The Lost Blogs: Part Two
Thursday, August 16
Barquisimeto .
We were told we could meet with some tournament organizers at 8am this morning. We were there but they weren?t. Fortunately, not too much later, we were given a practice time, so we got on the field which is what we came here to do. We had a great practice. Pitchers got a chance to get on top of the rather
sizeable mound (I think they?ll like pitching downwards), outfielders got a feel for the bumpy terrain, and hitters got a feel for the rather close confines (think line drive, not home run, although it?s tempting). It was during this practice that we learned about what everyone back home had heard about the tournament being cance lled and teams being asked to leave. We knew about Chinese Taipei not receiving visas, but we hadn?t heard any of the other stuff about the tournament being shut down. All we knew was that we were here, as were the other teams in our pool, and we were on the field. Cathy Stein and Blake Miller helped communicate back to 
everyone and ease some minds, and for that I?m very appreciative. After lunch, we got a chance to go to the mall. Blond-haired Matt Davidson was a hit with the locals and junk food from the local supermarket, Exito, was a hit for our team. We headed back to the Villa for a team meeting, dinner, and bedtime. Overall, it was a good first day in
Friday, August 17
Friday began a lot earlier for Coach Suarez and Coach Freeman than it did for the rest of the team. They were on a bus to
San Cristobal , the site of the other pool in the tournament, at 5 a.m. with representatives from the
Japan ,
Brazil , and
Mexico delegations. What was sold to them as a 6 hour bus ride became a nine and a half hour ordeal. Meanwhile, the team was on its regular schedule. Wake up, breakfast, and practice. After practice, we finally had a little internet and phone time to make some communication back home. After getting through about 90 emails, I attempted to post a blog update but the internet went down as it was being saved. San Cristobal with the latest from the tournament?s technical meeting. Since the IBAF sanction had been pulled from the event, the organizers ha d planned for the San Cristobal , which is where we have been refusing to play for safety reasons for months. They had media in the room and tried to pressure our guys to sign something saying we agreed. We did not agree, however, and they held their ground. We didn?t know what was going to happen at this point. We actually informe d the team that things may be changing and that there was a possibility, due to our refusal to go to
San Cristobal , 
Good timing there. We got a little bit of a taste of home with McDonald?s for dinner. No matter where you are in the world, I think, you can find a Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, and Chicken McNuggets, and that was our feast. During the dinner we got a call from our boys in
championship bracket to be played in
they could decide to exclude us from the championship. We just didn?t know. Eventually, however, I was able to speak with the head of the Venezuelan Baseball Federation and he assured me that if we were to advance to the finals, they?d bring the games to us. I asked for this in writing, and came back into the team meeting to tell everyone the good news. Now it was time for us to put our money where our 
mouth was and make sure they had good reason to rearrange the tournament for us. After the rollercoaster of events in about an hour?s period, it was time for some levity, and that was provided by a session of Kangaroo Court, led by the honorable judge Scuba Steve Patterson and Bailiff Max Stassi. A couple of charges were levied and a few poor souls were convicted and sentenced to buy packs of gum for the team. Venezuelan punishment is stiff.
Saturday, August 18
Over 24 hours after they left, Coach Suarez and Freeman returned to the villa. It was great to see them as I hadn?t heard from them all night. They didn?t have much time because it was finally game day and we had to get ready to head to the field for BP. We faced
Brazil at 2 p.m. Hard Brazil was salty. They played a good game and even had a first inning lead after the top of the first, 1-0. We answered with 3 in our half but then kind of stalled out. The energy level just wasn?t there, and the coaches and players both knew it. The game was close through 6, with the
USA holding onto a 5-3 lead. A bevy of slop thowers kept our impatient hitters off balance and
Brazil played good defense behind their pitchers. We finally got things right in the 7th when we put up 8 to invoke the 1 0-run rule, with the final run, Zach Vincej, crossing the plate on a walk off wild pitch. An RBI double by pitcher Mexico the next day. A quick opening ceremonies took place just before the Japan-Mexico game that followed a ours. The teams lined up, a few words were said, and then it was back to the villa for sleeping and eating while the coaches stayed at the stadium to scout
our next two opponents.
