It’s been a long cold and wet winter here in Bristol. I’m looking for some springtime activities, cutting the grass, fussing about dandelions and other weeds, washing the cars outside, and a little baseball to ease my winter blues.

The Sox won’t get started at home until June 23, but at the time of this writing, the World Baseball Classic along with pre-season is now going on. The local colleges have started, and the high schools are getting ready. We have two other schools using Boyce Cox Field at DeVault Memorial Stadium, Virginia Intermont College, and Virginia High School, all before our beloved Sox come to town.

Geez, I’d hate to have to swing an aluminum bat when it’s 32 degrees outside. On the positive side, the grass doesn’t have to be mowed!

Speaking of the WBC, former BriSox pitcher Gio Gonzalez had an impressive outing this week.

As you all may know, we have a new Skipper in Bristol, Bobby Magallanes comes from Birmingham in the Sox minor league system. Greg Briley and Larry Owens remain from the 2012 season to join the new manager. Bristol and Chicago have also signed a 2 year agreement which will keep the Sox in Bristol through 2014.

Trust me, the winter blues make me want to feel the heat of June, July, and August, hear the crack of wooden bats (which is another quirk of mine … but that’s for another blog post), hearing the ump yelling “Play Ball,” then hearing the crowd fuss at the umps for a perceived missed call. I want to see our boys of summer on the field, their friends and family making a special treks to Bristol, and meeting those friends and family members to thank them for coming to Bristol.

Bristol Tennessee-Virginia, a good place to live … and a great place for baseball …. Please come and join us at the field this summer.

In the mean time, catch us at http://www.bristolsox.com, http://www.bristolbaseball.com, http://www.facebook.com/bristolsox and on twitter @BristolSox.

– Tim Johnston, Secretary for Bristol Baseball

Well, Baseball has been gone from Bristol for a full month now, and the nights are still not the same.  No fans to meet and greet, no umpires to yell at, no music at the ballpark, no Xander’s in the booth with me, no Jade’s to try and get one word out of (and I’ve been trying for 2 years), no Kibby’s on the mound …..

But it’s almost post season time in the majors.  After today, the whole playoff picture will emerge, and in a few weeks, we’ll have a World Champion.  

Bristol Baseball has been busy planning for 2013, and having a little fun too.  

We just got back from a weekend in Atlanta watching Chipper Jones’ last two games in Atlanta in the regular season as a player, it was a great trip.  Two games, accommodations  and a Greene Coach bus to take us back and forth, and over 50 new and old friends to spend the weekend with.  Atlanta won both of them, and we got to see Craig Kimbrel hit the three digits, 100 MPH, on a pitch.  It didn’t look much faster than his 98 MPH pitch, but it was impressive.

Bristol Baseball, Inc. will be planning more trips to Major League ballparks next year, so keep in touch with us as we make our 2013 plans.  We’re talking about two trips next year, one before the Bristol season, and one after.  We’ve taken input from the fans that went with us on what they would like to see next time.  We will do out best to make them happy.  We have filled up a 55 person bus each time we have went, who knows, maybe we’ll get to two buses next time.

Who’s going to be the World Champ?  A’s, Braves, Yanks, Nats … I dunno, but I’m looking forward to some great playoff action in the days to come.  Care to tell us your prediction?

You know it’s hard to lose family.  Whether you are close to them, or you haven’t seen them in quite a while, dealing with the fact that they are no longer there causes one to be sorry.

I’m already feeling that for our broadcast family, and it’s not even the end of the season yet.

It’s often said that you see the folks you work with more than you see your family.  That can be true.  Add to that most of the board members of Bristol Baseball, Inc. have full time jobs, along with their duties at the ballpark, and I think you can understand why I feel that way.

