Bois Guillaume Stomps GIF.

Hey guys. It is Sunday night and I have just been relaxing for the past 4 hours. Why am I so tired? Well, it might be due to the fact that we won both games today to stay #1 in the North Division. But I will get to that in a bit. Love the comments. Karly takes the cake for best comment. Tiffany, I laughed out loud when I read yours...BAM!, Ian and Alex, I think the real reason for me not doing any yard work was because you can't have your talent get hurt...Thats me baby. Emily, love ya, Phyll, about damn time, Mom and Dad, love you guys and get a working webcam. Oh yeah, Alex...get Skype...I know you have the time because you are usually the first one on here.

OKAY....Let's just start with this morning. The rendevous for the Woodchucks was at 9:30 this morning. What time do you think I got up? Yeah...bout 8:55. So I pretty much just let the luke warm water of the shower to just say "Hello" to my skin and I scrambled to get all my gear together. Chris showed up and I could read what his thoughts were without him saying anything...

"Did you just wake up?"
Yes. Yes I did Chris.

But surprisingly we had time to make a stop at a bakery to grab some food before we went to the field. I got an apple bread thing that was just phenomenal. Chris and I also got these amazing sandwiches but I will get to that later as well. Chris also treated me to the meal. Thanks C.
So we got to the field with about 45 seconds to spare. Not the best thing to have two starters, one being an assistant coach, showing up with minutes to spare. But what the hell...this is France right? So I warmed up the team and we started taking Bp. I will just go ahead and say that the field looked great. I say 'great' because you should have seen this sandlot about 2 weeks ago. The only thing on my mind about 30 minutes before the game was,

"Please God, give us sunshine today. These guys, (and me), have worked our asses off. Please God."

I will take this next line to thank the big man above. In the Jim Gaffigan voice, "Grazi Padre." It was pretty chilly and dew glistened on the grass at first, but by gametime, there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun put a warm blanket on our skin.
It's gametime baby. I gotta tell you this. I get crazy just before a game. Drury's players can tell you the same. I am yelling, cursing the other team for having the audacity to stand IN MY PRESENCE, and just trying to get everyones mind to wanting to put their cleat on the other teams' throat and twisting. This is why I love this game. It brings out the absolute competitor in me.

Game 1: Bois-Guillaume vs GIF
Temp.: 18 C
Time: 11:30
Attendance: 3

I will tell you one thing. We had the best damn 3 spectators this side of the Seine. Starting pitching for BG was Bernie. This guy is an absolute machine. He is 42, Canadian, and has the nickname as, "The Warrior." I will tell you that that is exactly what Bern is. An absolute machine. He dropped the first three batters in order in the top of the 1st frame. Now our turn.
Eric, CF, lead off the game with a double to right field. Arther, 1B, advanced him to third on a groundball to the right side. I was next and drew a walk. Pussies. Bernie then collected an Sac RBI with a groundball to 2B. I later scored on a walk and an error. We went up 2-0 in the first inning.
The following innings went by pretty fast. 3 up and 3 down for them and us scoring a couple runs in between.

Now, my next at bat I will never forget it.

I just want to start by telling you how sweet the feeling is whenever you absolutely crush a baseball. The feeling is that you don't feel the ball hit the bat at all. The feeling is a smoothness that makes your heart flutter. So on my first pitch, I hit my first French bomb. It left the park in about three seconds. Left-Center. I play this game for that feeling. It was great.
The next innings Bernie absolutely just mowed them down and we scored on a couple other hits by the guys and my double in my next at bat.

Final Score
BG 6
GIF 0

The guys were all smiles after their last out. This was a proud moment for me. Our first home game, on the field built by our hands, and our first home win. So now we would take a 30 break before our next game. Now to the sandwich. I think I'm going to name my first born after that sandwich. It has fresh turkey, tomatoes, with hard boiled eggs slices lining the entire french bread. Damn...that was a good sandwich. Alright, forget the sandwich. Kill the other team, kill their mothers, No mercy, No mercy, Kill em'. Gotta get back in the mindset. It is the hardest thing to get focused again after a blowout like our first one. And our next game was too close for comfort.

