first two guys but our defense and a badly placed knuckle ball let them score two more runs almost putting the game out of reach 8-4 going into the bottom of the last inning.
6,7,8 hitters up for us. You would be right in thinking that in our minds…the fire was sputtering out.
First two batters for us. K’s.
Two outs with Charles Paturel, 8 hitter, up. He draws a walk. 9th hitter for us gets a hit by pitch. The fire was rekindled just a bit…
Olivear hits a hard ground ball to the short stop that avoids his glove for an error. We score one run putting the score at 8-5. At this point I was on deck with Arthur ahead of me. Bernie is telling me that he sees it in his mind that Arthur will get on base and I will hit a game ending grand slam to give us the Championship.

First pitch to Arthur.
Hit by pitch.

8-5. Bases loaded. Two outs. Bottom of the ninth. Your truly comes up to the plate.

They make a pitching change.

The hurler for the English team threw some gas but the problem was that he didn’t know where it was going. So when I took the plate in hopes of a walk off HR, but I got the first pitch right on the ankle. It hurt like a bitch.
O.K. Now, 8-6. Bases loaded. Two outs. Bernie the 40 year old machine comes up.

First pitch comes.
Bernie swings and makes contact….

It is a seeing eye ground ball through the diving 2nd baseman’s mit tieing the game 8-8.

The BG team is just going nuts and the crowd is just loving it.

So there I am.
The game winning run, standing on 2nd base.

Romain, our 3rd baseman, comes up. He gets down 0-2. The pitcher then fires another mistake and plunks Romain in the arm.
I’m standing on 3rd base now with the game winning run in my head. I have to tell you this now. I saw what was going to happen before it happened.
I thought…

“A pitch in the dirt….I’m taking off if it goes anywhere but the catcher’s mit.”

First pitch comes to Vincent, our CF.

I see that it is headed downward into the dirt.

It ricochets off the catcher’s chest into the air.

I take off towards home.

I was hoping he was going to turn the wrong way to find the ball but he spotted it immediately.

He was about 3 feet aways from home plate and I was about 5.

I dive...

He dives....

I feel my finger tips feel the base before we crash into each other………
………………

“SAFE!”

We won the tournament. 9-8.
I was then mobbed at home plate by the team. Everyone just cheering on the top of their lungs. It was great. Such a memorable moment. The crowd was on their feet and the beer started to come out. The tournament officials handed us the Cup and a bottle of Champagne. Eric then filled the Cup to give me the first drink.
I then said.

“There is no way in hell I am going to take the first drink.”

I tipped it up to Eric’s lips and saw the champagne poor down his face. A great metal picture. I loved seeing the joy in our guys eyes.



We then gathered our equipment and shared beers with the England team. Really nice guys and we were all laughing about if I was really Safe or Out on the last call. I told them…

“Fuck yeah I was safe.”

They all burst into laughter.

We all got in our cars and headed for Bois Guillaume.
Olivier drove Eric, Vincent, and me back to Rouen. We shared hilarious dirty jokes to one another and played the funniest game of 20 questions ever.
I have to write this down just so I won’t forget it. We were playing 20 questions and it was my turn. The category was Animals of course.
The animal I thought of was just a bear.
Vincent asks the question, “Does it eat fish?”
But the way it was interpreted in English was if the animal goes fishing. Like with a fishing pole. I had the mental image of a bear sitting next to me at the lake with a beer and pole in hand. Maybe it was just fatigue…but we laughed about that all the way home.
I love you guys and will talk and see you soon. Can’t wait to see you Nena, Phyll, Mom and Dad when you get here. Love you guys. Good night.