I’m looking for your comments on Facebook, in e-mail, and on twitter each time I broadcast.  I’m thinking about you when your son comes to the plate, comes to the mound, or makes an outstanding play in the field.  Just to give a few examples, when it’s time for Todd Kibby to pitch, of course I think of Cindy, Pappa Kibby (and his parking lot) and Jennifer.  I normally look into the dugouts starting in the 5^th inning, and when I see #22, Tracey comes to mind.  If it’s time for a clutch hit, and Eric comes to the plate, I think about Jonathan and Wendy.  If the Sox schedule Jake Cose, Lisa is the 1^st thing on my mind.  Even though Courtney has moved on to Kannapolis, both Jennifer and Grandma are who I am thinking about.

I guess I’m just a softie like that.  It comes from years (27 of them) of teaching teens and pre-teens in Sunday School.  I think of the folks that got them where they are today.

Regardless of the trip down memory lane, it will be soon time for some of us to part ways.  I have some of you or your kids as my friends on Facebook and Twitter, and some I don’t.  I’d love to have all of you, but that’s most likely not possible.  I want to keep up with your kid’s progress in MiLB and hopefully MLB.

Like I do for Chris Young of the Diamondbacks or Lucas Harrel for the Astro’s, I look forward to saying, “That’s one of our kids.”  When I do, MLB allegiances take a back seat to what that young man is doing on the field.

I’m going to miss you folks terribly, but it’s one of those things in life we just have to grin and bear it.  There’s a chance that I might hear from some of you next year, and then there’s not.  Either way, I’d like to say thank you for adopting me as a family member for these three months.  It’s been a pleasure bringing you Bristol White Sox baseball.

– Tim

Yes, Bristol is unique, in a lot of ways.  Bristol is the home of Country Music, where Jimmie Rogers and the Carter family made the 1st country recordings.  Bristol is the home of Bristol Motor Speedway, the fastest 1/2 mile track in the world.  Bristol is also my hometown, where I currently reside, and where I hope to pass from this world.  It will also be the place where I will be buried.

But when it applies to Minor League Baseball, Bristol is unique.  Bristol Baseball, Inc., the organization sponsoring professional baseball in the twin cities, is all volunteer.  There are no paid positions.  We do it all for the love of the game.

BBI present and general manager of the Bristol Sox, Mahlon Luttrell, is quite a unique individual.  Mahlon works a full time paid job away from the ball park, and also a full time non paid job keeping professional baseball in Bristol.  80-100 hours a week is not unusual for our “Grand Poobah.”  He often takes his entire vacation from his paying job to get ready for the 1st week of the season.  He travels to the Winter Meetings, which is an additional time away from the paying job.  He meets with people at the ballpark when the time is required of him to further Bristol’s plight into keeping baseball in Bristol.

Mahlon’s enthusiasm and exuberance are unmatched in our organization.  Literally no one in BBI can keep up with him.

For those of us who are not retired, we also work full time jobs.  Myself, I am a programmer analyst to keep food on the table and the bills paid.  We have engineers, lawyers, surgery technicians, secretaries, people who maintain cell phone towers, college students, purchasing agents, and those folks who have already put in their time working for other people and enjoying the retired life.  It’s a good mix of friends and family members who are here to promote one thing.

Don’t get me wrong, we love what we do, but unlike other minor league organizations, none of us are paid for our services.  Therefore we can keep our prices down coming to the ballpark.  However making up some working capital to keep upgrades to the field happening, and a set of people maintaining the field is a continual struggle.  Our sign sales, gate receipts, Sox Box sales, and program sales keep those things happening, so I encourage you, for the betterment of professional baseball in  Bristol, to encourage friends and family to attend affordable entertainment at the ball park, and buy a program or two will help the organization out tremendously.  If you have friends or family that can advertise with us, please tell them about the crowds and the potential customers that they are missing out on reaching at Boyce Cox Field at DeVault Memorial Stadium.

Thank you to our faithful fans, without you none of this would be possible.  We appreciate you more than you’ll ever know.  Please continue to visit us at the ball park frequently as you can.

