Lake Monsters

With the move to Abu Dhabi hanging over me a big part of this summer has been devoted to spending time with friends and doing what I love. This helps to explain the epic trips to Oklahoma and New Orleans. I've also made a real concerted effort to get out and see my friends closer to home. Naturally, some of that related to going to as many Vermont Lake Monsters games as possible. I have such a child-like love of the game, and few things make me happier than sitting in the stands at Centennial Field watching the Lake Monsters play. Because it is short season A (less than half the number of games of a major league season) there is no way that you'll know any of the players (although it is exciting to see some of them pop up years later in the bigs). Occasionally you'll recognize an ex-player as a manger ("hey, didn't that guy used to be the utility infielder for the Cubs?") or the son of an ex-major leaguer. The best night is the annual 25 cent hot dog night, which always leads to epic gormanderie. The field itself is great and, as the picture of the sign indicates, quite a few famous players have graced the field over the years. That said, it's in a fairly dilapidated state and every year the fear is that it is the last for our beloved Lake Monsters (the figure thrown around to bring the field up to standards is $3 million, and nobody has that kind of money). And then, miraculously, at the end of the season it's always announced that they're coming back. This year they've moved from the Nationals system to the Oakland A's, and they're actually a pretty good team this year. Here is a picture of one of recent games, featuring Andy Burkhardt, Mike Lange and Erik Esckilsen. Go Lake Monsters!