Sicily and the beach

Alright, so this is going to be another long one. This weekend really wore me out. It was an unbelievable time though. As you know, we ventured down south to Sicily to play in Messina. We met at the field at about 1, and headed over to Parma to catch a flight. The flight was short, taking only about an hour and half. We arrived in Sicily, and hoped on a bus for an hour ride down the coast. We finally arrived in Messina at about 6 pm. First, about Messina.

Messina is a town located right on the coast. Our hotel was about 10 steps away from the beach. The beaches aren't like the beaches at home. The meditteranean sea was beautiful. It was fairly clear and very blue, unlike the Adriatic. When we arrived, we put our stuff in the room, walked outside, bought a beer, and sat by the beach. Looking out, you could see the Italian mainland, the city of Reggio Calabria. It was cool to be staring at the bottom of the boot. Cruise ships and barges alike were traveling through the water. It was also very different here. The drivers were insane, beeping at everything and never stopping. It was almost as if they hit you, they wouldn't think twice about it. After our beer, we went into the hotel for dinner.

After a good dinner, the plan was to go to one of the local beach bars. At first, I thought it would only be the young guys who would venture out. It turned out that most of the team came, even a couple of the coaches. We ended up having a great time. We sat around, drank, ate, and laughed. At one point, one of the rookies was being quizzed on famous people. He didn't fair to well, and was required to strip down to his underwear and jump in the water. No hazing laws in Italy. He did was he was required to do, and we all laughed at his expense. Nothing better than being a part of a team.

By the time we got back, it was about 1 am. We strolled into the hotel, and got some rest. I made a point to wake up early so I could head out to the beach. Reggio Emilia is dead center of Italy, and each coast is about 2 hours away. So I reluctantly woke up at about 9:30, put on my bathing suit, bought some powerade, and headed across the street. I ran into my teammate Paul on the way down, and he decided to come along.

The beach itself isn't all that nice. The sand is fairly rocky, but the water looked beautiful. I made a point that I needed to go in the water. After a few more of the guys showed up, I convinced one of them to come in with me. We needed to find a point of entry, given that the beach was surrounded by large rocks. The water was cold, much colder than the Adriatic. It was refreshing, and it definitely woke me up. We then met for lunch, got our stuff together, and headed out to the field.

The field was very nice. It had the perfect setting, up in the hills of Sicily. I'm waiting on my computer, but once I do get it I'll post the pictures. When we arrived, they were playing techno and some of the Messina players were dancing. I couldn't help but laugh. I even went so far as to get my camera and film one of the players. It is exactly what you expected the south of Italy to be. These games were important, and after having a bad week last week, I was determined to rebound.

The first game was much like all the other first games in Serie A baseball. I ended up going 2 for 5 with a double and triple. I was very pleased with my at bats, and I felt good at the plate. I was hitting the ball hard and to all fields. I was excited for the second game. The pitcher was a Venezuelan who had played minor league ball. He threw low 90's and had a hard breaking ball. I was anxious to see how I would do.

From the very beginning of the second game, both teams were tense. Messina was fired up, and our team was very confident. In my first at bat, I hit a hard ground ball to third that ate up the third basemen. I was able to beat it out for a single. In my second at bat, the Messina foreigner got the best of me and made me look bad. I took strike three. It was after when the game got really interesting.

All game the Messina foreigner had been taking his sweet time, complaining about balls and strikes, and just generally being disrespectful to the game. He would take 5 minutes between batters, and maybe sometimes pitches. Our teammate Paul had hit an absolute bomb of a home run off him in the first inning. He settled down after that, striking out a bunch of guys. It all came to a boiling point for me. The umpires weren't doing anything about it. The dugouts started barking at eachother, and the inevitable finally happened. I was on deck, and our starting first basemen Claudio was up. The Messina pitcher threw up and in. Now normally, I wouldn't mind something like this. It's a part of the game. This ball was going for his head, and he just barely got out of the way. Needless to say, I lost it. I started yelling at the top of my lungs at the pitcher. Granted, I don't necessarily know if he knew what I was saying, but he definitely knew my intent. He ended up striking out Claudio, and on his way to the dugout we got into it. Both the umpires and coaches broke it up. All I could think about was my next at bat against him.

After a tense inning in the field (which we obviously threw at one of there players), I was set to hit. In my head I was preparing myself for him to throw one at me. If he did, I was going to do my best to keep a cool head. Getting ejected would be the last thing I wanted to do, considering you have to miss games. He didn't and I was able to work the count to 3 and 2. I was anticipating the fastball, thinking his ego would prevail. I was wrong, but it didn't matter. He threw a curveball, and I turned on it for a long fly ball into the left field corner. I ended up on second base, and had won my personal battle. I ended up scoring that inning, further pleasing my desire for him to lose. We ended up beating him 5-2, and I went 3 for 4 against him with 2 doubles and a single. After the game, we shook hands and went on our way. That's the beautiful part about baseball.

After coming out with two big wins, we went to dinner. It was about midnight. We ate some fish, then headed to the airport. We arrived at about 3 am. The only thing was that our flight wasn't until 7. So, we set up shop and slept on the floor. It was really interesting waking up to people coming in to catch their flights. So much for being a professional baseball player. After sleeping on the flight back, we arrived back in Reggio at about 9:30.

To celebrate the big wins, I decided I wanted to go to the beach. After convincing my roommate to come along, we invited a girl (Lucy) that we had met from our Italian class. She is a babysitter and is from New Zealand. She was in, so we picked her up and went on our way. She invited another babysitter she had met the night before, an American girl (Sophia). Sophia was going to meet us there later. So Chris, Lucy, and I jumped in the car and went on our way. After a two hour drive, we arrived in Riccione. We layed on the beach and enjoyed the sun and water. It felt great to finally relax. Lucy and Chris went to meet Sophia at the train station. I stayed and enjoyed the beautiful day.

After the beach, the four of us got changed and headed to apertivo. We drank a little bit, watched some soccer, and decided to head out to Rimini. Rimini is known as the Italian hot spot. People from all over the world come to vacation and party in Rimini. When we arrived, it reminded me a lot of Miami. There were people everywhere, and we jumped right in the mix. We had an absolute blast, finishing the night off at around 2:30 am. Safe to say I will be going back to Rimini and Riccione. It is definitely worth the two hour drive, and I would highly recommend it to anybody looking for a vacation!

This week, we are home against Anzio. Anzio is in second place. If we sweep, it will make it very hard for us to lose the number 1 seed in the playoffs. I'm looking forward to not having to travel this weekend. I'm sorry for the ridiculously long blog post. I hope everybody had a great weekend! I should have my computer this week. I have been taking a lot of pictures and video, so there is plenty to share and look forward to. Enjoy the rest of the week and I'll talk to you soon!