Life begins on Opening Day!

It's finally here!  We made it thru a long cold winter (yes, by Florida standards, it was cold even here) and what seemed like a lifetime away from the ballpark.  But today, life begins anew.  Every team, in fact every fan, has the same clean slate and championship dreams.

But before I get to my opening day anticipations, let me tell you a little about how I got to be the fan I am today.  I have had many things and many people that have brought me to be a lover of baseball, but if I could point to one place in time where I turned from fan to fanatic, Buck and Babs Rogers be there.

My husband and I had our first date at a Orlando Cubs game, way back in 1995.  The O'Cubs were the AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.  It began my love affair, not only with Ed, but with minor league baseball.  We discovered the single A Daytona Cubs that same season and started attending games.  We witnessed the Cubbies win the league championship that year and we were hooked.  We attend games on a regular basis for the next 5 years, but in 2001, everything changed. The team got a new AGM, Buck Rogers.  It was apparent from the very first time I met him, that he was a different kind of staffer.  It didn't take long to realize that this guy was , well, he was nuts!  The tern "think outside the box" started with him, I swear!

He seemed to be consumed with making sure that the fans had a great time and there were no boundaries!  I can remember a contest that involved having fans sit in a kiddie pool filled with ice and a little bit of water.  Trivia, dancing on the dugout, lets make a deal, something all the time.  He became a presence in the ballpark, equal to the team.  We would go some days, just to see what he was going to come up with next.

At the end of the season, he and another staff member came up with the idea of granting a life time season ticket to any fan that got a Daytona Cubs logo tattoo from a sponsor.  You know, I was the first one in line!

Buck over as GM the following season and we became good friends with him and his wife Babs as well as their daughters, Bree and Holly.  Their friendship continues to be one of my most treasured.  In fact, I must credit Buck with coining the phrase I adopted as my blog name...another day in single A~

Just google his name and baseball and you can see the story, much better than I could tell it!  Buck and Babs have since moved on, first to the Brevard County Manatees and then to the Huntsville Stars, where they are now.  We were able to meet them for dinner last night and it was as if no time had past since we last saw them.  They also surprised us by inviting another dear friend, Steve Melendez, who was a trainer in the Cubs organization for many years, including several in Daytona.    More about Stevie in a future post.

But tonight, we take the road trip to our sister stadium, Space Coast Stadium, home of the Brevard County Manatees.  We think of Brevard as our second home and have made friends there as well.  (in fact, our friend Jean came along with Buck and Babs for dinner last night!).  

The season is here, spring has sprung, and this begins a new year filled with possibilities.   My prediction?  The first every back to back championship for my beloved Daytona Cubs...but for now.....

Let's play ball!