And It's Summer

The first pitch of the first game of the season for the Medicine Hat Mavericks was last night just after 7pm, on a warm evening under a clear sky. A home crowd of just under 1800, including, myself and Mrs. Padre, cheered on the home team.

The Mavericks play in the Western Major Baseball League, a wood bat, collegiate league, and from what I saw last night, it was a level of play equivalent to Single A ball. A few guys make it to the majors from this prairie league.

The Mavericks played host to the Okotoks Dawgs, a team from the Calgary area. Okotoks is famous for the Okotoks Erratic, a giant rock deposited near town during the glacier age, and I thought that the Erratics would have been a great name for a baseball team. In fact there is am Okotoks Erratic, but is is a lacrosse team. Oh well.

So how did the home team do? It was close. We had a 1 run lead in the 8th, but a two run homer in their eighth left a tall order for the Mavericks batters in the 9th. It was almost there. With two out, the Mavericks catcher came to bat under the lights with the bases loaded and a relief pitcher throwing heat. Crack! Deep to centre field, but caught 20 metres short of the track.

Oh well, it was summer baseball, timeless and graceful, and really that's all that counts. We'll be back for more.


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