As always, you can e-mail our “Grand Poobah” at brisox@btes.tv.  To contact myself or any of our other Internet Radio Broadcasters, go to http://www.facebook.com/bristolsox , you can e-mail us at bristolsoxradio@gmail.com,  and our Twitter address is @BristolSox.

– Tim

What an evening, Tuesday July 17, 2012 at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tennessee.  It will be on that this announcer will not forget for a long time.  Let’s look at the reasons for that.

First will be the insightful comments from our Intern for Bristol Baseball, Inc., Jordan Childress.  This was the first time I’ve had the pleasure working with this fine young man from the University of Virginia at Wise.  Jordan is a proverbial walking encyclopedia of baseball knowledge and trivia.  His insightful, thought, and  provoking comments, along with an eye on detail play by play announcing made this a fun game from the broadcast booth.

Secondly, with at least one exception, this was a well officiated game.  Our umpires for the game, Morgan Day behind the plate, and Travis Godec in the field, were in perfect position all game to make the right call.

If you are to look at the Play by Play provided by MiLB, http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t557&t=g_log&gid=2012_07_17_brirok_kptrok_1, and go to the top of the 7^th inning, you’ll see that Courtney Hawkins walks and steals 2^nd base.  Alex Williams strikes out for the first out of the inning.  Nick Basto, the night’s shortstop, comes to the plate and flies out.  What you won’t see is that Basto hits a “Texas Leaguer” bloop to short right field about 15 feet in fair ground down the right field line.  With that bloop, the Kingsport Mets right fielder Maikis De La Cruz along with 1^st baseman Jeffery Diehl both run for the fly ball.  As De La Cruz makes the catch he collides with Diehl and the ball pops up about 3 feet out of the right fielder’s glove.

At that point, the Bristol runner at 2^nd, Hawkins breaks for 3^rd base as he feels that the ball is deep enough to advance and with the fielders colliding, he has an extra margin to make the next base.

Mets 1^st baseman Diehl makes the bobbled catch from the collision with right fielder  De La Cruz and Nick Basto is out.  Diehl then looks in the field, and sees Hawkins way off base and proceeds to trot to 2^nd base for what Diehl perceives as potential out number 3.  Sox 3^rd base coach sees the situation and sends Hawkins to home with an apparent run for the Sox tying the game at 3.  While Hawkins is busting home, the KMets infielder steps on 2^nd.  Field umpire Travis Godec calls Hawkins out, then Home Plate umpire Day overrides the call seeing the bobbled play in the outfield and motions safe.

As the two umpires confer on the call, again the right thing to do on a controversial play and attempting to make the right call, they walk over to the KMets dugout and talk with their coach, Jose Leger.  Leger clearly upset with the call, I could observe him making an argument.  From the broadcasting booth, neither Jordan nor I could hear any of the conversations on the field.  After that the umpires went over toward the Sox dugout and proceeded to talk with Coach Pete Rose, Jr.  Rose made several motions toward right field and 2^nd base, and after a few minutes was tossed by home plate umpire Morgan Day.  Rose continued his comments and pointing to right field and 2^nd base and field umpire Travis Godec had to get between Rose and Day.

Then to our amazement Courtney Hawkins came out of the dugout and went to 3^rd.  What???  Hawkins to 3^rd?   Why???  In all of my years of umpiring, being a part of MiLB, and being a fan of MLB, I’ve never seen a rule that pulls a player back on the field, especially in this case.  Evidently plate umpire Day put the Sox runner Hawkins back at 3^rd.  Bristol was unable to plate Hawkins after that “Decision” in the top of the 7^th. 

Both teams scored one in the 8^th and the game ended 4-3 KMets.

I caught Courtney after the game and asked him how he ended up back on 3rd, and he remarked that he didn’t have a clue.  I also saw Pete Jr, and got the understandable look from him that he didn’t want to talk, so I respected his wishes.

It is unfortunate with the scoring includes someone other than the 18 players on the field, but last night at Kingsport, that very thing happened.  Morgan Day, in essence, took a run off the scoreboard for the Sox which would have tied the game.  Would it have made a difference?  It could have.  If the game would have continued as is, we would have went into extra innings, free baseball, to decide the outcome.

