Baked ziti: Cure for what ails you

We're baaack! And so, what happened? How did the big leftie throw? Did he start the game? Or did he come out of the bullpen to save it? Did I wear the lucky sneakers? Were the jeans too tight?

Ahhhh...so many questions to be answered....let us begin at the beginning....

It was a glorious morning in the northeast as we prepared for our journey north through the mountains. With autumn leaves at their peak, I was ready for some scenery and change of venue....the car was packed with Halloween goodies and dinners for my little guy. Tink, dad and I hit Starbucks on the way out and I could not be happier....a good start to a hopefully wonderful day.

As we drove north, the bright day turned dark and the temperature dropped precipitously. In other words, it was time for baseball in the northeast. The problem was that in my excitement, I forgot how cold it could get and left the "Tims", coat, scarf, and gloves at home. I guess that I was way too optimistic to think this one out....duh!

OK, we arrive as the game begins and found a seat in the sun. As the game continued, we looked for our favorite player and found him leaning on the rail of the bullpen. This was an excellent sign. The game was an inter squad match and it was team mates against team mates. Since it was the last weekend of scrimmages, cuts would be made this week.

And so, we watched....the pitching was horrendous. No one could find home plate. The batters were teeing up on the pitches and hitting them over the outfielders' heads. Since we did not attend any games last year, we did not know the names of players since they were not on their jerseys.


So what did we see besides terrible pitching? Well, we saw one player who did not hustle and was thrown out at the plate. He also had a really bad fielding error and all I could think of was this guy would be cut.

As the game progressed, we saw Buddy's room mate at the plate. He was called out on three strikes. It was startling and I could see that this kid might not make it to the season either. The bright spots were the play of Big Red and Angel. They looked great. Red won his job back after having a terrible year last year and losing his starting position to a freshman. He came back from the summer in shape and ready to fight....which he did and now he is the starting catcher.

OK, where is Buddy? Why isn't he warming up? Where could he be? So dad asked Tink to find him in the bullpen and ask him when he was going to pitch. When she returned, she reported that he was NOT pitching and had an injury.

Huh!? What? Are you kidding me? What kind of an injury? He's healed, right? What did he do?

With that said, it began to rain and we left the ball park since there was no reason to stay. We had seen enough, were cold, and very hungry.

After the game, we picked him up at the bus stop and asked a zillion questions. Basically, he has a strained bicep and he is working it through. It is nothing to worry about but since the surgery, he is being cautious. A good thing....

OK, so who was the kid who could not run or field? Was he a freshman or just someone who thought that he could play? With that question, he slowly mentioned that the player who was obviously  not up to D-1 standards was....Gopher....his new room mate. Oy! Here is a kid that they recruited and gave scholarship money to in order to bring him to campus. And so, unless he performs better in the spring, a very expensive Midwesterner will be taking space up on the bench.

After dinner, we bid adieu and headed home. As we drove down the mountain, the phone rang...."uh dad, I think that I will be able to pitch tomorrow. My bicep feels better...." Nice, it's amazing what homemade basked ziti and a pumpkin filled with goodies can do for a musculoskeletal injury.

Time for me to catch up on my laundry. Have a great day!