Finding Happiness and Peace.

(Left to Right)
Top Row: Zack, Gabrielle, Contal, Luke
Bottom Row: Vondri, Arthur, Cami, Xavier

Hey guys. Thanks for the comments. Just gonna jump right into it...

Past couple have days have pretty much drug on...the weather has been shitty and so is the general mood of not only me but the club as well.

Wednesday. So I guess it is assumed that I am the Minimes coach now because the fucker named Sebastian has yet to show up for their practices, leaving the kids with no coach. I get calls the day before either by him or Chris saying that there will be no one there. I have said this atleast everyday I have been here...

What would happen if I was not here?

There is no way I am going to let these little kids sitting at the field with no coach so I am glad to do it, but the lack of structure is starting to kinda get to me. So I had a ball with the kids as usual. They never fail to make me smile. It is a breath of fresh air. They feel like they can say anything to me in French like I am one of them. I find comfort in that. They just think that I know what they are saying and keep rambling. With the older guys/kids, they make fun of my French attempts (which is expected, I know) but it gets old. I'm trying with them. I don't have to try with the little ones. I haven't been with them long enough to see improvements but I hope I am making a little impact on their carefree lives nonetheless.




Cami and Vondri

Earlier in the day, after the Minime practice, Chris and I were walking up the field (our practice was on a practice soccer field) and we saw some kids who were not affiliated with the program fucking around on the field. It wasn't a big deal, but I walked up with Chris and he told them that they needed to put our equiptment down and hang out somewhere else. All was cool, and they left no problem.

Next I had the Cadet practice. So I ran them through their drills but I wanted to focus on hitting more today. I lined them all up in the outfield with bats in their hands. Now if you were just a passing Frenchman, you probably think that some American kid is running a zen-hitting exercise. These are the drills that I picked up during my college years. What helps is that I am absolutely crushing the ball and they can see I know what the hell I am doing. They all mimic my moves and I can see them incorporate them in Bp. Now let me tell you about Sam...



When I first showed up at the gym in BG to start coaching, I so this beanpole of a kid with some raw talent but I didn't think it was going to be enough. His swing was awful, his arm motion was subpar, and he could not field a hard hit groundball.

Now...

If you saw Sam play...you would think he is a different person. I take pride in the fact that EVERYONE is saying how much better Sam has gotten. He has a better arm, fields ball pretty cleanly, and has a pretty damn mean swing. He really sponges what I say. I reward his progress by always taking a little extra time before and after practice to work with him. Not only do the younger Cadet kids ask for some personal lessons but the N1 guys genuinly want my advice.

After their practice and some personal pitching basics with Dimitri and Marc, the N1 guys strolled in. I was getting pretty tired at this point and told them to warm up in the outfield and let me have a seat. After about a 10 minute break, the Sun broke through the sky. Massive clouds formed and I got a picture that I will always keep in my mind. Chris and Olivear were throwing in the outfield and the landscape behind them was breathtaking. When I make this into a book, this picture will be the cover. The picture doesn't do it justice and the lower half is kinda dark...but I didn't want to miss the opportunity. A light breeze, the ball being tossed back and forth, a light breeze, God's sun rays breaking through the sky. Just incredibly peacefull.



We took our normal practice with BP following. My arm is about 98% so I threw bp to the guys. I always hit last and I love to see the guys rush to the deepest parts of the field. I just wanted to crush a ball so I could imagine it would land in the pillows of the sky. Once, I got the image in my mind with my ball sailing threw the air in right field, I stopped my bp short and ended practice.

I had the softball girls today and they were just being little whiny bitches. Kinda got me in a bad mood for the rest of the night but I remedy'd it with a shrimp pasta dinner with creamed oyster sauce. Followed by a tall stiff rum drink mixture, that partially numbed my physical and mental aches and pains. Love you guys and I will talk to you soon. Au revoir.

Playing the Ol' Guit, Coaching youngins', and Winning a Great Game. Bois Guillome vs Dunkerque

Hey guys. I know you are thinking that I have all the time in the world to sit down and write about what goes on over here but you are wrong....The past couple days I have been incredibly busy and have been drained by the time I get home. So I finally have some time on my hands this Monday morning to share what has been going on the past couple of days. I have to praise Karly for her quote comment, incredibly heartfelt and I have read the quote over and over...thank you Karly for that, you are a sweetheart, Tiff, not mad anymore and still love you, Ian and Emily and JoJo, thanks for keeping up and I am trying to catch you guys on Skype...just missin' each other I guess, Mom and Dad, I tried calling you guys the other day and I will try again soon, and now Alex, if making you seem all big and bad, high and mighty, with your weak words about the Conservative party...more power to you...If brawn and money are aspects of the Conservative Party then knowledge and common sense are aspects of the Democrats. I love you anywho.

*I have found out that my Free Box, which enables me to call the States for free, has a catch to it. I CANNOT CALL CELL PHONES. So I have to pay the fee this month for the calls I have made to cell phones. So only calls to landlines.*

Ok..I will start with Friday. Olivear ask me if I wanted to go to restaurant on Friday night named Buffalo Grill and then afterwards we would have our jam session. The restaurant is the French version of Lone Star Steakhouse. They have Dwight Yoakum and Hank Williams blaring in the background and all the workers are dressed in old time Sherriff uniforms. It is really funny to see this cultural adaptation. I looked at the menu and decided I was going to have the biggest piece of steak that I could afford. Olivear pointed me to a Buffalo Steak on the menu, a choice he always gets, and I followed after him. It was really good. But there is one thing that I have learned with how steak if preferred over here. 'Rare' is rare but 'Medium' might as well be rare...I ordered 'Medium' and I was afraid my steak was going to stampede of my plate. It was fine but I think I am going to order 'Well Done' next time. Now to our jam session...

I am absolutely in love with the Last of the Mohicans jig so I look up versions on the internet that could incorporate two guitars. So I learned both parts...chords and tabs and instructed Olivear how to strum the chords. I have to tell you this...our version could might as well include Daniel Day Lewis running threw Olivear's living room. It was a great night. We worked on songs that both of us made up, and we played all through the night. Laughing, beers, and music. Perfect. Hahaha, I have to tell you this also. June 21st makes a special day in France. It is "Music Day." So on this day, as I understand, people come out of the woodwork to grab any instrument they can muster and start playing in the streets. From what I am told, people just barbeque all day and play music. So I think "Tony and the Pierre's" might play a set in a park next to the Seine. Olivear is pretty nervous....hahahahaha.

Saturday. I had two games in Bois Guillaume this day. I had to coach the Cadets first and the Softball game soon afterwards. The Cadets played Rouen. Eric, the cadets normal head coach, was sick and had to go to the hospital to get treated, he would not only miss Saturday's games but also our game on Sunday. So I had the reins on Saturday. I started Paul on the mound to see how he has progressed after our pitching lesson on Wednesday. It was great to see that he found the zone. He was all smiles and the Woodchucks were up with a 9-3 lead. Paul was doing great in the 5th inning but I can not say the same for his defense. They had 3 errors and we found ourselves down 13-9. We battled in the last inning but Rouen prevailed 13-10. I was proud of Paul but not of his support. I took the kids into right field for a briefing of the game and explained that Rouen didn't beat them, they beat themselves. I concluded with..."Be ready for an extensive ground ball practice." So the Cadets made their departure and the Softball team was getting warmed up.

I love the fact that they are mimicking the warmup that I have showed them time and time again.

I have to tell you that not only has Jean-Luc has noticed my homesickness but the kids have as well. It puts them at ease to see my goofy self and a smiling face. A lot of the girls took me aside and told me to "Relax..." and made a gesture to smile. It was nice to see. So I was chattering and dancing around like I normally do, trying my best to put on a show for them, but I have to tell you towards the end of the day, that life is a lot better over here when I have a smile on my face.

