July 1-6

The first day of the second half of 2017 fell on a Saturday, it a date that is noteworthy for our Neighbors To The North. Canada celebrates each year on July 1, the holiday is called Canada Day and in 2017 it is the 150th anniversary of the nation's independence. In the morning I was with Jenny for lunch, in the evening we were back to the ballpark. On this night the Barnstormers dropped a 5-1 decision to the Somerset Patriots. The Pats scored four in the second and a single in the fifth, the lone run for the home team came in the eighth. Vladimir Frias started the inning with a double, two batters later Lastings Milledge singled him home to break the shutout. John Anderson (chiefly a relief pitcher) made the spot start and took the loss. The series wrapped up on Sunday in the afternoon heat and the first half of the league schedule ended as well, the Stormers record stands at 38-31 (tied for first place in the division with Southern Maryland, also at 38-31). Back in May the Stormers and Blue Crabs were rained out of a game in Waldorf, it was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on July 29. The series itself begins the night before, under the circumstances the league has decreed the game on July 28 as "first-half game #70". That game decides the first-half title and the playoff berth that goes with it, the weird part is that the teams will be about twenty games into the second-half schedule before the first half is officially concluded. The early part of the new week was largely uneventful, both the Barnstormers and the York Revs were on the road and with dek hockey season over there was little else going on. On Tuesday the U.S. of A. celebrated its 241st birthday, on Thursday Jenny was in town for a doctor appointment and we had our Wednesday lunch a day later than usual. Take care, thanks for reading.