Can you believe the R-Phils are about to start their last homestand of May? I mean, doesn’t it seem like just a few days ago this team was kicking off their 2010 season? I realize that I’ve been amazed at how fast the baseball season is going in just about every blog entry thus far, but it is quite incredible if you think about it. After three games against Richmond and a four-game set versus Portland, the team goes back on the road and it’s practically Memorial Day Weekend. Crazy I tell ya.

Before Reading can take off for the road once again, it’s time for the team and the fans to enjoy a nice seven-game stretch here at FirstEnergy Stadium. Leading up to tonight’s game was the work that I’ve become accustomed to while the team is away: program, program, and more program. I don’t quite recall if it was written about on here, but my first effort on the Baseballtown Gazette was a rough one. I put many, many hours into it, got frustrated by the lack of results, and the Reading Eagle publishers helped me out a whole lot to get that done on time. By now however, it’s becoming more of a routine than a pain in the neck. The one thing that didn’t really hold up the process of printing, but certainly was wild, were all the roster moves. You wouldn’t believe all the moves that are made across Minor League Baseball within just one or two weeks, and even with just three teams in particular, you’re swapping different players bios in and out almost every day.

It’s always been very enjoyable for me to write game previews, recaps, and articles in general. If you check out the site today, the Dog Day article, Turn Back the Clock article, and a number of other ones were penned by yours truly. The recaps, as noted, are interesting to write because I get to dive into a sea of stats to work with. It must have been a hundred times more difficult 20 years ago to write such comprehensive work. Hopefully in this homestand, I’ll be covering and writing about R-Phils wins, which hasn’t always been the trend as of late. I have faith that this group of guys will turn it around though.

There’s also the stuff that’s been going on outside of FirstEnergy Stadium that is certainly worth writing about, namely – R-Phils Front Office Softball. Yes, it is true that I had, before this, never played softball in my life. But at the same time, I have a distant memory of my father playing slow-pitch softball a while back. One of his teammates, they said, “could easily turn a triple into a single.” So I figured, if that guy can play it, I can play it. It has been, without question, a great highlight of working here in Baseballtown so far, and not just because we’re 2-0. It’s a fantastic group of guys to play with, a whole lot of fun to get in these games, and as an added bonus…we have some nice new shirts.

Looking at the computer’s clock, it’s just about 1:30 p.m. right now as this is just about ready for publication. That means, with my superb math skills, that tonight’s game is just five and a half hours away. From what I’ve been hearing in the ticket office, both tonight’s and tomorrow’s games are standing room only – should be a terrific atmosphere. On today’s schedule, I still have to help get all the game notes ready for the media, run down and get lineups from both clubhouses, print those for the media and the managers, and a bunch of other stuff. We have a full night of events and promotions tonight as well, so I better get going before things get crazy. Until next time…