It was absolutely pouring down on us and Charles, our ump, asked if I wanted to cancel. I was in too good a mood to cut things short for these kids...

"Hell no. Let's play ball."

The Caen girls and our girls rejoiced with my call. I have to tell you when I was coaching at third, water was just dripping of the brim of my cap. But it was all good. We took about a 15 minute delay during the game and we continued playing Black Magic. They still didn't find out the secret and cursed my name. After the delay, we continued to pound Caen into the ground. So after the games on Saturday, I made my waterlogged body back home to get some rest for Sunday's game. Sunday's game was one game in Dunkerque. It was a makeup from the early part of our season. It was kind of a bummer that we had to go all the way to Dunkerque for one game. Dunkerque is in the northernmost part of France right next to Belgium.

We had to win.

Game 1: BG Woodchucks vs Dunkerque Korvers
Time: 12:00
Weather: Over cast but the sun came through later
Attendance: 25

I have no clue what a Korver is. But I will tell you that the Korvers were ready to play the top seed. We were without Marc, our ace and decent hitter, and Eric, our leadoff CF. So we had a botched lineup with the heart near the beginning. Dunkerque's pitcher was warming up. This guy was not bad at all. Good fastball, good changeup, and controlled curve ball. I asked Arthur how old this guy was because Arthur plays baseball with this kid at his school.

"He's 16."
"Hahaha, what a CHUMP!"

It is funny because this is the way baseball is played over here. 15-18 year old kids pitching to 23-40 year old men is the norm. And visa-versa. In the states, if a 16 year old struck me out...I think I would hang up my cleats.

First inning. He fanned Vincent and Arthur for two quick outs. I came up. He got two questionable strikes by me. You gotta be fucking kidding me.

In my head....

"You better not let this fucking 16 year strike you out, you fucking asshole."

He let an 0-2 pitch on the inside part of the plate. I nearly knocked every lace off the ball for a triple. Bernie squeaked a liner over the 2nd baseman's glove to bring me home. 1-0.

Bernie got the knod for the Chucks. He absolutely shut them down. But in opposition...so did the other pitcher. It was 1-0 for the first 4 innings. Now this is baseball. Not a 23-4 score. Guys were feeling the tension that makes me love this game.

Pierre led off the 5th with a single and got pushed over to 3rd with the next two batters. Two outs and I come up again. They put the lefty shift on me. 3rd baseman on the line, SS almost behind 2nd, 2nd playing shallow right field. This just completely brought be back about baseball needs to be played in the States.

Get an outside pitch...make them pay for their mistake.

I lined an opposite field shot to put us up 2-0.

They struck in the bottom of the 5th with an unearned run and stranded the tieing run at third in the frame.

We went down in order in the 6th...so did they.

Last inning. 2-1. We need insurance. We managed to get the lead off runner on with one out. Silvain lined a ground ball into the 3rd basemans mit and they turned a 5-4-3 double play to close our last attempt for a cushion. They had momentum on their side but the bottom of the lineup coming up for them.

Bernie took the mound again. Number 6 batter in their lineup. Strikout. 1 out. I have to tell you that the outs were so precious to the guys in these final innings. There was roars of success with every out. Everyone was feeling the pressure.
Number 7 batter. Pop out to Charles, 2B.

Olivear, C: "YEAH WOODCHUCKS, ONE MORE!!!!!!!"

The Number 8 hitter had the hit of his life to left center for a double.
Shit....

Man, I LIVE FOR THIS. You can actually feel your stomach tighten up. You gotta play these kind of games to let you know you are alive.

The other team and fans were just going beserk. Now for the biggest at bat. Poor little bugger. You could see his nervousness.

First pitch...

WHACK! The ball was sailing over Pierre's head down the line in Left field.

"FOUL BALL"

Oh, thank Christ.

The Woochuck's hearts returned to position after it was in our throats.

Next pitch.

The batter skied it to first base.

Bernie exclaimed, "GAME OVER!"

SHUT THE FUCK UP BERNIE!!!!

I could just see Arthur dropping the mother fucker.

It found his mit.

We rejoiced like we won the championship. It was great.

Great game. The other players were upset but happy to play a great game. So were we. The only difference between them and us was that we would have a lot better 3 1/2 hour drive home. I was telling the guys after the game that you have to live for these kind of games. The adrenaline shot that you get when you win makes you feel superhuman. The guys were just so happy and I was so proud of them. A great game, and just what I needed.

Love you guys and I will talk to you soon.
Au revoir.

Au Revoir, Monseiur Golf Ball.

Hello you fucks. Sorry. Thanks for the comments. And yes I know....I gotta snap out of the "Oh woah as me..." Thanks for the support y'all. Mom, thanks for the comment...read it a couple of times, Karly, thanks for giving me a swift kick in the butt too, Tiff, mad, Ian and Emily, watched the Destin video a couple of times and thought of you guys, Alex, I watched the Texas Trip video too..made me really miss you guys...one more thing Alex....How in the fuck can you be a Republican at this time, Open your eyes...shit...this is coming from your 23 year old brother. Get it together. Dad, I started the Berlitz...did you do that bullshit environment dialogue at the beginning? It's working out though. Thanks guys and keep commenting...I check everyday.

My French friends have noticed how down I have been the past couple of days and they have done a good job of making me feel loved. Jean-Luc especially has went out of his way to make me feel better. So let's start with Monday.

Jean-Luc texted me on Sunday night and his exact words were...

"Just some words to support you...I know 2 months is a borderline hard to cross I keep on saying that you are the best foreigner player we have ever had. U are fab. I hope you will feel better in the next days."

He later called me and asked if I wanted to go to a driving range. I gotta tell you that nothing sounded better than hitting the shit out of some golf balls. I quickly agreed to it and he picked me up around noon on Monday. We went to a driving range in a town that sits just outside one of the national forests. It was nice to get away from my usual surroundings. So made it to this immaculate golf course that looked pretty pricy. Jean-Luc said that I wouldn't be able to play on the course because you have to have a "Green Card" assuring everyone around you that you know what the hell you are doing. That's fine with me because I just like to pelt balls...not really concerned what direction they go.

So we got two buckets of balls and headed to the range. I got a lefty driver from the clubhouse and starting swinging. Out of the 45 balls that I had...I only really hit 10 well. But it was a solid 10 lemme tell ya. Jean-Luc was really technical with his swing...not a lot of distance but straight everytime. I told him if we put our two games together...we could win the Master's. He laughed. When I would crush one...he gave an "OOOhhh..." He even gave me some pointers that helped out. Okay...my last ball...

"Au Revoir, Monseiur Golf Ball..."

Jean-Luc laughed.

I reared back and swing as hard as I could...

Completely wiffed.

"Au Revoir, Monseiur Puton Golf Ball..." ("Fucking")

I reared back a second time...and swing harder than the first time.

I was poetry. Completely therapeutic. The ball just sailed in the distance. It was nice to get out.

After we had a putting challenge, we went home. Did some shopping with Olivear that night and retired early.

Today, Tuesday. I went to bed early on Monday night because I wanted to be fresh in the morning. I think being tired all day normally has been a helper in making me feel down. So today I wanted to be fresh. I think it worked.

I woke up at 9:30am and showered. Got out, admired my diamond figure...(Badum bum), and got ready to run. To quote Forrest Gump, "AND I WAS RUNNING.." It was a great run. Further than I have ever ran. After about 3 miles, I wanted to walk around the woods to through my favorite path. I noticed something about the air that I really never thought about. It relates to the air that I was breathing in deep...

It seems that trees filter out all the urban things around me...sounds, polluted air, human contact, stress...

It was nice to have the chill of the air in my lungs.

I made my way back to my flat and got ready to go to the field. I wanted to work on it a bit. So I raked the infield and was greeted by Paul. He just got out of school and saw that I was on the field. He came up to me.

