This is not the last post on HBWT. There is still a fair amount of storytelling to be done, a number of little vignettes that I’d like to pass on. However, the fact is, it’s November. The season- and my shortlived career as a professional athlete- is over, and now I have to move on […]
The wind was blowing in during warmups, a soft breeze that became stronger throughout the day. I felt good in BP: good, but a little slow. It’s hard to ascribe a decade of aging to six months, but I’m unquestionably slower- both hands and legs- than when I started the season. I’m not turning on […]
Today is October 3, 2006.
It was seven months ago yesterday that I left for France.
It was six months ago yesterday that I no-hit the Woodchucks in my final game as a Lion, earning my current gig as a Woodchuck in the process.
Time flies, huh?
Another 9-hour flight on Friday afternoon. I had […]
BOIS-GUILLAUME SPLITS WITH ROUEN’S SECOND TEAM; WOODCHUCK NATION REJOICES
I’m probably getting ahead of myself, but I thought I’d lead with the juiciest stuff.
I got in on Saturday morning around 11, after a delay in Chicago due to tornado warning. While waiting for my bag at the carousel, I noticed someone’s suitcase had opened up […]
If I ever get back to stay,
It’s gonna be another brand new day…
-Jesse Fuller, San Francisco Bay Blues
There’s something about a pitcher’s mound.
So far as I know, it’s the only ground on any field in any sport that is raised so as to accentuate the singular control over the outcome of the game possessed […]
So… This one’s going to take some explaining.
I couldn’t sleep at all on Friday night. Not a wink. Just 7 hours of staring at the roof of my tiny hotel room. I’m not even sure that I blinked. It was a combination some personal/family stuff back home, and it left me absolutely exhausted come […]
The semifinal was to be held at Bois-Guillaume today, provided that the rain held off all night. Naturally, it did nothing of the sort, and this morning a few inspired Normandy citizens were seen near the Parc des Cosmonautes making the preliminary preparations for a large, biodiverse cruise ship of some kind.
I almost feel […]
After the games last night, Aldo and I cooked some pasta and roasted a chicken for dinner before watching a little bit of the Cubs’ late-inning implosion against the Braves. In terms of surreal situations, watching an internet broadcast of a Cubs’ day game at 11pm at night in Bihorel, France with a Frenchman and […]
I don’t really have time to describe Sunday’s games against Rouen, so I’ll get to that later. Instead, here I’ll describe the Challenge De France, which started yesterday. We were to play Savigny on Thursday, but the torrents of rain made that an impossibility. I’ll give Sylvain credit here; the Tres Lettres officials showed up […]
I feel that somewhere, ages and ages hence, as I lie dying on a hospital bed and my life flashes before my eyes, most of the images will be from all the baseball games I feel we should have won, the tight matches that just barely squeaked away in the end. I wish it were […]
Now that I’ve returned from Rouen after two days of fattening myself in Paris with my parents, I feel I’m sufficiently recovered to take a stab at describing a fairly gut-wrenching weekend on the baseball field. I probably won’t have time to post the second part until early next week, as internet acces issues once […]
The two-hour drive to St. Lo required Matt and I to get up before 6 AM on Sunday in order to make the long drive into town from Neufchâtel to meet up with the rest of the team. Just on a side note, the long commute is starting to really drive us nuts, and finding […]
Editor’s Note: Hey, sorry for the long layoff between posts. The problem, as you know by now, is that the closest internet access is 40km away, and we’re looking for an apartment where we can hook it up permanently. Till then, once a week posting is probably all I can hope for. Sorry!
Two French baseball […]
We took the train to Paris on Saturday afternoon, changing at the St. Lazare station. We took the 14 line to Gare de Lyon, and caught another train to Montpelier, getting in around 10:00. If you want to get a bunch of funny looks, try bringing a French baseball team through the Parisian Metro with […]
Editor’s Note: Sorry for the long layoff, as I’ve been away from email access. I’ll post more next week as I try to get caught up a little better, but I probably won’t have access until Monday or so. I’ve met my new roommate, and he’s a great guy, and we’re gearing up for this […]
