Part 2 of the series of reports from DC on his Spring Training trip takes our hero to the minor league fields, where he observed past and future legends in their natural habitat. Let's check in on the action...On the first day of my Spring Training weekend I didn’t have tickets to any of the games, so I decided to go down to the Red Sox minor league facility to see what was going on. For those of you who have never been there, let me tell you: it's awesome. There are 4 fields set up with all of the backstops backed up against each other, allowing you to stand in the middle and have baseball happening on all sides of you. There are almost no bleachers and the dugouts are above ground - chain-linked fence encased benches giving the whole thing the feel of being at a kick ass Little League complex. A Little League complex that has former Major Leaguers sitting in golf carts or standing around talking, that is.
On this particular day I arrived to find two games occurring simultaneously. On one field: the AAA teams of the Red Sox playing the Twins. On the other field: the AA squads. Imagine, the future of the Sox playing mere feet away from me, and I’m literally leaning against the chain linked fence enjoying every moment. How could this be better? How about realizing that you recognize the guy warming up for the Sox AAA team: Jon Lester! Or how about standing two feet from Luis Tiant while he’s sitting in a golf cart signing autographs! Or shaking hands with Dewey Evans who looks like he could still gun down some poor fool trying to go first to third!
I couldn’t help it; I had to call Robin. It doesn’t matter that he was at work…in a blizzard. Here's how the conversation went:
Me: “Hey, so its 75 degrees with a nice breeze and I’m watching Jon Lester pitch a AAA game.”
Robin: “I hate you so much! I just came in from the ice storm from hell and I can’t feel my face.”
Me: “Oh and Luis Tiant and Dewey Evans are both here. El Tiante has a really nice signature on a baseball.”
Robin: “Seriously, I might kill you. Wait, did you say Lester? How’s he look?”
Me: “Oh hey, did I mention that I’m standing like 10 feet from Theo?”
At this point Robin became incoherent and amid promises of physical harm and ending our friendship I decided he’d had enough and hung up. Is there really anything better than being on vacation, watching the Red Sox in person and calling your friends at work to rub it in their faces?
Anyway, Lester looked G-R-E-A-T! His arm looked dynamic. His pitches looked alive. And on the way out he received a series of fist pounds, well wishes and applause - and as we walked through the crowd, we saw him signing autographs. Yeah, that’s right; he walked through the fans to the clubhouse. I had a very short conversation with Jon Lester. He’s feeling great by the way and he says “Hi” (ok, I made that second part up, he doesn’t know you). Other things that I saw: George Kottaras hit a nice dinger. Abe Alvarez just doesn’t look promising anymore. I smell a career long-reliever in the making. Theo seems really nice and personable. And yes girls, he is just dreamy in person.
Posts