"Hey Tony, what's up?"
"Oh just workin my man, wanna help?" with a smirk.
"Ha, non merci."
"I tell you what...if you wanna go home grab your glove and bat...I will show you some things."

With a smile and a look of haste, he rushed home to get his baseball necesities. So when he returned, I gave him lessons on pitching and hitting. It was nice and I could tell he enjoyed it. He is one of the kids who really listens to what I say. It is really nice to see him play. I have to tell you that he has adopted my quirks in his swing. Spitting in his gloves, relaxed hitting position, and an improved damn swing. I enjoyed this lesson.

After I took the 40 back home, Chris came over to pick me up for dinner. It was his birthday today and he didn't inform me of it until a couple of hours before picking me up. I bought a cake and had a bottle of wine for a present. Chris and his family have been a savior for me while I have been here. I have friends for life with them. So we had a good night with food, cake, wine, and our usual political talk.

Well, I am off to bed before my baseball filled day tomorrow. Usual three practices again. Sorry for no pics again....I gotta get some batteries. Pics will come...Don't wanna hear about it. Posted a song I made up..titled it "Boule Française." (French Ball) Check it out if you want. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHKYkAVfqro. Good night, love you guys and talk to you soon. Au revoir.

Woodchucks Crunch Teddy Bears.

Hey guys. I just got back from Cergy,FR and I was incredibly tired and wasn't going to post. But...I have snapped out of being tired and felt like writing. Thanks for the comments. Karly, thanks for keepin' up qt...a lot more than a certain Grant Sparks, who I don't think can read anyway...Tiff, I hit a homer for you today, Alex and Ian, love the comments and I am still looking for royalty to marry so I can become a Duke of Something. Don't worry, we'll fly you over for the wedding.

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain pounding on my window. Thank god I closed my window all the way last night. I mean the rain was coming down and in the States...obvious rainout. But here...this is sprinkles. It was really weird too. The rain was pounding down on Eric's minivan as we were heading to Cergy. I was thinking there was no way we were going to play. Oddly enough, the rain had not touched the field. Cergy sits close to Paris. Not really sure which direction. I was trying to nap because I was pretty tired so I had no clue where we were. So when we arrived, I was greeted by Cergy Field. It wasn't bad. Our bench was an extended park bench, really short porch in left, right field seemed to go on forever.. So it was highly improbable to jerk a homerun to right field....

or was it?

You might be asking yourself about the title of the post. But the mascot of Cergy is, yes, a fucking teddy bear. The only difference between today's team and their mascot is that I think a Teddy Bear is too intimidating of a mascot.

Game 1: BG Woodchucks vs Cergy Teddy Bears
Time: 11:30
Weather: Overcast, with scattered showers
Attendance: 0

The Cergy Teddy Bears, 1-13, really don't have the same support that we do. So no one was at the first game. Marc, our ace, started for us because we just wanted to test the waters of how bad we heard this team was. Let me put it to you this way. They have one pitcher. He pitches both games for them every weekend. Poor lil' bugger. This was pretty much like an extended bullpen for Marc and they didn't score a run in the first game. We run ruled them 14-0 in the 5th inning.

I mean, we all hit like all-stars this game and I really don't feel the need the explain play-by-play...you can get the point.

Game 2: Woodfucks vs Teddy Fucks
Time: 1:00
Weather: Sun was peekin' through the clouds
Attendence: About 10

Five of the fans were Olivear's friends that came to see him pitch. He was going to start this game. I have been working with Olivear on his delivery and he was pumped to go in. I guess nothing can help your confidence than facing Rogersville. So Olivear had a great debut. Unscathed with only one hit. We clobbered them offensively and that was that. 16-2. I was pretty much pissed off the whole day because this is not baseball. No mental toughness was needed and couldn't be found anyhow. I was getting so upset because my line drive screamers were not homeruns. I finally belted one out to right in my last at bat. Olivear was telling me that he has never heard of anyone hitting a ball out of right field at Cergy's field. That's pretty cool...couldn't give a shit less.

Sorry if I sound pretty bitter. But that is the way I feel. I have been in a pissy mood the past couple of days and today's games didn't really help out.

I have to say that it is really hard to get mentally into these kind of games. We were pretty much laughing the whole time and joking around during the game. I made sure to keep the jokes and laughter at bay and not completely disrespect the other team. I mean shit...I felt sorry for these guys. I mean, they obviously REALLY love baseball to get their asses whooped every weekend. They even took bp after both games. The first smile cracked on my face at this moment. I started to feel a little happier. They were laughing and just playing ball for love of the game. So I tip my cap to Cergy for their attitude.

I will snap out of the Debbie Downer mood I'm in and be more chipper in the next posts. BG record 13-2. I love you guys and I will talk to you soon. Au revoir.

A Night At "Le Bateau Ivre".

Hey guys. There will be no pics to this post...sry. Thanks for the comments. Ian, once again gets honors with the D.A.R.Y.L. comment....what a shitty movie. Evan, the house is beautiful and I will pass him your message, Karly, the cake was wonderful!!! But not as good as my 21st Bday cake...Tiff, I still laugh at your deer post on myspace, Alex, I love you and tried to call you the other day...hopefully I will catch you soon, Mom and Dad, love ya.

Well, this post is completely dedicated to my Thursday night. It was a good one.

After softball practice, I went to Jean-Luc's house for dinner. We had put sausages and kabobs on the grill. They were excelent. I then get a call from Charles,

"Hey, Tony, meet me downtown after you get done at my father's house."
"Ok...where?"
"Okalligan's."
"K."

I atleast knew how to get to this bar so it wasn't a problem. So after a couple of glasses of Kier (Champagne with Cherry Syrup) I started walking downtown. Thank god Rouen has a couple of huge cathedrals in the town. They are my guides and I judge where things are in relation to cathedrals. Okalligan's sits right next to the cathedral that I took those pictures of from the park/flowers. So I met up with Charles and met some of his friends. This group of his friends were the more punkish type. They were really nice and we communicated the best we could. My french is coming along a little better and it is getting easier to bullshit. So after a couple hours at this bar, Charles asked if I wanted to go to "Le Bateau Ivre".

"Sure, what's there?"
"Well, it's a pretty chill bar with an open acoustic set that we can play on stage."

I of course agreed but didn't really think that I was going to get on stage and play. I will tell you that I had stage lights in my face about 20 minutes later.

So our group made our way to the bar. The direct translation of "Le Bateau Ivre" is "The Drunken Ship." It was a really cool little spot. A kinda hole in the wall bar with a 'Cheers' feeling. I liked it as soon as I walked in. There were three guys already on stage. One on piano, one on bongos, and the other on vocals/guitar. They were alright and we sat around with beers in our hands listening to them. I was just happy with listening to music and really didn't have the desire to get on stage. I mean honestly, I am getting good at guitar but not anywhere close to performing...

"Tony, grab the guitar."

Shit.

The three performers got off stage and Charles started to grab the bongos. Another guy, named Pierre...there are a lot of Pierre's, sat on piano.

So there I was...tuning this guitar infront of a small crowd but a crowd nonetheless.

Pierre started first. I mean this guy might as well have been Billy Joel. He was incredible.

....How the fuck can I follow this guy?

Charles found the beat and started beatin' away. I was just about to hand the guitar to someone else but I found a correct chord. So I started strummin. I put three chords together and before I knew it...we had a beat. It was incredible. So HA, my first live show. After the piano man stopped his brilliance, Charles asked me to play anything that I wanted to and they would follow me. So I played the best thing in my repetoire with an upbeat. It is a funny thing for beginning guitarists...the only thing you really learn at first are sadder songs because they are easy to play. So I was frantically flipping through pages in my head...
K...got one.

