Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Rainout
Thursday night, Stacey and I helped out some friends who have six-week-old twin boys, staying overnight at their 37th-floor apartment and sitting up with one of the boys. While we were there, we got to watch a wild thunderstorm over the city, the park, and the lake. It was pretty amazing--I finally got to see the multiple lightning strikes on the Hancock Building that are captured in those time-lapse photos that are sold as posters in tourist shops downtown.
In the park below, four baseball fields were being flooded. In the morning, there was standing water all over the infield. That--and the Cardinals/Pirates rainout last night--reminded me of a time in high school when two ballplayers on the Carmi Bulldogs for some reason didn't want to play in the game scheduled for the next day. So late at night they went to the ballpark, ran a hose onto the field, and turned it on. They went home to bed and left the hose to do its work. Some beer might have been consumed at some point, too.
The field was flooded, and the game was canceled. But, the guys, being high schoolers, and not that adept at lying or covering up, got caught and suspended. It's always been one of my favorite stories of teenagers going to a fair amount of trouble to get out of doing something.
Maybe Toby can find the story in the Carmi Times archives and see if I've got the details right. I think I remember who the guys were, but I'd hate to libel someone.
Jon Solomon: I went to the Wilmington Blue Rocks game last night. There was a 70 minute lightning/rain delay in the top of the seventh inning. By the time the game ended, there were ~40 people in the stands out of the 4,500+ at first pitch. My friend Scooter and I moved down behind home plate and stood in the aisles, leading the crowd in cheers, trying to rally the home team (and earn a final appearance from Mr. Celery!). The Blue Rocks scored two in the bottom of the final frame to win 7-6. It was great.
Levi: Sounds like a great game, but I'm left with a lingering question:
Mr. Celery?
Steve: If I was a player on the Blue Rocks I'd want to be #2
Natch!
Levi: I have since this post learned that players in the movie Bull Durham soak the field in this fashion. I'm not surprised to learn that my high school classmates got the idea from a movie, I suppose. Not as surprised as you probably are that I haven't seen Bull Durham. I just added it to my Netflix queue.
Jon Solomon: Mr. Celery: http://www.llij.net/pictures/mr-celery2.html
He's a shy mascot, so he only comes out on the field when the Blue Rocks have a rally going, jumping up and down to "Song #2" by Blur. People in the stands shake stalks of celery at him. This is what we were doing behind home plate, produce held skyward.
Jason: Is Wilmington a strong celery-producing area? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm actually curious.
Jon Solomon: When I asked someone "why celery?" the first time I went to see the Blue Rocks play, the only answer I got was "exactly," followed by silence.
The Blue Rocks' new mascot this season is named "Rubble." Rubble is a small blue rock who flew in the slipstream down from Philadelphia when the Vet was imploded. He looks like Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, kinda.
http://www.skiltech.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000003/2004-64full.jpg
Jon
Toby: I wouldn't have to look it up in the archives because I can remember the whole thing quite vividly. But it was one of my better friends involved, so I won't reveal any names.
BTW, Levi, the baseball team went 28-4 this season.
And thanks for the link.....
Levi: 28-4?
What's up with Carmi sports this year? Seriously. We ought to field a polo team, synchronized swimming, and maybe a biathlon team, just to see if they could win, too. Clearly there's success in the air this year.
In the park below, four baseball fields were being flooded. In the morning, there was standing water all over the infield. That--and the Cardinals/Pirates rainout last night--reminded me of a time in high school when two ballplayers on the Carmi Bulldogs for some reason didn't want to play in the game scheduled for the next day. So late at night they went to the ballpark, ran a hose onto the field, and turned it on. They went home to bed and left the hose to do its work. Some beer might have been consumed at some point, too.
The field was flooded, and the game was canceled. But, the guys, being high schoolers, and not that adept at lying or covering up, got caught and suspended. It's always been one of my favorite stories of teenagers going to a fair amount of trouble to get out of doing something.
Maybe Toby can find the story in the Carmi Times archives and see if I've got the details right. I think I remember who the guys were, but I'd hate to libel someone.
Original comments...
Jon Solomon: I went to the Wilmington Blue Rocks game last night. There was a 70 minute lightning/rain delay in the top of the seventh inning. By the time the game ended, there were ~40 people in the stands out of the 4,500+ at first pitch. My friend Scooter and I moved down behind home plate and stood in the aisles, leading the crowd in cheers, trying to rally the home team (and earn a final appearance from Mr. Celery!). The Blue Rocks scored two in the bottom of the final frame to win 7-6. It was great.
Levi: Sounds like a great game, but I'm left with a lingering question:
Mr. Celery?
Steve: If I was a player on the Blue Rocks I'd want to be #2
Natch!
Levi: I have since this post learned that players in the movie Bull Durham soak the field in this fashion. I'm not surprised to learn that my high school classmates got the idea from a movie, I suppose. Not as surprised as you probably are that I haven't seen Bull Durham. I just added it to my Netflix queue.
Jon Solomon: Mr. Celery: http://www.llij.net/pictures/mr-celery2.html
He's a shy mascot, so he only comes out on the field when the Blue Rocks have a rally going, jumping up and down to "Song #2" by Blur. People in the stands shake stalks of celery at him. This is what we were doing behind home plate, produce held skyward.
Jason: Is Wilmington a strong celery-producing area? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm actually curious.
Jon Solomon: When I asked someone "why celery?" the first time I went to see the Blue Rocks play, the only answer I got was "exactly," followed by silence.
The Blue Rocks' new mascot this season is named "Rubble." Rubble is a small blue rock who flew in the slipstream down from Philadelphia when the Vet was imploded. He looks like Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, kinda.
http://www.skiltech.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000003/2004-64full.jpg
Jon
Toby: I wouldn't have to look it up in the archives because I can remember the whole thing quite vividly. But it was one of my better friends involved, so I won't reveal any names.
BTW, Levi, the baseball team went 28-4 this season.
And thanks for the link.....
Levi: 28-4?
What's up with Carmi sports this year? Seriously. We ought to field a polo team, synchronized swimming, and maybe a biathlon team, just to see if they could win, too. Clearly there's success in the air this year.
