Familiar faces, unfamiliar places. Such is the life of a University baseball reporter with access to a car.
And so I found myself in Wilmington, N.C. Sunday, watching the rubber match of Virginia's opening series. Along for the trip were a new writer in need of a ride and an old friend in need of a shower.
As much as I like to provide for those in need, I can't do it all. Driving a colleague six hours to a baseball game is one thing; sponge-bathing a 6-foot-4-inch former hallmate is another.
Batting .500 isn't bad, though. It's time for some baseball analogies anyway, right?
The 2005 season may see two Cavalier Daily rookies manning the baseball beat, but outside of the cozy confines of Davenport Field, it will probably be yours truly perpetually planted in the driver's seat.
Attention, editors of mine: I brought back more than a gas receipt.
It was just one day before Valentine's Day, and already I was back in baseball mode. I can't tell you how good it felt to be in the stands, absorbing the smells, the sounds and the sights of the game I love.
Here's something to ponder for all the sweethearts who dropped a hundred bucks on their chica for Hallmark's Day:
Baseball doesn't get mad at you when you don't call. Baseball never says, "we need to talk." A baseball game at this school costs you no money. And to this day, I still haven't come across anything in the sport that parallels a mood swing.
You can ride shotgun with me next time if you want to see the kind of diamond that really lasts forever.
Forever is the word I'd choose in describing how long it had felt since I'd seen the orange and blue in action on the field.
The last time we crossed paths, Virginia players were holding their heads up and fighting back tears as they watched their amazing run in 2004 come to an end. The NCAA Regional held in Charlottesville was a milestone for the baseball program, but it did nothing but raise the bar for head coach Brian O'Connor in his sophomore season.
Sure, they lost some firepower to last summer's Major League Draft. But hey, you can't go to war with the team you wish you had, only with the team you've got. Even with the lack of our more experienced players, this team is built to win.
Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is coming off the summer of his life, in which he set the all-time Team USA batting record and has four RBI in three games already this year.
Freshman phenom Sean Doolittle did his best Joe Koshansky imitation Sunday, going 4-for-4 with a home run and two hitless innings on the mound. I'll spare you the obvious last name pun.
Fifth-year seniors Matt Street and Kyle Werman are still hungry, and former golden boy Anthony Martinez has traded pigskin for... whatever baseballs are made of.
But the most important facet of the new-and-improved Cavaliers is the collective unit formerly known as "Team Tommy John." Mike Ballard and Jeff Kamrath showed no hint of oxidization from the lengthy rehabs that sidelined them for the entirety of last season. The lefty-righty combination won Saturday and Sunday to give Virginia a 2-1 series edge.
If team aces Matt Avery and returning closer Casey Lambert can pin down the edges, Coach O'Connor may have an even higher bar to clear in 2006.
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