I played the 5 chords that belong to Green Day's "Time of your Life", but added more zing to it. Before I knew it...my "band" came in right after the first verse. It was surreal at first to hear myself playing in front of people. Shit...I have played so much by myself that I don't know how it feels to have lights partially blinding my sight but still making out the faces watching my fingers work on the guitar. I was laughing pretty much the whole time because it was so much fun. I was pretty tipsy and I might not have sounded good at all....but to me, I sounded great! hahahaha. So after about 3 songs we handed the instruments to the next group of amateurs and we headed for the bar. We all laughed and shared drinks.

A night I will never forget.

Today, Saturday, I went to Les Andely with the Softball team and we destroyed them 28-10. I made a pasta dinner with creamed mussels. I am gettin pretty salty in the kitchen my friends. We have Cergy tomorrow, an absolute dogshit team. We are going to pound them and I don't want to hear..."Ohhh, be careful Tony." or "Central wins one every once awhile." or "The sun shines on a dog's ass every once in awhile." No...we are going to win and that is that. Shutup. I love you guys and will talk to you soon. Au revoir.

A Birthday, Three Practices, and Black Magic.

Howdy yall. Haven't said that in awhile. Thanks for the response to the last post. I have to give honors to Ian and the Nightmare Band Vid...I also like the "Tony and the Pierre's" band name, Alex, I will keep my personal life to myself thank you very much and I know for a fact I am the hottest thing over here since Freedom Fries, Tiff, your Monday's at BigW's sounds good anyday, Karly, sorry will give description's about pics, Mom, thanks for chattin on skype, love you, Dad, love you and thanks for talking to me after the games.

Okie Dokie. After I rollerbladed the Seine...no big deal...I pretty much relaxed the rest of the day. The next evening, I went to Chris's house to help him set up for Anne's birthday. He said he needed some help with decorations and I said no problemo. When I got there, I saw about 100 balloons that needed to be filled. Chris was cooking and I was losing consciousness blowing up these damn balloons. It was Gabby's and Emmanuel's job to stick them all over the house. So we had it all set up for a surprise for Anne. I say surprise but Chris told Anne to stay outside until the kids were hid in the living room to throw confetti everywhere.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"

Confetti and balloons went flying everywhere.

I could read Chris's mind. "Shit...I'm going to have to clean up this crap."

So we had a great dinner with chicken legs and potatoes. The cake that Chris bought was phenomenal. It was a fresh Raspberry cake with laced icing. He put sparklers on the cake for more pizazz that sent Emmanuel crying. The cake and the icecream were great. After all was said and done, I stayed up with Chris, like we normally do, and cleaned up a bit with a bottle of Cabernet helping us out. Nice day, nice night. The weather is absolutely perfect now.

Today. Wednesday. I have gotten into the routine of relaxing on Monday's and Tuesday's and baseball for the rest of the week. I had three practices today. The little "Minimes", the Cadets, and then our practice. Chris picked me up early with Gabby and Emmanuel and we headed for Bois Guillaume. The "Minimes" start at 10-12pm, Cadet 3-5pm, and N1 6-8pm. I have to say that I really enjoy working with the real little ones. I am always full of smiles around these kids. I love the fact that they come up to me, real cute-like, and just start jabberin' like I understand a damn word they are saying. So I reply the best I can with a pat on the head. We played soccer to begin and had a good baseball practice. I got a couple of videos that I am going to try to put up with the kids. We took a team photo and that was the end of the first practice.
Chris offered to take me back to Deville but I felt like being at the field the whole day. I had to stick around anyway and so I got a lunch from the market and stayed on the field. I raked, mowed, and tanned all day. It was really nice. I love the smells of a field and have no regrets about spending a lot of time there.

The Cadet practice went well. Ground balls, sky rocketing pop flies, and batting lessons. It is nice to see improvement in some of the kids swings. As long as I can get through to some of them, it's a victory. I am having a harder time with the ones who hear what I say in one ear and then it goes out the other. I can't express enough that a lot of the skills needed for baseball are taught at home. Throwing a ball with you, Dad, in the backyard...throwing me over the shoulder catches, throwing a wiffle ball and chasing it time and time again, has molded me into the player I am. I can only do so much with 2 hours and I am blessed to have a family that pounded baseball into my repetoire. It started to rain and so everyone went into the dugout for cover. I then motioned Paul over to me.

"Wanna play a game?"
"Sure...what is it?"
"It's called 'Black Magic'."

Baseball mind games are the essence of sitting in the dugouts across the States when the rain is pouring down, therefore delaying play.

Here is "Black Magic".

"Black Magic" is a game that involves two people. *These people have the special power of reading each other's minds*. Person #1 will ask anyone in the dugout to name an object. It can be absolutely anything. A shoelace, the sky, the fence, my pulsing biceps...anything. Person #2, who stands far away to avoid hearing, then asks if the "Black Magic" is ready to play. Person #1 will start naming objects at random. For example, (The object is my glasses)

Paul: "Tony, is it the flag pole?"
Tony: I will look at the flag pole concerningly. "Hmm...no."
Paul: "Is it your right leg?"
Tony: I will touch my leg. "Uhhhh.....No."
Paul: "Is it...your Bois Guillaume Hat?"
Tony: "Uhh....No."
Paul: "Is it your glasses?"
Tony: While taking off my glasses for examination, " Uhh..YEAH IT's MY GLASSES!"

At this point everyone is stunned. They have no idea how I figured it out.

Here is the trick... Person #1 names something "Black" before what the correct object is. Really incredibly simple but it baffles everyone, and I mean EVERYONE at first. So this charade went on forever. Laughter, cussing, and looks of bewilderment. Paul was just tickled to death that everyone was getting so worked up about this game. It was a little taste of home that I could give to these kids. They still have no clue how it works.

The N1 practice that followed was really relaxed. Not a lot of people showed up, due to rain I imagine, but we did what we could. It was all good until a couple of foul balls flew crashed into the neighboors roof. A lady came out and started yelling at us.

"Desole.."

I mean what can you do? Foul balls happen. We quit soon afterwards and headed home. The mayor recieves complaints often from this house about us and we have been threatened that they will take our field away. Empty threats if you ask me because the Mayor's worker's still mow our damn outfield. So anywho, that is it for now. I hope everyone is doing well and living life. Because I am. I love you guys and will talk to you soon. Au revoir.

*Here is a link to a couple of clips I have put together. Very rough draft material but enjoy anyhow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc-FQ1MHxsc

A Great Week. BG Sweeps Savigny.

Hello. I know...I know......I just haven't had the urge to write the past few days. You can't force words. When I say "words" I really mean greatness. Ok, ok I appreciate all the comments. Alex, I love you and I am sorry for keeping you on hold, Ian and Emily, I took a pic of a choo choo for Joey but it came out shitty...sorry Jo, Tiff, that's my girl, Karly, get your ass to a pond and give me a fishin' story, Phyl, good to hear from ya...you would have loved the Normandy Beaches...we are going to have to go when you get here. Mom and Dad, Get your damn plane tickets, I am sending money soon and I'll let you know where to recieve it.

I am going to start with last friday. Friday's have become Olivear's and my band practice. I absolutely love playing. It is such a breath of fresh air. Earlier in the day, the softball girls were being little shits and that night Olivear told me to learn this one song by The Calling so we could work on it together that night. It sounds phenomenal and you can see it on my Youtube page. We had a great dinner, chocolate laced vanilla icecream, and I made Dirty Martini's for Olivear and I to have while we played. It just brought me home. I will cherish these times that Olivear and I have together. His girlfriend, Marie, even wants to play bongos while we play. So who knows...French Ball might become a band. We played until 1200pm because we had to pick up Will from the train station that night and he was going to stay with me the whole weekend.

