What a night! Great win to start off the season and man, did the game have some fireworks. Congrats to the three rooks in the starting lineup, all of whom had a special evening. That's certainly a special moment for Mark, David, and Joe. Congrats to Ryan Newman for his first win as the Great Falls manager. Congrats to Peter Gehle, getting the win in his first professional start.
Take a look here as Mark, David, and Joe sit down and talk about their debuts (Their sound is low, but I promise the flipcam is coming soon which will make it all better!):
Tough to truly assess last night. There were moments of great promise with the lineup. Peter Gehle did a solid job in his first start and you'd have to imagine it will only become more comfortable for him. Defensively, things got a bit sloppy on both ends. Its not often you will win with 3 errors but the pitching bailed the team out.
--------
Last night was neat for me too. I didn't anticipate getting as nervous as I did right before broadcast. There is certainly work to be done and we will figure it out for you, but we got on air, stayed on air, and that's a victory in itself. Excited for the games to come as the nerves subside. But, at the end of the day, I called my first professional baseball game and it was a pretty special game with one pretty special call.
Three home runs are great and seeing Pat Kelly erupt the way he did was entertaining. More importantly, its always great to call a win for your team, but, while all of that is neat, something more specific stood out making last night so special.
Four years ago I walked into the baseball offices at USC, seeing if there was a shot to get a walk on tryout. When then-head coach Chad Kreuter saw me (I am 5'7" on a good day, 5'9" on my driver's license for some reason), I don't think he saw a USC baseball player standing before him. I never got the tryout--which never bugged me--and he offered me the position of team manager. I was the only one and served as the head team manager for four years. That decision shaped so much of my college experience.
With the USC baseball team, I found a family. The team had cliques but I felt I was friends with everyone. I always felt a connection to my class because I spent the most time with them. Of everyone on the team, Joe De Pinto was my closest friend. I can't tell you how excited I was when he was drafted by the White Sox and then assigned to Great Falls.
I have always taken great pride in the accomplishments of my close friends, bragging about what they are doing--whether big or small--to whoever wants to listen. I am really proud of my friends, especially those who I know have worked and still work tirelessly towards a dream, which is probably why this specific instance made my debut so special.
The three home runs, the ejection, the win...all great. But what made my broadcast so special and one I'll always remember was getting to call a simple well hit ground ball placed perfectly inside the bag at third that rolled into the left field corner for a double--Joe De Pinto's first professional hit.
No comments:
Post a Comment