throwing Austin Maddox was on the mound and blew three strikes past the first batter of the game. At this point I figured he?d have about 15 in the game, but
Paco Rodriguez after missing two bunt attempts, and a bases clearing 3 run double by pinch hitter Justin Charles led the assault. After the game we knew it wasn?t our best effort and we?d have to be better to beat
Sunday, August 19
Mexico , we headed to the field. As we were leaving,
Mexico ? the Mexico finally showed up and pitched in by watching. We finished up, took some cuts in the cage, and got ready to play. Our focus and energy levels were much better than the day before and it showed when we jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. We leveled off a little in the middle innings but turned it on big time with 13 runs in the last 3 innings. We really embarrassed
Mexico and their frustrations came to a boil after Jacob Tillotson hit one of their batters in the last inning. There was no way we were throwing at them in the last inning up by 19, but their manager took exception and had to be held back from running at Coach Suarez and the whole episode almost ended in no handshakes after the game. Cooler heads prevailed and we ended up shaking hands after all, and as it turns out, the boys have become pretty good friends with the Venezuela ?s new proposal to get us to
San Cristobal was to fly both the parents and the team in a military plane and provide us with extra, extra security the whole time. We told them we couldn?t make the decision officially until the next day, but it wasn?t a likely scenario either way. I got in touch with the boss,
Paul Seiler , who was in
China and informed him of the situation, however, just as we have said all along, the decision was made to remain in
Barquisimeto regardless, and that?s what we?re going to do. 
We woke up to a rainy setting. Normally, we?d hear from the tournament organizers whether or not the field was in condition for play. However, at this tournament, there is nobody in charge, so we figured we?d head on over as scheduled for our 1:45 BP time. After a team meeting to go over the scouting report on
home team ? was loitering around the common areas of the villa. It was their slot for BP yet they hadn?t even left yet. Unfortunately, this was indicative of their team this year. They are not very good as our coaches found out scouting the night before. It?s a shame, really, because their team is not representative of teams past in what is a pretty good rivalry each year. We?re generally on the winning side, but they are at least semi-competitive games and this one wasn?t.
Before we got to play the game, though, we had to roll up our sleeves and get to work. When we arrived, third base was a big puddle and there were soft spots all over. The rain had stopped, but the sun was nowhere to be found. The one-man grounds crew wasn?t going to get this game played, so all of us chipped in and got the field ready for over an hour. We were bucketing water out, 
bucketing dirt in, sponging water up, raking mud around, fixing mounds, and doing just about everything we could to get the field in shape. Blake and Alvaro headed out to get kitty litter to help dry things up.
Mexican players in our villa. After the game, the parents were kind enough to get the kids subway subs and everyone went home with a feeling of satisfaction for a good, hard day?s work while taking care of business the right way, and knowing that we did get better today. The drama continued behind the scenes later that night.
Monday, August 20
Another 2pm game had us up and going early. We won the coin flip for home field the previous night when I called heads and all three coins showed the face of Simon Bolivar. I hope I didn’t blow all of my luck in one flip. We had improved our play from game one to game two and were looking to continue our upward ascendence. It was now between us and Japan for first place in our pool. 
We were certainly the two best teams in Barquisimeto, but we wanted to prove we were THE best. The team went through an improvised warmup and BP since the Mexico-Brazil game was still going when we got there but that didn’t slow us down once the game got started. Nick Franklin, who made his first appearance in a starting role after sitting out the first two games due to 
an infection in his knee, got us off to a good start with a leadoff homer to center. A few batters later, Austin Maddox’s towering blast left the entire stadium to push our lead to 4-0 before an out was recorded and that chased the Japanese starter. The Japanese then brought in their best player to throw against us and he went 5 innings and generally 
held us in check. We’d finish the game with a 9-2 win, the first time we hadn’t had a game shortened due to run rules, and we joined Japan at home plate for a group photo after the game. Our two countries really have a nice baseball relationship, and there is a mutual respect for the way each other plays the game. Finally, on a personal note, happy 30th wedding anniversary to my parents. Sorry I didn’t send a gift, but what’s better than a YNT Blog shout out?
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