Will and I hung out all night, drinkin', and sharing stories. Will showed me a documentary that his college buddies did while they visited him in Lithuania and it was so cool. It was professionally done and it captivated me. It is hard to realize the fact that Bois Guillaume has it heads and tails over the baseball players in Lithuania. We laughed and joked about baseball and retired for the night.

The next day, Will and I got up early and headed for the field. The Cadets had a game in BG and the Softball team had their game cancelled due to lack of players from Les Andely. Will and I got to the field early rolled up our sleeves to reveal serious farmer's tans and let the sun bake our skins as we got the field prepared. Will grabbed us a sandwich from the supermarket in Bois Guillaume and we had a nice meal. The kids started to show up and Eric, their main coach, said something to me.

"You don't have to do the lines....the kids don't need it."
"Bullshit. When I was a kid, one of the best parts about coming to a park is seeing perfectly marked lines on a diamond."

Will and I lined the field perfectly because I wanted these kids to have a field to be proud of. I want them to know I care about them and I care about how the game is played. They were excited and got their uniforms on. I then told them to get their asses in gear and start stretching.

We won the game on a hit by pitch, not the best way to win by any means, but a win is a win I guess.

That night, Eric invited Chris and his family, Olivear and Marie, and Will and I to his house to have a big barbeque. This night was another night I will never forget. Will and I brought some steaks and everyone pitched in something. So Eric lives way out in the country. He had been telling me that he had been working on his house for about a year. Let me tell you something....Eric is an artist. He has completely tranformed a dump of a house into a masterpiece. His house was a dream house. Winding stairs, huge rooms, and a cozy feeling. He has a view of french farmland. Cows, fields of gold, and a perfect sunset. It brought me back 2000 miles. It was the Ozarks. It was home.

The guys stood around the grill with canadian beers and the women were inside doing women things. Just perfect. We even played horseshoes in a pit that Eric created. Our dinner was fantastic. Atleast 5 courses. Sausage, steak, bread with melted Camenbear cheese, spiced potatoes, and rivers of wine. You are going to love what we had for dessert...

Flan with melted vanilla cream.

It really can't get any better. We drank all night and shared laughter. I will never forget that night. We might have drank a lil too much considering the fact that we had the number 3 team in the division, Savigny, coming into BG tomorrow. But I will tell you this....I have had a great feeling about these games all week. Will and Olivear said they had the same feeling. It was weird. Without any exchanging of words, we knew we were going to win.

Our feelings couldn't have been more right.

Sunday. Olivear picked up Will and I. Will and I had coffee that morning and we turned on the radio. The song we heard started to take shape.....

What...?

It was the song that Olivear and I had been working on together all night on Friday. I immediatly get a call from Olivear.

"TURN ON THE RADIO TONY!"
"Bwahahaha I know..! It's a sign my man!"
"K...be there in 5 seconds."

We stopped at that little bakery and got those phenomenal sandwiches. Things were falling into place. So we got to the field and started preparing.

Get your mind right. Crush them. Kill their mothers. Break their spirit.

And then something really troubling happened.

Marc and Bernie had told me of the tornadoes in Southwest Missouri. They had told me atleast 14 people had died. I started to freak out. Chris immediatly called Anne and had her check out where the damage was done. I later found out that everyone was ok and my mind was put to ease.

Game 1: BG vs Savigny
Time: 11:30
Weather: 79, sunny
Attendence: About 20

I can't express how happy I am with the fact that the BG Cadet/Softball players are going to our games. It is really nice to have their support and their screams of encouragement. Will got the starting nod this game. He absolutely shut them down. We came out ready to play. We hit incredibly well. We gained an early lead and never looked back. Bernie knocked his first homer of the year about 20 feet beyond the right field fence. I never like to tout some of my hits but I absolutely have to tell you about one of my hits this game.

We were leading 5-2 when I came up. They brought in a reliever who was throwing a lot harder than the first pussballer. It was a really good speed. Not good for the pitcher...for me. I led off the inning. I took the first two pitches for balls. Now for the next fateful pitch.
Imagine hearing a gunshot. Lightning cracking. I absolutely swung as hard as I could. I think I probably had my eyes closed when my bat made contact with the ball. It was the smoothest feeling I have had yet. I knew the ball was out of Bois Guillaume city limits. The ball left a comet trail into center field. It was still rising when it pelted a tree in dead center field. I hadn't made it 3/4's the way to first when the ball left. I honestly don't think I have ever hit a ball that hard. Kids rushed to get the ball and retrieved it for me. Now if you have been reading my posts, you will know that I owe Sam and Max a gift for their work on the field at the beginning of the season. Sam was sitting on the bench when I got the ball back. I walked up to him

"Il est pour vous."

A grin spread from ear to ear. His eyes lit up and he said back to me.

"Sign for me!?"

"Ba oui."

It was a great moment. We went on to trounce Savigny 13-2.

A funny thing happened in the last inning. Chris was with us this game and he was going into right field in the last inning. The funny thing is that the scoreboard was wrong saying we were only up by 9 runs instead of 10. Jean-Luc quickly alerted the umpire and the other coach about the run rule. The umpire then said "Game Over." Chris was like...

"AWW NOOO!!" In a comical manner.

Everyone was laughing at calling him the MVP of the first game.

Game 2: BG vs Savigny
Time: 2:00
Weather: Perfect
Attendence: About 25 now.

Marc got the start this game. They started off on top going up 2 runs in the top of the first and did not score again. With a barrage of hits and made plays we put the nail in the coffin. Sorry for the lack of analysis but nothing really spectacular happened. The funniest thing that happened was Will making fun of the umpire's strike calls and ring up actions. He was imitating all the goofy motions the umpire was doing and I couldn't stop laughing. I had to bury my laughter in my glove to avoid letting the umpire know I was laughing at him. So we won 8-2. Beers came out. We got the sweep.

The Cadet/Softball kids came out on the field to partake in the post game drinking. We got the hose out to water the field and it soon turned into a water fight. Everyone filled up their water bottles and everyone was chasing everyone. I didn't mind it at all at first because it was immensely hot out. After I finally wrestled the hose out of Stephany's hands, Will and I got our work done on the field.

So I have had a great past few days. Yesterday, Monday, I rollerbladed along the Seine with Chris. What did you guys do on Monday? Hahahaha...I rule. I love you guys and will talk to you soon. Au revoir.

The Beaches of Normandy

Pics:
1- From Museum
2- Memorial Stature from cemetery
3- Star of David tombstone amidst others
4- Tombstone with Omaha Beach in background
5- Omaha Beach
6- Crater at Ponte Du Hoc
7- German Bunker at Ponte Du Hoc
8- Utah Beach
9- American Flag at cemetery

Hey guys. Sorry for the delay...jesus christ. I love you guys and today was a good day. Thanks for all the comments. *Just to clarify 1st comment honors* It is only legitimate if you READ the damn post first. Emily is awarded last post honors but no more "Tee hee....now I gotta read it." Thanks for the comments. Evan, man it was a nail biter and I'm happy with the split, Don, I am having a blast and thanks for the comment, Tiff, thanks chattin on Skype...you're a doll, Karly, thanks for keepin' up...We need to go fishin' soon, Alex, sorry for the delay in posting....I will try to update you as much as possible, maybe I should mix in a "Ate breakfast, ran, and guitar" post, Ian, HOW DO I REEEECH THEEESE KEEEEDS?, Emily, I support you even though it is no big surprise you get no love...You're a Lewis for fucks sake, Dad, thanks for the Berlitz tapes and I will fill you in when I can say "There is a fox in the middle of town" in French, Mom, thanks for the package and the apple butter, it is enjoyed by all. I assure everyone that I am not throwing a ball until 100% healthy. Now on to today....

