what an incredible summer it has been. i have found myself in a dilemna. being off for 10 months gave me a lot of time to post regularly. after coming back to work in april, i have been on the run quite a lot.
baseball is over and i am having withdrawals. the smokies made it to the southern league championships and we lost to jacksonville. being 2nd was hard to swallow but was, nevertheless, an amazing accomplishment. getting to know a new group of players was fun and seeing them develop as they did was impressive. at the same time, seeing the guys i have driven in years past playing for the cubs, well, it was easy to swell up with pride. some went on to other teams in the majors, but those in the cubs organization was especially fulfilling.
meeting ryne sandberg was an amazing experience for me. driving him was more than any kid could dream for. but i can't forget the other staff members who are coaching with him, well, i have a special memory of them as well.
most of all, it is the people i get to meet in the ballparks. normal, everyday people from blue collar workers to white collar executives, all brought together by the love of a game. returning to the parks and seeing them, shaking hands, hugging most is a time in my life i cherish. several i have the pleasure of keeping in contact with. my life is a very fulfilled one.
this season, we ended up driving about 20,000 miles. most trips were 6 day trips with weird hours and some wild times. even getting to know the people in the host hotels and then going back to catch up with them was a wonderful experience. i can tell you more about getting around in jacksonville or mobile or several other cities than i can getting around knoxville.
when i was getting back into the swing of coming back to work, i got addicted to facebook and have spent most of my life writing there. i love to write and it filled a gap, but being here fills a huge void. most of my life for the past several years is on here and it is time to get back to regular posting here.
i have other things to post so i am not going to dump it all here. i don't know if i will be driving the smokies next year. our contract is up and i don't know if we will get it or not. i hope i do get one more year. rumor has it sandberg is coming back and i would be a fool not to step back into the dream. ryne and his wife margaret are wonderful people and i would be honored to be their driver one more time.
until next time...
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