*cue sobbing* Back to work tomorrow and I’m pretty sure the guy who was on call last week is going to want my head, even though I’m fairly certain all his sleepless nights were not my fault! I even tried to help out in vain before rushing off to the next game two days in a row.

I know I didn’t give the in-depth coverage SBF did even though I had aspirations of attaining the same level of spring training saturation. My main focus was photography (as it will be going forward) and anyway he was still there providing all the little details at the same time we were. We were there as a family on vacation, so I didn’t pursue talking to players or press conferences or force my kids to arrive at games two hours early to take in practice. I’m not funny or sarcastic, and frankly after getting back to our hotel and eating yet another meal of cheeseburgers and french fries and offloading photos and putting the kids to bed, I didn’t have much time or energy left for creative writing. My daughter seemed to come down with an ear infection halfway through the trip… yadda yadda. So not the output I had hoped for, but hey, I don’t get paid for this! My dirty little secret is also that I’m really horribly shy until I know someone. I know that’s a shocker. So I don’t go out of my way to talk to people what with all the new players and coaches, although I probably should try harder. I’m quite comfy hiding behind the viewfinder of my camera, even if that seems a little weird.

The only National I talked to was Manny Acta, but it was about his upcoming redesigned impACTA Kids website :-) Strictly business and friendly, not an interview (since I don’t do those, remember?)!

Funny that I had mentioned Matthew LeCroy managing Hagerstown to Acta and he was actually around today! Just missed him!

Favorites during the trip:

1. Stadium – Tradition Field. Newer and cool.
2. National Anthem rendition – A high school’s “audio club” at the Tiger’s stadium in Lakeland
3. Ushers – Space Coast Stadium! The friendliest!
4. For the kids – acquiring a lot of souvenirs. Mostly balls, an autographed pennant, and Whitney’s broken bat (which they also got autographed)
5. Autographers – Luke Montz, Justin Maxwell, and Manny Acta. In fact, Maxwell autographed so frequently that my daughter unknowingly tried to get his autograph twice on the same ball! That was funny, but she was mortified when he pointed out he’d already signed it (she’s also very shy)
6. Little Chatter was so impressed with the pitcher (he wasn’t sure who) and catcher (Estrada) who threw him warmup balls yesterday at Tradition Field from the bullpen.

Now back to reality and counting down the days until opening day! At least most of the games this week are on the radio! First cuts soon? That’s gotta be tough. I’m guessing relief pitchers.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 5:15 pm and is filed under MLB, Washington Nationals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.