(Ed.: Bumped to the top).
It is great to finally be home. I arrived to CVG airport on Saturday, after two eventful flights, to find security guards threatening to arrest my father after refusing to move his car from the drop-off/pick-up lane as he waited for what could not have been more than two minutes…home sweet home.
The season ended in a very uneventful manner. The local Billings’ media tried to built up the last series at Cobb Field as a monumental event, but with most of this summer’s top performers long gone to Dayton, not to mention eliminated from playoff contention, the team was ready for the season to end. To make the Cobb Field finale even more lackluster was the fact that the previous day’s game had been rained out and the league office ruled two seven-inning games would be necessary so as Great Falls would not have an unfair advantage of rested pitchers heading into the playoffs if the first game was cancelled.
The brightest event of the night was the tremendous pitching performance delivered by Josh Ravin in game one. He went five innings, allowed only two hits, and posted five strikeouts to obtain the first win of his professional career. The dimmest part of the night was the error column, where we recorded six errors on the evening, including four in game two. Although the score seemed out of reach in game two, we were able to push a single run across in the bottom of the seventh, and final, inning at Cobb Field to avoid the shutout. The crowd at Cobb, officially 3,794, but rumored to be over 4,000, were surprisingly vocal in their support the entire evening.
But now I’m home. And after playing golf the past two days, meeting some of my OSU buddies in Dayton for some Marion’s pizza (the best pizza in the world), and catching up on my sleep, I am starting my search for a job. I would love to start using my business degree in the fields of finance or investment banking, but try finding an investment bank wanting to hire someone for only four months until spring training. My fallback plan is to substitute teach in the Lakota district. If anyone has any other ideas (or opportunities), please pass them along: matt.klinker@gmail.com…Thanks!
By the way, the Reds are only eight back, Harang is on the hill to sweep the Cardinals, and Griffey is seven shy of 600; see you at GABP!