Separating the Men from the Boys

The day has finally arrived. Ocean County, NJ has a professional baseball team. The Lakewood Blue Claws, a Single "A" affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, have begun their innaugural season. A fifteen minute drive from my Toms River, NJ home, GPU Energy Park (the "Claws" home stadium) is sure to give the local bars a run for my money this summer.

No GWB traffic to the Bronx or Shea, no sitting inside the ugliest stadium in baseball (the Vet), and no saving up a few paychecks to be able to enjoy a day at the park. I'll be able to count on one hand the number of guys who don't run out ground balls or complain about the umpires. These guys, for the most part, are just happy to be playing ball.

At the park the other night, sitting in my eight dollar seats right behind home plate, I started composing this article in my head. I began to wonder if I was watching any future hall of famers in this 5,500 capacity park in central New Jersey. I saw a tall lefty come to the plate for the Delmarva Shorebirds, an affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. I nudged my buddy, and said "this guy looks like a hitter." He lined the next pitch into center with the sweetest swing you'll ever see. My friend turned, and asked, "how did you know that?" "I just know," I replied with a smirk.

Later in the game, on my way to the funnel cake stand, I happened upon the league leaderboard, situated near the entrance. I looked for the name of Jason Elder, my new hero. He was among the leaders in homeruns, batting average, and runs batted in, and I wasn't surprised. The funnel cake was quite a deal for $4.00, by the way.

In the seventh, Elder made a sparkling diving stop of a ground ball, and accurately flipped the ball to the pitcher covering. This kid was doing it all. He struck out later, after hitting a foul home run on the previous pitch. Hey, the best players fail seven out of ten times in this game. Their cleanup batter had some pop too, hitting a foul home run into the left field picnic area.

The game was crisp and clean, for the most part. Both bullpens held up a 2-1 score from the fifth inning on, and the Blue Claws wound up winning by that count. It was barely nine o'clock when the final out was recorded, a strikeout by a submarining Lakewood hurler with a knee-bending curveball.

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