Game 2: BG vs GIF
Temp: 20 C
Time: 14:00
Attendence: 10

A couple of kids were playing on a jungle gym behind the backstop so I am counting them as spectators. Eric Coutu, our CF, was going to start the second game and go for as long as he could. I was going to close out the game if I needed to. So I will tell you this about the first 4 innings. The score was 0-0 and their was no life in anyone's body. This is when weaker teams beat better teams. I could just sense it. So in the top of the 5th inning, GIF squeezed out a run on a couple hits and an error. We were behind to a weaker team and everyone knew it. The sense of urgency was kicking in everyone's mind. We had 2,3,4 hitters coming up.

Arther struck out on three pitches. So my turn. I had been walked twice before this at bat and hadn't seen much since my double in the first game. Then the pitcher made a mistake. I was thinking this guy is going to have to give me something sometime and he did. I lined a base rip down the right field line and was standing at first.
So am standing at first, with our team down one run. I was thinking was going to be the time to tie this game up. So I took a huge lead to draw three consecutive pick off attempts. All failed. I shortened my lead just a hair after the last attempt knowing that I was stealing now. I was off..............SAFE. Ok Bernie, now it is time for you to do your job. But Bernie struck out swinging putting two outs on the board. Shit...we need a big hit.
Vincent, LF, stepped up to the plate with a look of pure relaxation. I couldn't tell if he was just looking lazy or extremely composed. Either or...it worked. He lined an opposite field line drive down the left field line and I was hurling around third base. I knew the throw was coming and this was going to be close. I slid across the plate. SAFE! I jumped up with adrenaline pumping through my veins. Okay, all tied up. They got the third out and we went back onto the field. Only one change was made to our line up.

Jean-Luc, "Eric, CF. Tony you got the mound."
I had warmed up on the side with Chris after I scored knowing that I was going to go in. So I got warmed up and slowly walked up to the mound. In my mind I was thinking,
"There is no fucking way these chumps are going to hit any of my shit."

But I will tell now you that they did.

I got the first batter out no problem. I mixed in a knuckle ball to get him out. The next batter almost made my good day into a bad one. I started him off with gas and he didn't even touch it. I was getting a little too overconfident and wanted to try out my curve ball. As soon as I threw it, I knew I made a mistake. The ball went sailing into left field. My heart sank. I thought it was going out. But it hit off the wall and the guy got a long single out of it. I think he was jogging out of the box thinking it was a homerun and that's why he didn't make it to second. Wheww. Alright....Focus, deep breath, relax baby, you got this. Next batter. Line drive single through the left side. Shit. Runners on the corners with one out. I got the next guy to duckfart out to Bernie at SS. Two out...okay no damage done.......

So far.

After the next batter had hit a two run single he had the widest grin on his face with his team going absolutely nuts in the opposing dugout. I was not sharing in this guy's shiny moment. I struck out the next guy in complete disgust and jogged back to the dugout. Okay...gotta get to work WoodChucks. I needed these guys to pick me up. And I will tell you that we exploded for a 7 run 6th inning to regain the lead 8-3. The first three batters drew walks, me included, and Bernie had a 2 RBI single to tie it up. After that, the next three batters placed perfect bunts all over the field completely driving the other pitcher insane.

It was like a gay porno. Balls flying everywhere. Hahahahaha. Had to do it.

So I went back to the mound with a 5 run cushion to close out the game. I forgot to tell you that every one of our games are two 7 inning games on Sundays. So there I was back on the bump. First batter, Charles had played wonderful defense all day but he committed a throwing error and the first guy got on base. I struck out the next guy. One out. I walked the next two batters, loading the bases. I know what you are thinking...Fuck Tony, just what are you doin? But I will tell you my arm was red lining. I got the next batter to ground out, thank god. Alright one more out baby.
First pitch to the next batter was hit in the air. It found Bernie's mit at SS and we got a double header sweep from GIF.

We all ran out on the field and gave each other high fives and shook the other teams hands. I will tell you that during the games I made friends with a couple of the other guys on the other team. They couldn't really understand me and visa-versa but we would bullshit none the less. We celebrated with Heinekins on the field and the it felt like home.

A Boy of Summer.

Pics provided by Chris and you should check out his blog. ChristopherHarrisonMarchand.blogspot.com.

I love you guys and I will tell you that this Apple Whiskey that I am drinking is absolutely relaxing. I will talk to you soon. Au revior.