I went to the beaches of Normandy today with Chris and his family. Chris and I immediatly brought up the lines from "Stand By Me" when Corey Haim, whatever 'Corey' it was, was yelling that his dad stormed the beaches of Normandy. I boned up on history the night before so I could get a fuller appreciation of what I was going to see the next day. To fill some of the less educated about the Invasion of the Normandy Beaches, here is a quick history overview.

There are 5 beaches that the Allied forces invaded on the coast of Northwest France. 'Operation Overlord' involved the invasion and the hopefull tearing down of the German 'Atlantic Wall' that spanned from Cherbourg all the way to the eastern part of Caen, France. There were 156,000 allies that were involved in the invasion. 6,900 vessels by water carried allied troups to the designated beaches. The beaches are Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. American troups had the toughest assignment of Utah and Omaha. On the first day of invasion there was over 3,000 casualties (mostly American) out of the overall 10,216 deaths. I visited the American Cemetery as well as the beaches of Utah and Omaha.

This is one site in Northern France that I was eager to see. So we got up early and headed for the coast. I will also have you know that today, May 8, marks the end of the World War II in 1945. I saw the French Presidential motorcade on the way to Caen. The French President, Sarcosi, was making a speech on one of the beaches. So that was pretty cool. Our first destination was the American Cemetery. This place was absolutely beautiful. The whole area is beautiful. I love the fact that the site is really hard to get to. Not touristic in the slightest. You have to take winding farm roads to get the beaches. It seemed right that this is how it was. It kept things more genuine. Once you wind in and out of towns...the beaches just open up to you. I kept reminding myself as I would look out into the sea that this is where D-Day went down. I was trying to put myself in German shoes looking out into sea and see a massive front heading my way. There are not many times, lately, that I am proud to say that I am American. But today I was.

I was proud to be who I was.

Even though I absolutely had no hand in that fateful day's events, but it felt good to have my feet on American soil. We went into the main cemetery's museum and read/saw some info. on D-Day. It was really sad to see that there were kids younger than me that had a rifle in their hands and surging onto the French coast that day. After the museum, we made our way into the cemetery.

This place was immaculate. There was precision everywhere. The statues, tombstones, and grass was just perfect. It was overwhelming to have all the tombstones in my view. It was just really sad and relaxing at the same time. I got the best pics I could but they do not show you the vastness of the area. After the cemetery, we made our way to the beaches.

We drove down on to the beach and I just tried to take everything in. I said to Chris that is was kinda weird that there were people on the beach playing around like nothing had happened. I don't think I would be comfortable tanning on a spot where that much blood has been shed. I am not meaning to be humorous at all, I mean honestly...

After we drove across the coast we made our way to Ponte Du Hoc. Ponte Du Hoc is where Ranger divisions of the American Army took out vital guns of the Nazi force. At this point on a cliff top, the Germans stationed huge guns that could fire down upon the Utah and Omaha beaches. With thousands of casualties, the Ranger troupe finally conquered this spot. Also at this point, were tons of German bunkers. You could actually walk in and out of these bunkers, looking out onto the sea where they had their guns sitting. Just unreal. I couldn't believe I was in Nazi bunker. Another characteristic of this area was the fact that there where hundreds of craters created by Allied Airborne fire. It was like walking around a relic war field. I got some pics of both beaches at this view. I didn't get my signature footprint pic...didn't feel right at the time. If I go back, I might get it...maybe not...I didn't feel the desire to try to take something away from this place. It was absolutely beautiful out but my mood was meloncholy. I don't look at this beautiful place as a place of delight and joy....I more took the vantage point of tranquility and awe. I will say again that it was just a feeling of speechlessness.

We went back home so I could conduct softball practice and that was my day today. I will talk to you soon and hopefully the pics can put you in my shoes. Love you guys, Au revoir.

A Great Baseball Weekend. Bois Guillaume vs Montigny

Hey guys. Sorry for the delay in posts. I was dog tired after our games yesterday and went to bed around 10:00. Thanks for the comments. Tiffany, sorry...I have to award first post to Alex due to legalities, but thanks for the effort. Alex and Dad, thanks for your words concerning last week, Ian, I had to read your last line of your comment twice and when I finally got it, I laughed out loud. To everyone else, I love you and will talk to you soon.

Saturday. The softball team had a game today. This game was against Rouen. If there are any rivalries in France, this has to be the biggest one. So the girls were really pumped up about this one. The game was going to start at 5:00pm but I got there a couple of hours earlier and started dressing up the field. The girls started pouring in and I directed them to start warming up. It is really nice to delegate one of the girls to lead warmups and they know exactly what to do. We are starting to look like a team more and more. I HAVE REEEEAACHED THEEEESE KEEEEEDS. (You have to watch South Park to get that last line.) After a while of warming up, Rouen started to show up. Once again, male dominated. I still don't really understand the pleasure of beating up on girls...but whatever. Nothing sends a message more than starting 7 girls in a game against 7 other guy starters from the other team.

This game was one sided from the get go. I am starting to really dig the head coaching role. Giving signs, taking mound visits, and trying to look like I know what the hell I'm doing. We just crushed em'. Final score 20-6. The girls were happy with the win and Rouen had to take a hard loss with them as they drove 2 miles home. Good day.

Now, to start preparing for tomorrow. BG plays Montigny tomorrow. Our biggest test of the season. They are in first place with a 7-1 record with us right behind them 6-1. I have to tell you I have been stressing about this game all week.

Sunday morning. I got up Sunday morning, took a shower, and had a oatmeal breakfast. I was excited to get to the field because I was eager to meet Will Gordon. Will is the guy responsible for me being in France right now. He play for BG last year and left to play with a Lithuanian team who he still plays for. He is in a theatre troup touring Europe doing plays. But we have will to play with us for two weekends. It just so happened that the two weekends he will be with us are against the toughest teams in our conference.
So I got to the field and headed to the dugout.

"Hey Tony, nice to meet you."
"Hi...?"

It was really weird at first. I had imagined Will looking a little different for some reason. Will looks like an athlete let me tell you. This guy is huge! 6'5" with a gun stapped on his left shoulder. My nerves were eased a bit when I started to see him warmup. Another good thing is that when I started warming up my arm felt a bit better. So Will was to start the first game, bat 5th, and I was still going to play 1st base to nurse my arm. We all got warmed up, took bp, and got mentally psyched for gametime.

Game 1: BG Woodchucks vs Montigny Cougars
Time: 11:15
Weather: 67 F, sunny
Attendance: 15

Some of the softball and Cadet players were in attendance. It was nice to see support from the program.
Will took the mound. Top of the 1st.
First batter lines a ball up the middle for a hit. Maybe not what Will wanted for the first batter he faced in several weeks but he kept his poise like a pro. We got out of the first inning without a scratch on us. Will was telling me that his first inning, no matter where he pitches, is the hardest one.
Now our turn at the plate. Eric grounded out. Arthur got a base hit up the middle. I got plunked in the knee for my first at bat. Not what I was wanting but what the hell. Bernie lined a double down the line that scored Arthur with me at third. Will was next and lined a rocket opposite field to drive me home. The pitcher retired the next two batters to close out the first.
Ok...Ok...were are looking pretty good. We went up 2-0 after the first.
Next inning wasn't so smooth. Will struck out the first batter. The next batter drew a walk and stole second. Will struck out the 3rd hitter but Romain didn't catch it cleanly and he had to throw it to me at first. I failed to catch the ball so he reached 1st base safely. I was so fucking pissed at this moment. HOW DO YOU MAKE ERRORS AT FIRST BASE? I mean really, Tony? I was fucking so mad. The next guy line a shot off the wall and 2 runs scored, both unearned. We made a couple more errors in the inning, one by 2nd base, Pierre, and another one by me. Unfuckingbelievable. We finally got out of the inning but they tacked on two more runs going up 4-2. I expressed my sorries to Will because we should have gotten out of the inning unscathed.
K...relax. Shake it off. Let's get em' back.
We responded really well. We scored 4 runs in the bottom of the second to gain another lead change. I got my first hit of the game nearly knocking the cover off the ball into right field. Our guys were hitting really well. Eric got a hit, Arthur got him over, I hit, Bernie collected another hit, and Will lined another ball. So things were back in our hands.
I have to tell you that there was a tension in our first game. You could just feel it. The guys were not completely relaxed and it felt like we were on pins and needles for the entire game. There was lead changes throughout the entire game.