I’ll continue to remind our fans and blog readers that these umpires are mostly kids, similar in age to many of the players, and most likely with much less baseball experience than our kids playing the game they love.  In my umpiring career, as in life, I have those situations I wish I could have made a different call.  In life sometimes it’s you and one person, but in an umpiring situation, it’s not so private.

One last note I’ll add is that if it was a rule interpretation, a possible alternate course of action would have been to protest the game, which would have went into the score book, and been evaluated by League officials for validity. 

I have a newfound respect for Pete Rose, Jr.  I’ve had the pleasure of talking to Pete on many occasions and he is a kindly gentleman loving the game he grew up with.  However when things go wrong on the field, and his beloved players are wronged, the exuberance and fire of his father, Pete Sr.  is apparent in the family genetics.  From my perspective, Pete is usually right, too.  I believe that if I ever got the opportunity to umpire professionally, and Pete argued with me, I’d have to listen to his comments.

– Tim

I remember in the 80’s a group called Loverboy had a song where the lyrics were “Turn me loose … I gotta do it my way … or no way at all.”  Well, I’m turning myself loose today on Appalachian League Umpires.

First thing, I realize that many of these umpires are kids similar in ages to the kids playing baseball.  Maybe even their first job.  Being an umpire for 30 years, I’m probably over critical, but I am letting it loose.

On a positive note, I’ve been impressed with the positioning of the umpire group as a whole.  All of them know where to be and when to be there.  I’ve seen lots of “handing off” of the home plate umps coming up to 3^rd and the field ump going home.  Their positioning to make an out or safe call has been impeccable.  I feel they are always in the right place to make a call, although some of the calls have not been accurate in my opinion.  When I’m in the field, I’m using two senses when making calls, my eyes and my ears.  I’m looking at a play and using 1^st base as an example, I’m also using my ears to hear the slap of the ball in the glove and the foot hitting the base.  Which one rules?  I might surprise you to say my ears, and my eyes confirm what I have heard.  Being in a press box with a set of headphones on announcing a game does cause me to lose one of those senses, my primary one, so my perception is limited to sight and the angle from which I see things.

The biggest inconstancy I see is what the different home plate umpires define as the strike zone.  I do have a good perception from the booth, and don’t need my ears for that call. Some home plate umps use the dirt between the plate and the line to the respective batter’s box as a strike, and that is dead wrong.  The left and right hand strike zones are defined by the 17 inch plate, no more and no less.  Sliders from righties and lefties can leave some judgment as to the ball coming into that 17 inch zone but it has to be that zone.  Let’s talk about the inside and outside part of the strike zone.

Home plate umpires should be positioned on the catcher’s shoulder nearest the batter, so over the left hand shoulder for righties, and over the right hand shoulder for lefties.  That makes the inside part of the zone impossible to miss.  The umpire should be looking right at it.  No excuses for missing an inside pitch. 

The outside part of the strike zone … is more left to judgment.  What I do is look at how the catcher is standing at the plate while in a crouch.  For most catchers, the inside of the knee will suffice as the outside corner.  If the catchers shift inside or outside, then keep the “box” visually in the same place.  As an ump, I never move and follow the catcher.  It’s the same concept as keeping your eye level the same as a pitch is coming in to a hitter.

We have the inside and outside part of the strike zone set.  Now let’s frame up the top and bottom, and we’ll start with the easiest, the top of the zone.  Years ago when I was first taught, it was the armpit.  Today that’s about a ball to ball and a half lower depending upon the height of the batter at chest level. 

Three sides down, one to go, the bottom of the zone.  That has not changed over the years, at the knees.  I line it up with the catcher’s knees again.  I see what the difference is between the catcher’s knees and the batters knees, and I frame in the bottom of the strike zone.

