July 22-24

Friday night at the ballpark in Lancaster under sweltering conditions, the Somerset Patriots were in town for the opener of the weekend series. The Barnstormers' offensive woes continued on this night, Mike McDade's two-run home run in the fourth were the only runs in a 3-2 loss. The ballclub had its opportunities but could not get the key hit, the Patriots turned four double plays over the course of the evening. Kelvin De La Cruz started and suffered the loss, he was followed in relief by Pete Andrelczyk and newcomer R.J. Hively (from the Arizona Diamondbacks organization). On Saturday the series continued, for me it was a rare Saturday absence. Jenny and her mother were invited to a birthday party in the evening and their only way to attend was if I drove them. Since it was indoors in air-conditioned comfort I couldn't blame them for not wanting to sit outside in the heat at the ballpark. The party was for the daughter of one of Jenny's friends, the little girl turned two years of age. We were there from 5:00 to about 8:00, when we left we were almost sorry to have to step outside. On Sunday I ran a brief morning errand to get a copy of the Reading newspaper. Throughout the summer a series of articles have been spotlighting the greatest professional baseball players to come through Reading as Philadelphia Phillies properties, on this day a major article appeared featuring the top fifty all-time regardless of affiliation. It's all part of the project I was asked to be a part of during the winter, the members of the panel were acknowledged in the story and I was honored to be involved. It's always a pleasure to have your opinions valued, I can tell you from personal experience that it doesn't happen everywhere. After supper I went to the rink at Reservoir Park and did some preliminary work for the start of the summer season. Since we haven't been there for four weeks it needed to be done and I figured the early evening would be the best time given the uncomfortable temperatures. The summer season starts on Thursday the 28th. Take care, thanks for reading.