We were tired, and flat in game one losing 6-1 which put us in a hole, we were behind Vancouver without them even beginning their series. The next night we came out with a purpose and had a commanding hold on our 3-1 lead all night. In the 9th we handed the ball over to Roman Madrid who had been as close to a sure thing all year, very rarely even allowing runners to get to second base. As fate would have it we managed to watch 3 runs come across and score as we scratched our heads wondering how we could have possibly blown the biggest game of our season. I lead off the bottom of the 9th with a bunt single, it was one of those crimes of opportunity. Spokane had a high school graduate playing 3rd base, and he was way back and off the line. Pat wasn't catching so there was nobody to yell at him that the slow kid could burn him with the short game. Rodney followed with a grinder walk, and Goose sacrificed himself to get us into scoring position. Spokane walked Dane to load the bases with one out, in hopes of a game ending double play. After a pitching change and two different hitters being announced it was time for Ronnie Richardson to shine. Night Train, as Murph has called him, came up huge with a 2 strike game winning double to left field! Vancouver lost, and so in one night we had reclaimed first place where we would remain until the last night.
Our final game was a tough one, a really crappy way to go out. We fell behind 2-0 in the first inning and could never really muster any sort of comeback. We had our chances, and Spokane's defense did everything it could to hand us the game, making 4 or 5 errors. We loaded the bases with nobody out and thanks to two jam job swings and a double play we got nothing out of it. As we went down in the 9th it began to sink in, this would be our last game together, the end of our season. I stood on the top step of the dugout watching as Spokane's closer put us down in a hurry, two strike outs and a pop up later it was done. It didn't feel real, there was a stunned silence in the dugout as every cleaned up their gear one last time. I couldn't move. It didn't feel right, I just stood, staring at the scoreboard, staring at the crowd walking to the exits and then back out at our field. I was surprised by the fact that it was hard to deal with, it was eerily similar to our last game in Omaha in that it felt as though it hadn't happened, when clearly it had.
I unwrapped my wrist tape, sat down in the dugout for one last moment and then headed back to the clubhouse. It was a very weird scene, guys sat in their lockers not knowing what the protocol was for the end of a professional season. Were we supposed to pack up and empty our lockers? Were we supposed to wait? Was there a speech coming, were we supposed to sit and think for a while? It was all very strange as we tried to figure out what to do. We finally got the speeches, clean ups and lockers finished and suddenly the clubhouse was extremely bare. I walked out the tunnel as I had so many times, but knowing it would be the last time. I saw Sarah and Allan outside and thanked them both for giving us all such a wonderful place to play and for taking care of us all summer. I felt compelled to apologize for not making the playoffs, I felt terrible that after all the winning we had done that it was all for not. That night we went out one last time and said goodbye as our flights would all be broken up over the next two days, and there was no telling when any of us would be leaving.
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| The view of the opening kick off of Oregon's 2012 football season. Considering how last minute it was, we got some pretty good seats!! |
Saturday I received my itinerary for my 15 hour travel day back to New York. I had lunch with Mallex, Ronnie and Madrid at 6th Street Grill. We spent the day watching college football, while Dane Phillips and I texted back and forth trying to figure out how to get tickets to the Oregon vs. Arkansas State game later that night. I called Allan and he managed to come up huge introducing us to the Oregon ticket director. Before we left we picked up Chabot and Shepherd who had also talked about going. We met Allan at the office and before we knew it had purchased our tickets. We were going to sit in section 27, 38 rows up. We had no idea what that meant in terms of where in the stadium we would be, but we had seats and we were happy. We met up with some friends for pregame tailgating, and hung around trading stories about the summer, our plans for the off-season and any other random topic that came up. We headed inside and found that our seats were right on the goal line, along the sidleline and had extra leg room as we were in the front row of the division of section 27. The game was a total blow out, the Ducks lead 50-3 at half time, and half already taken their starters out. We left and went to walk around the tailgate areas again. Shepherd and Chabot managed to get lost coming out of the stadium so me and Dane got to walk around for a while, and ran into our favorite Dominican, Genison Reyes. Reyes told us all about his first "football Americano" experience and how he liked baseball better. We then trekked back to the hotel and hung around with Clark, Margie, her roommate, Mallex, Picca and Reynolds until we all decided to get some sleep in anticipation of our departures which ranged from 3:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Looking back it was a wonderful experience, and I truly enjoyed my time in Eugene. I met some really interesting people, some far more memorable than others and got my feet wet in the world of professional baseball. I will always remember my first game up in Spokane, my first home game at PK which ended with Ronnie's walk off homer against Vancouver. I will remember my daily routine of sitting outside the clubhouse during visitors BP and listening to "Kick It In The Sticks" Pandora station while enjoying free drinks Kelly always gave us and talking to Kody, Stefan and all the other people that would pass by during their pregame preparation. I have made some friendships that will last far beyond the 47 games that I played for the 2012 Eugene Emeralds. In closing out this season I want to thank everyone who followed along my journey, and welcome you to begin checking for updates again in a week when I get to Arizona for Instructional League. Last but not least, to everyone in Eugene that supported our team thank you! It was great to come home from road trips knowing we'd have a big crowd to welcome us back to PK Park, we loved playing for you, and you provided a big boost in a lot of games by rallying behind us. Until instructs, I'm done!
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