ooking back at this game, it is now apparent to me that regardless of who was behind the plate, it was going to be a long night. Both teams were wired, and I was caught in the crossfire. My problem was I didn’t deal with the nonsense earlier. Had I handled things better then, the game may not have gone sour.

Having said that, my mistakes paled in comparison to the teams'. On that night, the teams combined for eight errors. Of the 12 runs scored, only two were earned. The frustration caused by so many booted balls spilled over as the top of the eight inning continued.

This time, I was ready ... finally.