6th inning. Something bad happened. I moved to left field because I couldn't catch a ball at first base to save my life and then 'Time' was called. Jean-Luc motioned for me to come to the mound for a meeting. Will had opened a blister on his pitching hand and couldn't throw anymore.

Shit.

He could put a bandage on it and play outfield but not pitch anymore. So I took SS and Will took left field. Bernie took the mound to hopefully keep the game close. He got out of the inning still keeping the game knotted up 7-7.
Bottom of the 6th. I lead off the inning with another hit by pitch. They had pretty much silenced my bat with a walk and a couple hit by pitches. Bernie moved me over with a ground ball. Will then knocked me in for the go ahead run in the game. Will eventually scored off a couple errors and a hit. So we had the lead 9-7 in the last inning.
Bernie managed to get the first out of the inning but then the next two hitters got hits that tightened our lead only one run. We got the next guy to pop up. Ok 2 outs, one more and it's over. He walked the next guy to give them bases loaded.
Next pitch sailed to the backstop...SonofaBitch. They tied the game. He struck out the next guy so keep the game tied. Man, this was a baseball game.
We failed to put them away in the bottom of the 7th and we went into extra innings.
9th inning. They struck first. Bernie left a ball right in the middle of the plate and their hitter hit it over the fence for a homerun. 9-8. We got out of the rest of the inning and had a chance to tie it up. I would like to tell you that we came back and one this game but that would be a lie. We went down 1,2,3 in the bottom of the 9th and lost a heartbreaker.
The other team was all cheers and the Woodchucks were not only physically beat but mentally as well.

We ate our lunch and just sprawled out all over the place. I was so tired. I could only imagine what the other guys felt like. But I tried once again to get our minds right and shake off the 1st game.

"Great thing about baseball is that you have a one game right after the next."

That was our motto for the next game.

Game 2: BG vs Montigny
Time: 3:00
Weather: 78 F, sunny
Attendance: About 20

A majority of the Cadets and Softball players were there for the 2nd game. Then something great happened. Chris couldn't be there for our first game because he was needed for the reserve game in Rouen. I told him that he needs to scoot on over when he got done and bring some noise. So Chris, just right before the first pitch of the 2nd game, came screaming up the hill behind the backstop. He had Gabby and some other kids with him just screaming their hearts out with noise makers. It was just what we needed. It seemed to relax the guys and give us newly found energy. What a guy. He was our 10th man. We struck first with 2 runs right off the bat. Vincent started the second game because Marc's arm was hurting him. Vincent did just enough ladies and gents. His gravity ball seemed to keep the other team off balance for awhile. They would scorch some balls off him but not a lot of damage was done. It was 3-2 for awhile then something wild happened.

Vincent stepped up to the plate with 2 runners on.
CRACK! This ball went sailing to the deepest part of the field in left center. Now I will tell you that I heard the ball hit a tree past the fence and come back into play. I was screaming on the top of my lungs "HOMERUN!!!!" but the umpire failed to realize it at first and called one of our runners OUT at the plate. I WAS FURIOUS. Jean-Luc and I rushed towards home and explained how the ball nailed the tree. Ha, you are going to love this.

The umpire then motioned HOMERUN!!!!!

BWAHAHAHAHA, Vince came trotting home from 2nd base and we just screamed with excitement. The other coach could not believe what happened and ran up to the umpire when he realized what happened. The umpire then walked out to the outfield to inspect what happened. I could just imagine this asshole reversing his call for the third time. I went out to the field to talk with the opposing players and of course they were saying it wasn't a homerun. It was funny though. We weren't yelling at one another, in complete contrast we were joking with one another. Then finally the umpire from left center said.

"HOMERUN!"

Thank god. I will tell you that there is a piece of bark stripped off the tree were Vincent nailed the ball.

We took a comfortable 4 run lead and added 4 more by the last inning. 10-2.

OK Woodchucks.....let's close this game out. 3 more baby. There was no way I was going to take out Vincent because his puss balls were doing the trick for the time being. His pitches lost its magic the last inning. He walked the first two guys and Arthur had to go in. First guy lined a double off of him. Ok...10-4...no problem. Let's just get an out.

Arthur walked the next two guys.....Well, Goddammit.

The next guy knocked a bases clearing double. 10-7. Arthur walked the next guy.....

We finally got the first out of the inning on a ground ball to me forcing a guy out at third. Ok...one out. Next guy lined a shot to right field but Pierre got a good beat on it and made a spectacular catch. YES, 2 outs!

Next guy knocked a lined drive up the middle to put their team within two. The next guy hit a seeing eye ground ball threw the right side to load the bases. Tieing run at 2nd base. I then called time.

"Hey, relax buddy. We got this. I believe in you. Smile, baby. Let's do this."

Arthur looked at me with worried eyes and shook his head, "Ok, Tony."

First pitch. A high chopper towards me. If I fail to make this play....tie game. I fielded it cleanly and made the throw.

The ball started tailing high.....

My heart sank....

It found Vincent's mit for the last out.

We finally won.

I was so happy I hugged the runner rounding second. Everyone started laughing. I think both teams were happy with the results and the beer bottles started to open. I took some good pics with Will. I gave him a composite bat to take with him to Lithuania free of charge. He then game me a Guiness tall boy beer can from Dublin, Ireland. A fair trade if you ask me.

Will and I will hang out more next week because he will spend about 4 days in Rouen. I was incredibly happy with how we played and how we fought. Charles and I are all good. We are back to pals again. Everyone understands, hopefully, now how important practice is. I aged 5 years yesterday. Well, thanks for reading. I love and miss you guys. Au revoir.

Coaching Debut, Cultural Conficts, and "Ball, Ball, Ball!"

Hey fellow readers. I am really diggin' the fact that you guys are appreciating my pics/writing. I feel the love people. Dad, let me start by saying that I read your email with tears in my eyes...I love you, Dad. I really needed that. I can only wish to be a dad like you to my own kids. I assure you that I will try my damndest. Karly, thanks for the comments...I laugh everytime when you comment, Tiffany, no more Cheezits :-(...Alex, thanks for laughs that I know everyone shares with your words and I will wear a hat whenever I the fuck I want to, Ian and Emily, thanks for the talks guys, Joey, I will get you a choo choo pic soon, Phyll, it was really good talking to you the other day and I can't wait to share what I have seen and experienced when you get here, and Mom, thanks for working really hard on sending my package. I know that you want things to be perfect and I know they will because it is from you. Goes without saying that I love and miss you guys everyday.

Let me start with Wednesday. I had two practices this day. The Cadet team and N1 team. Jean-Luc is gone on a umpiring tournament somewhere in France, so I have the reins this week. Paul was back from his spring break in England and I could tell he missed having a bat in his hands. He was all smiles when we started working out. I am finding it easier to portray a coaching image to everyone. Little by little, I have become somewhat an authority figure in their eyes and they now know what I expect at practices. So they warmed up and I had a drill planned for these guys.

"Fly ball communication." I yelled.

Now in the states, once this is yelled at my past practices...those words are usually followed by groans. I will explain why in the following sentences.

So I placed the kids in different positions on the field. We had 9 this practice! Alright so I started just sky rocketing flyballs from home plate. They were all just admiring the little dots in the sky (baseballs) and making few catches. I expected this at first. I then got the point across that you have to say, "Ball, Ball, Ball!" for communication reasons and avoid collisions and dropped balls. Once they caught a couple balls consecutively, I then yelled....