Fastballs and change-ups usually require little or no judgment on where they hit, just watch the catcher’s glove … and ignore how catchers try to “steal” a strike by quickly bringing in and outside pitch soon as it’s caught.  Sliders and curves do require some judgment.  Knuckleballers are surprisingly easy, as most catchers are more frustrated from catching a knuckler than arguing where the pitch is a ball or strike.

Lastly consistency.  It is imperative that a home plate umpire call the same locations for righties, lefties, and for both teams.  When the location changes during the game, there is an unfair advantage to the pitcher.  When the strike zone changes, it’s one of three things … the home plate umpire wants to get the game over, the home plate umpire is favoring one team, or the home plate umpire is fatigued.  Hopefully it’s the latter.

That’s it baseball fans, a page and a half synopsis of all the things I’ve been taught over the years.  Feel free to use it as you wish, but please give me credit.

Like Mike Holmes says on his HGTV show, “Make it Right.”  I instruct young umpires, be in the right position to make the right call and call it consistently.  Learn from your mistakes, because we will all make them, but learn from them quickly.  If you’re in it to give an unfair advantage to one team, walk off the field.

All umpires coming out of training in January should be taught the same strike zone, and they should not adopt their own zone.

Wow, I do feel better after getting all that off my mind.  Feel free to get some baseball frustration off your mind and leave us a comment, please.  We welcome it.

Many of you hear me on the air talking about situational hitting, pinch hitters, arguing with the umpires, and telling everyone about “Big Pete” coming in to change pitchers.  This time I’d like to tell you about my thoughts about broadcasting for the Bristol Sox.

Bristol Baseball, Inc. started broadcasting three years ago, with a hired gun taking care of our broadcasts, and Josh making the occasional appearance on the air and being the computer geek that put the broadcasts together.  Our plans were to do the broadcasts in house the year after that, and I made the suggestion that Josh and I anchor the broadcasts for the 2011 season.  Mahlon liked that idea, so that was our plan.  I had a little experience announcing at some basketball games in college, but it was the “in gym” microphone. 

As the 2010 season was ending, I was approached by the owner of one of our local cable channels, David Hartley owner of Heritage TV, needing an announcer for high school football and basketball.  So I told him yes, I thought it would give me some experience of thinking on my feet before the next year came and broadcasting for the Sox. 

I had an absolute blast, even in rainy and cold football conditions, calling the games from behind a microphone.  I was even fortunate enough to go to a state playoff with one of the football games.  Basketball was inside, so other than blustery conditions, it was not too bad.

Finally it was time for the 2011 season.  To say I had some trepidation was quite correct.  Instead of the audience being mostly in Southwest Virginia, the audience was going to be quite larger … maybe even International.  How would I cover my mistakes?  What if I pronounced a name wrong?  Suppose a pitcher was having trouble and I made reference to it and a family got mad?  My mind was full of questions.

As I normally do in tough situations, I ask the creator for guidance, and the creator responded.  Yes we misspoke some names, had some incorrect ball and strike counts, and I coined some new words by putting the first few letters of one word together with a few letters of a second word. 

We asked our fans to communicate with us via Facebook and e-mail in 2011, and added Twitter in 2012.  In 2011, we started out with about 215 likes on Facebook.  It grew, and grew, and grew, and grew.  By the end of the season we had over 600 likes.  To date in 2012, we’re just over 900 likes.  I hope we’re doing something right, but judging by our Facebook likes, we are.  Our faithful e-mail fans are there every game. 

I can’t tell you how pleased that I am with our progress.  It has gone beyond our wildest expectations.  The more feedback we get, the better we are.  The more posts and e-mails we have during the games, the more pumped and psyched we are. 

