It
was our last baseball game today. The
Phillies were playing the Toronto Blue Jays and several roster spots were on
the line for both teams. The game
started under high heat and humidity and cloudy skies with a 30% chance of rain
showers. Sure enough, at the beginning
of the 3rd inning the skies darkened and the rain started. It was accompanied by a lot of wind but no
thunder or lightning. The game was
stopped and after a 37 minute rain delay was restarted. It continued to rain lightly for another 45
minutes, but after that the sun came out and the temperature dropped to a
comfortable 70 degrees from a pre-rain 85 degrees. We got wet but quickly dried off after the
rain stopped.
Alas,
the Phillies didn’t send their spring training fans away very happy, losing to
the Blue Jays, 8-5. The spring training
games were an unforgettable experience, the ball park is great, great
concessions, and you are right on top of the action. We also talked to a lot of nice people, many
from the Philadelphia area also here to experience the scene and see the
Phillies up close before the real games begin.
The Phillies could have cooperated a little better by winning more games
this spring however.
It
is hard to measure how well a team is going to do during the major league season
by just watching spring training games.
Many players trying to make the team as well as a lot of rookies play a
lot in the spring and usually most of the regulars are out of the games by the
6th inning. Nevertheless,
there seems to be a general feeling of unease down here about how the Phillies
are going to do this year. The fans’
expectations are very high since the Phillies have done so well in the past 5
years. So, we’ll see how it goes when the season starts for real next Thursday.
After
the game we hooked up the VW to the RV to help facilitate an early start
tomorrow morning. The RV park also had a
free camper appreciation dinner this evening.
They have been roasting a pig for the last few days and served roast
pork along with beans, coleslaw, bread and dessert. The dinner was good and marks the end of the
unofficial “snowbird” season down here.
At least 30 RVs in the park are leaving in the morning and heading back
north to places like Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Ontario and
Quebec. I am sure the scene will be the
same all around the state as people head home.
We
are shooting for a 7:00 am departure tomorrow morning as we head north, then west
across the Florida Panhandle to the Destin, FL area. The drive should take about 7 hours. The weather looks good and we are keeping our
fingers crossed for dry roads and no wind on the way home.
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