"10 perfect."

Back home this could last awhile. Here in France, I was prepared to do this for the next 90 minutes. So at first, they would get up to about 5 then someone would fuck up. I'm sure at this point the kids were thinking....

"Oh this is kinda fun!..."

Well after catching up to 7 without a mistake then fucking up on '8', they were starting to get pissed. Hahaha, little Paul...

"Alle, puton de mierde! (LET'S GO, Fucking Shit!)" He would scream at the guys who were fucking up.

This continued for about 30 more minutes. The kids were yelling "Ball, Ball, Ball!" on the top of they lungs and would rejoice with satifaction when they caught it. They are starting to come together. Through this frustration and communication. Ok...so we got to nine. And the kids were chuckling nervously at the possible last pop fly. Paul then yelled.

"Tony, hit me the fucking ball!"
"You got it."

I reared back and hit the highest ball I could. Paul was at SS, and the ball was tailing towards 2nd. Paul called off Sam who was at 2nd and was sitting under the ball. Everyone had the look of desperation. This ball was just cometing down to Earth....

It found his mit.

All the kids just threw their gloves in the air and thanked whatever god they worshiped. The Bp felt earned to these kids and that is what I wanted. Their practiced ended great....

Now our practice....I have not gotten this mad in a long time.

After the kids rolled out, our guys started rolling in. It started to rain quite a bit but we were going to practice regardless rain,snow,hail,or tornado. We have to work out those 9 errors from last game. Not only that, but we have Montigny this weekend. Currently first, and us 1/2 game back. This is the matchup of the season. They have skilled players and good pitching. We have to be on top of our game.
So as we were talking in the dugout as rain was pouring down, I get a call from Vincent.

"Hey, I'm not coming to practice."
"Why?"
"It's raining and I am having a couple beers at a bar."

Unfuckingbelievable.

"Well, we are practicing and you are going to miss it. Do what you want. Goodbye."

This was the just a little more fuel being added to the fire. Charles then asks me.

"What are we going to do?"
"Well..we are going to wait this out for a bit, and if it doesn't let up, then we will go into the gym for groundballs."

He quickly retorts, "No."
"I am going home and I am not going to take anymore ground balls. We don't need to."

I could piss nails.

In the most relaxed and calm voice I replied.
"Charles...If you leave. You will not play on Sunday."

"Fuck it. I don't care. I am leaving."

Some of the guys looked astonished at this response. So Charles, walked off and went home.

There are some things that I can tolerate. I can deal with cultural differences. I CAN NOT deal with a blatent insult to my work. I have poured my heart into trying to incorporate baseball in Bois Guillaume. What just happened is a direct slap in my face. Charles might as well as stuck his middle finger in my face, now I know that gesture is universal.
At this point I was just beside my self. I wanted to destroy something. I wanted to pound my fist into someones skull.

I wanted to destroy something beautiful.

Every muscle and bone in my body wanted to release furious anger.
About 15 minutes later, Chris suggested that we take ground balls on the soccer field astroturf. So we walked up to the neighboring soccer field. The guys all put their stuff away and started to get ready.
4 of the guys starting throwing a nerf football around.

"If you throw that fucking football one more time...I am going to run you until you have nothing in your stomach."

At this point, the guys saw a side of me that I don't show often at all. I lined them up and started training. I vented to them about how much disrespect I felt at that moment. I will not get into exact words but I can assure you that they could understand how crushed I felt. I don't think I have ever felt that madman's emotion before. I never want to have it again.

After they warmed up throwing the ball around, I motioned for them to come in for a talk. I first said I was incredibly grateful to have them here at every practice. I pounded my heart and said,

"This shows me you have this."

I then said,
"So put a fucking smile on your faces and let's take some fucking ground balls. HAVE SOME FUCKING FUN GODAMMIT!"

They all laughed and we took practice.
This venting needed to happen and it is done and over with.

A cultural conflict.

Thursday. Yesterday is gone. It is another day.
The French have another day off work because of some holiday. Man...they have a lot of these. So we had a rescheduled softball game today. I was to be the head coach! First time in my life that I had this kind of responsibility. I woke up and got ready for the day. I got to the field today at 9am and starting working on getting it game-ready. I was just getting ready to walk back to the dugout to start the lineup when I heard shouts of arguement. One of the father's of two guys ont he team, who never come to practice and he is a board member, states that he is going to be the coach and that he has a line up already written.

Ok, Tony. Deep breath. Destin. Cinque Terre. Children's Laughter......

Now....What?

The girls were almost in tears because everyone knew that I was going to be the coach and Jean-Luc specifically said that I had the reins all week.
"Tony, Tony, Tony, you have to coach us!"...."I don't want to play like this!"
Aww...this was really sweet. So I calmly said to the father.
I brought Laura over to translate every word I was going to say.
"Jean-Luc said I was going to be coach. If you have a problem, you can call him. If not, I want a clean lineup card."

"Ok, Ok, Ok, no problem."
The girls rejoiced with satisfaction and starting getting ready.

The other team showed up. Louvier. I was shocked as soon as I saw our competion. 10 grown men and 1 girl. These guys started warming up in left field. Maybe one or two of the players on their team was 15-20 years of age but the vast majority were in their mid 30's. Great. This is softball people. I really don't see the satisfaction of beating up on teenage girls.
There was no way I was going to alter my 7 girl starting lineup. I had to prove a point. We had to prove a point.
We took infield and looked pretty salty. Then they took infield....
A maniacal grim bloomed on my face....

We are going to murder these guys.

They struck in the first innings. One run off one hit and followed by enormous cheers. Are you fucking serious? Unbelievable.
We started off slow and found ourselves down 3-0 after the first two innings of a 7 inning game. I then huddled up the team.
"Guys...relax. Look at their pitcher right now."
He lobs a puss pitch.
"We are going to crush them. Just relax. We are going to score 20 runs this game."
They all smiled and we had another Woodchucks breakdown.

Then we put it to the old assholes.

Their is a six run limit per inning. Let me just say we used that rule for the rest of the game. Now I will tell you something even more unbelievable that happened in the 4th inning.
The score was about 14-3 at this point in favor of us. The other team's players had run to each other on three different fly balls. I then brought everyone together after the 6 run mercy took effect.
With a grin on my face.

"Now do you see why you say Ball, Ball, Ball?"

Then exploded with laughter. Now let me mentioned something that happened in the 4th inning. Virginie, our pitcher, was just mowing down these guys. Their head coach, 40 yrs of age lead-off hitter SS, calls time and heads to the mound. I then was summoned by the umpire. The girls were yelling with detest and I know that this wasn't going to be good.

"Wi." I breathed.
The other coach replied in broken English, "You have to change pitchers, no pitcher throw more than 4 innings."
Are you fist fucking me.
I then turned to Virginie.
"How old are you Virginie?"
"19."
"And how old are you?" To the coach.
He was baffled and insulted, as he should have been.
"It's the rules. Sorry. Change pitchers."

Virginie slammed the ball into my hands and took third base. Cami was to take the mound. This was the funniest thing that happened all day. Cami is a national French ball player who throws absolute gas. She threw her first warm up pitch.
It wizzed into Arthur's mit.
HAHAHAHAHA, I would just to have loved to know what the other team was thinking now. She continued to strike out the next 7 hitters in a row.
I was going to hold off stealing to show respect but not now. Green light all day. We won 27-3. I have to say that a little bit of today's and yesterday's emotions were morphined in today's win. It pleased me even more that every one of my players got on the field and atleast one at bat.
Their coach shook my hand and it was understood that their isn't any bad blood. So everyone and everything was tranquilo.

I love you guys and I will talk to you soon. Show me the comments. Au revoir.