As I said previously, I will be checking in here every once in a while to chronicle my summer experience. This past week and a half has been very busy so I haven't been able to get on too much...we've had a lot of games nearly everyday, and have been partially celebrating the drafting of our friends (my college teammate was the first DIII player taken nationwide, in the 4th round to the Braves).
My entire summer experience had been a positive one thus far, until a disappointing event last night. We had a game in Columbia, SC and were told that it was military night at the park. 4,600 Army soldiers from nearby Fort Jackson showed up to watch the game. Playing in front of them was truly an extraordinary experience. They were loud, funny and passionate. The presentations and special events were touching, as many Medal of Honor recipients were being honored on the field to a standing ovation from the thousands of troops in the stands. It was an awesome event all-around.
The euphoric atmosphere quickly turned sour towards the end of the night. In the Coastal Plain League, doubleheaders are two 7-inning games (since Columbia is 6 hours away from Morehead City, we try to double up on weekend games to limit travel requirements). In the second game of the day, we were losing 9-3 in the top of the 7th inning and things were looking fairly grim. Our leadoff hitter took an 0-1 fastball for a ball. Immediately, the coach for the Columbia Blowfish came storming out of the dugout to argue the call. We couldn't hear what was being said (the troops were loud) but the umpire ejected him. He began to continue arguing, turning his hat around to wear it backwards and kicking dirt all over home plate. This is when we realized that the spectacle was staged. The coach screamed with the umpire for another minute or so, and then proceeded to step back and run to the mound. He turned and gave a fake salute to the troops. He then picked up the rosin bag behind the mound and tossed it towards his dugout, where the Columbia players were standing. When the rosin bag hit the ground, the players fell down and pretended to be hit by the rosin bag, as if it were a grenade.
We were furious as a team. We understood the importance of making it an enjoyable night for the troops in attendance, and understood that was the intention of the Columbia coach. But the situation that occured we felt made a mockery of our team, disgraced the game of baseball and frankly, disgraced the U.S. Army. Our coach expressed his disdain for the situation with the other coach after the game, but did not get an apology, just a smirk and a "have a safe ride home". After eating our post game meal, we boarded the bus and took the 6 hour ride back home with a sour taste in our mouths and our blood boiling from a classless act.