Sox fans, it’s a pleasure to sit in (sometimes a hot) booth and bring you the play by play on the nights we are at home, or can travel to the away games.  I know that the parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles/ brothers/sisters/girlfriends and other interested people are listening to hear about their favorite Sox player.  The format I’ve come up with is describing the game to you as things happen, pitch by pitch, and play by play.  If I were on the other side of the broadcast, that’s what I’d be wanting to hear.  I don’t dive a lot into statistics, but then I’ve never had a fan to ask for them.  If one or more does, then I’ll do that too.  The music I play are some favorites of mine, and some other songs that I hope you will enjoy.  The Today in Baseball History, I hope brings some interesting facts to the game.  At least twice I try to update you with MLB and Appy League scores, and head through the Chicago farm system games at least once.  We’ve done more live broadcasting and less recorded broadcasting this year to hopefully enhance your listening experience.  One thing we did last year that we’ve forgot are the Bristol White Sox Radio Bits, which shall make an appearance shortly in our broadcasts

That’s our formula, so it’s out in the open.  All who want to can comment via our Facebook page or privately at bristolsoxradio@gmail.com .  Should you want to make a comment that you don’t want us to know who it is, but still have the comment get back to us anonymously, e-mail brisox@btes.tv and our President and General Manager will handle the information distribution to us.  As I often say, “If there’s anything else I can do to make your listening experience more enjoyable, please let us know” and I mean that wholeheartedly.

Two years later I am still a Sports Broadcaster for Heritage TV, Bristol Virginia Utilities (BVU) Channel 3.  I also have a full time job as a programmer analyst, so I do get my geek on during the weekdays.  But the highlight of my summer (short of our vacation trip to sunny Myrtle Beach, SC) is bringing you the broadcasts of Bristol White Sox baseball.  I feel like I gain a family in the summer, and loose them toward the end of August. 

And for that I am thankful … to our creator …

– Tim

I don’t know how many of you know it or not, but many of us here at Bristol Baseball, Inc. hold down full time jobs along with bringing professional baseball to Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee.  That makes for long days when the Sox have six game home stands like we have in recent past, and will have once the boys get back to town.  Even in Greeneville, which is close enough for those of us in the  radio crew to travel, we leave our jobs, travel, do the games, travel back home, and just get in bed in time to get up the next day and do it all over again.

That’s what makes this road stand in Burlington sweet.  It’s too far to travel (about 3.5 hours) so we get to spend a little time with our families, and scratch the dogs on the head for more than going to work and coming home from a long day at work and a long day at the ballpark.

I’m not complaining, I love doing what I do for the fans.  When I was in my teens there were people bringing professional baseball to Bristol, and now it’s my turn.  I’m doing the same.  It does get tiresome, though.  Our fearless leader, Mahlon Luttrell, even called a work day on Saturday to put up a couple of new signs and check to see if there’s any wind damage from the signs we have up.

Speaking of Mahlon, fans he spends a blue million hours bringing professional baseball to Bristol.  He takes his vacations at the ball park, most lunch and breaks are answering the Bristol Sox phone and Bristol Sox e-mails, and manages the day to day operations at the Boyce Cox Field at Devault Memorial Stadium.  He takes calls from Chicago most likely on a daily basis.  You don’t have any idea (and neither do I really) how many hours he spends doing his job for Bristol Baseball, but it’s at least another full time job.

Next time you see Mahlon, shake his hand or hug his neck and tell him how much you appreciate what he does bringing the game we all love to the area.  He’s due at least that, and a hearty word of thanks from the members of Bristol Baseball, like myself.

Thanks Mahlon, for all the hours, all the grief, and all the love you’ve put into our sport.

He’s the gentleman on the left with the black BriSox shirt.

He

I suppose at this age in life (starting my 2nd 1/2 century), it’s unusual to attempt something for the first time.  Well kinda new  ….

I’ve scored baseball games for many years.  Before I came on the board for Bristol Baseball, Inc., I taught many many people to score, including my son Caleb who works on the field and my cohort in Internet Radio Crime, Josh, who is my nephew.  Those were good times, I remembering having to buy separate programs so they could both score the games, and how they would argue with each other about who scored a play correctly.  Then when I would pronounce the scoring victor between the two how they would ride each other about it.

