The "If You Build It, They Will Come" Story

It was an ordinary day. Heading down to Quakertown, a small town near Philadelphia, to see our son Derek pitch today; Fathers' Day! Derek is a member of the Villanova Wildcats Div. I baseball team, but this summers he is pitching for the Quakertown Blazers. The Blazers are a team that plays in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League with 11 other teams. The biggest difference between the college game and this summer league is the use of wooden bats. Villanova uses aluminum bats, while the ACBL uses wooden ones. This change gives the pro scouts a better idea as to who may succeed in professional ball where wooden bats are used. The Blazers play at Memorial Field, a quaint wooden fenced stadium with grandstand seating for about 700 people and uncovered bleachers for about 300 more. They have a refreshment stand behind home plate and a seven foot high fence around the outfield. Advertisements are sold for the fence as a way to raise money for the team. Team colors are orange and black and I got a team t-shirt in those colors the last time we went to a game. Have it on for today's game. Derek stays with a host family as do quite a few players on the team. It would be too far to travel to commute from Lancaster on a daily basis for the games. He works part-time for his host families business. They run a furniture store in Quakertown and Derek and a few of the guys on the team make the deliveries. Great for spending money while he is here for most of the summer. Our two other children, Brynn and Tad, are also with us today. Seated in front of us in the grandstand today are half a dozen pro scouts with their radar guns. Great game with the Blazers defeating Staten Island, 4-2, and Derek picking up the win. After the game we get a chance to head out to eat at a restaurant and catch up on all the news from Quakertown. There are weekday games, but next weekend will give us our next chance to see the Blazers play. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - pixs from the top are: Blazers team logo, aerial view of Memorial Field, looking in from left field, and LDub wearing his Blazers shirt as he types this entry.