Waiting in vain
for a miracle

Entering our series opener against the Calgary Vipers Friday, it seemed as though something just wasn't right.

Maybe it was the very unusual rainout we had the previous day. Hoping to play our series finale against the St. Paul Saints on Thursday, we sat, and watched, and waited, as a steady trickle of rain that began at about 11 a.m., continued to drizzle down from the skies.

It wasn't a heavy rain by any means, but for 8 hours it just never stopped coming. After 2 hours of waiting to start our game, the umpires saw fit to call it a rainout at about 8:30 p.m., bringing a long day of waiting in vain to an end.

As I made my way out of my room at the Lee's Inn here in Merrillville, Ind., and headed toward the parking lot, I looked up and saw a sky that looked like cream of mushroom soup. It was a light gray, with little patches of black and white. The sky stayed that way throughout the day, giving me doubts that the weather would hold up for our 7 p.m. first pitch.

With our ace, Greg Bruso, taking the ball, I felt like our chances to post our ninth win and fortify our position at the top of our division standings were pretty good.

After all, Greg entered the night with an ERA in the 2.00 neighborhood, and 18 strikeouts, good for second-best in the Northern League.

Even though Calgary came into the game at 3-8, they also had a team batting average above .290 and a number of veteran sluggers on their roster, so I knew it wouldn't be a walkover by any means.

But as game time drew closer, things grew more bizarre. With things being crazy as usual right before the start of the game, it seemed as though the first pitch would come a little later than scheduled. While the timing of the starting pitcher's warm-up and the start of the game may seem trivial, there is a delicate balance between the end of the pregame pen and the singing of the national anthem.

If the pitcher got warm too early, he'd cool down and go into his on-field warm-ups out of sync. A late warm-up forces the starter to rush to the mound without a sufficient break, giving him the effect of pitching an especially long inning.

With a posted start time of 7 p.m., things got pushed back a bit, and the anthem did not start until about 7:03. On this night, as with any game in which we play a Canadian opponent, there was not one but two anthems to be sung.

The Canadian anthem went off without a hitch, but the singing of our national anthem was a little messier. The poor little local high school student lost track of the lyrics three times before the crowd of more than 3,000 finally chimed in and sang along with her until she got back on track. It was quite a sight to see, as the audience walked her through her flub, probably saving her from tears as each time she paused she put her face into her hands.

Like the pregame festivities, the actual game did not go very well for the Gary SouthShore Railcats.

It was just one of those games.

Everything they hit fell in, and everything we hit didn't. The Vipers posted two runs in the second inning and then another in the fifth, taking a 3-0 lead into the ninth. During the first eight innings of action, we must have had five line drives fall into gloves of Calgary outfielders with runners on base.

Greg couldn't get comfortable with his secondary pitch, and he had to gut his way through his start, finding a way to get outs and give us a chance to stay in the ballgame. He reached back for big fastballs time after time just to keep us in striking distance.

We were finally able to put a little threat together in the bottom of the ninth. Our designated hitter, Steve Haake, and our first baseman, Jason Colson, recorded back-to-back singles to put us in business. Our catcher, Jose Yepez, followed by drawing a walk to load the bases with no out.

David Weiner, a rookie from Cal, gave us our first score of the game with a line-drive sacrifice fly to center. Jay Pecci was next, and rolled a firm grounder into the four hole that almost found its way into right field. The ball took a strange hop right in front of Calgary's second baseman, and as was the case all night, found its way into the glove. He was able to flip to the shortstop for the force at second.

With the potential tying run at first, our nine-hole hitter, Curt Lee, lifted a fly ball to right to end our comeback attempt. We made a late charge and made Calgary go through three different pitchers in the inning, but it just was not to be.

Despite all the strange events of the past two days and the way the game had gone for the first eight innings, I still had hope for a win when we loaded the bases.

Maybe I'm an optimist. Maybe I'm a dreamer. Maybe I'm just delusional. With all of the signs popping up going into the game, I shouldn't have held out hope for a miracle.

I should have known better.