Scoring is one of those baseball geeky things that brings you closer to the game.  You have to keep a keen eye on what is going on, memorizing the number positioning of the players, and learning to judge for yourself the concept of hits, errors, wild pitches, passed balls and what “reasonable effort” means to you. Then you see if your call matches the official scorer’s call.

Last night, I was the official scorer to  the Bristol-Bluefield game … for the first time for a professional capacity.  Despite the wealth of computing power that was in the press box last night, we still use pencil and paper to score … which is another subject for another day.  I actually had two books, if you will, the usual score book with the bases, places for balls and strikes, outs, and the like, plus an event page where I have three columns, the inning, the pitcher and an event.  For example, if the leadoff batter gets a hit, like Bluefield’s Alex Azor did last night, in the event column I’d write Azor before anything happened, then I’d write 1B LF for a base hit into left field.  As the ensuing batters come to the plate I would write their last names, and the event that happened at the plate along with advancing base runners if any.  Lastly I would score it on the traditional scoring sheet.

After the first 1/2 inning I called MiLB to report what happened, and before I knew it it was the bottom of the 9th and the game was over.  The gentleman from MiLB was asking me who I would give the win to.  Bluefield won 7-2, and  used 4 pitchers.   Daniel Norris from nearby Science Hill High School in Johnson City Tennesee pitched no hit, no run ball, and had an amazing array of speed and some nasty sliders and curves.  In my opinion, he was the most effective pitcher for the Blue Jays.

Then it dawned on me.  My decision would affect many web sites, many 11:00 news broadcasts, Daniel’s family, his career, and the entire Blue Jay organization.  That I did not think about that enormity when accepting the job of scorer and the domino effect my decision would have.  Suddenly after I hung up the phone and realized everything, I suddenly thought, “Was that right?”  Suddenly in my mind, hit versus error, passed ball versus wild pitch, took a back seat to what I told MiLB on the phone.

After calming down, I realized it was the right call (Yes, I am an umpire, too, but not professionally) and Norris should have gotten the win.

I wonder, if Daniel Norris gets to the big leagues if he’ll ever know I gave him his first professional win?  Probably not, but I wish him well in his career.

What will I do tonight?  Score of course.  Decide on a varying array of things to the best of my judgement, just like I have in my umpiring career for many years.  Hopefully with some luck and some divine inspiration from our Heavenly Father, I’ll make the right decisions tonight, too.

Play ball … Tim’s ready to score some more

I’ve never been a University of Tennessee fan, but I’ve always admired their former radio broadcaster John Ward and his now famous words, “It’s Football time in Tennessee.”  It’s with reverence for Ward that I borrow his comment.  I do, however, follow another team in the powerful SEC.

Sports fans, the excitement is building in Bristol, things are getting close, as our next Tuesday 6/19 opening day is approaching fast.

The kids get here Saturday June 16th.  We have 5 returning players from the 2011 Bristol White Sox roster, Cory Farris will anchor the outfield, presumably, along with 4 pitchers.  The first baseman converted Todd Kibby, Euclides Leyer from the Dominican Republic, Tall Tim Kiley, and we ‘ll get a Dose of Jake Cose once again in Bristol.  We’re looking forward to a great season.

We’ve done a lot of preparation this year on the field.  We’ve hired the Brickman Group to help us with our field work.  Both batters boxes, catcher’s box, pitchers mound, and both bullpens have been redone in preparation for the season.  The entire warning track along with the track along the field has been covered with brick chips.  The infield and outfield has been aerated, sanded, and fertilized.  Carolina Green came in one day and helped us do some laser grading in the infield.

Meet the Sox is scheduled for Sunday June 17, so Fathers Day can end with families enjoying meeting all of the Bristol Sox players and watch a practice free of Charge.

Bristol Baseball, Inc is proud to sponsor another season of Professional Baseball in Southwest Virginia.  Please join us when you can.  Our schedule and promotional nights can be found at http://www.bristolsox.com along with a link to our Internet Radio broadcasts which begin 15 minutes before game time each night we cover.