Suspension of disblief

We're in Pensacola for the weekend. Fully expect to get rained on before we leave. I mean, what with a tropical storm heading this way and all.

Still, we've enjoyed going to the ball park in Pensacola while we're here. After all, I like baseball.

And Pensacola has a baseball team: the Pensacola Pelicans of the independent American Association.

And they're playing the Grand Prairie AirHogs, who have a second baseman named Brandon Carter, who played for the Columbus Catfish in 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Only, Friday night, we didn't get to see much of Brandon. He was tossed from the game in the 5th inning.

And that was hard to believe.

You see, Brandon's not exactly a hot head. He tries not to let things bother him. He plays hard, but he plays clean. And he's a good fellow. He was voted "Citizen of the Year" by Catfish fans in 2005.

So, it surprised me when Brandon was tossed from the game by 1B umpire Terrance Mobley.

Heck, it surprised everyone.

And, as best as we can tell, from the talk among fans, staff, and even some players, Brandon, who was playing shortstop, said something to Mobley, along the line of "Hey, why are y'all making all those calls against us? We can't catch a break from you."

No, not those exact words, but that seems to be the general meaning and tone of what was said.

Mobley didn't like that, told Brandon that he could toss him for that. Brandon said, "For that?" And Mobley tossed him.

Brandon was not a happy camper. AirHogs manager Pete Incaviglia took up his cause.

When all was said and done, both Brandon and the Skipper were tossed.

And Brandon's ejection came with a suspension. He doesn't know for how long. He already missed one game: the second game of the Friday night double header; the ejection came in the 5th inning of the first game.

Afterwards, I asked him how long he had to sit out. He didn't know, but figured he'd get all that information when they got back.

Don't know if a suspension is automatic for players, but not managers. Don't know if it's just for one game. Don't know if he loses any pay.

And still not sure what caused the ejection. You see, it's not uncommon for players to chat with each other or with the umpires during lulls in the action.

Seems that Mobley didn't care for what Brandon said. But, according to the Pensacola fans around us, they're not surprised by Mobley's actions. They said that, this season, he's ejected Pensacola manager Mac Seibert multiple times. They say Mobley has a hair trigger.

And, tonight, Brandon was in his sights.

Incaviglia was back on the bench for game two. Brandon was showering, getting ready for 655-mile bus trip back to Grand Prairie, Texas.

So just whose bright idea was it to go to Pensacola during hurricane season?

The Wife and I took off a couple of days this week, making a long weekend of it.

We're in Pensacola.

I know. You're thinking, "Whose bright idea was it to go to Pensacola during hurricane season?"

It was mine. And hers. We both thought we'd come here this weekend.

We thought this back in June, when we were here last time.

We thought, "Hey, let's come back here again." So, we checked our schedules, looked at calendars, and made plans for this weekend. Four days: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Only, we forgot about it being hurricane season.

Of course, you never know what the weather will be like anywhere. So, it could have been clear skies.

But, as you know, there's a hurricane bearing down.

And it's coming this way.

Now, the trip's not ruined. Not by a long shot.

You see, the hurricane hasn't arrived yet. Although it is due tomorrow. And it's a tropical storm again.

Today, though -- and yesterday, too -- isn't bad.

The sun's shining, though there are some clouds. Lots of clouds. But not enough to block the sun completely.

And, there's baseball.

You see, Pensacola is home to the Pensacola Pelicans. They're a team in the independent American Association.

And, this weekend, they're hosting the Grand Prairie AirHogs.

What's so special about that?

Well, one of the Grand Prairie players is Brandon Carter, who played for the Columbus Catfish in late 2004, all of 2005, and early 2006.

So, we got tickets to this weekend's games, and showed up at the ball park last night.

Brandon went 1-4 with an RBI single in the 8th inning. But it was a big hit: turned out to be the deciding run in the game that he drove in:



We got to watch him play some last season, when he was with Anderson of the all-but-defunct South Coast League. They played games against Macon and Albany, and those are driving distance.

Now, he's in Grand Prairie, Texas. Not exactly driving distance. But Pensacola is weekend-driving distance. And we've now managed to catch two weekend series here.

It was great to catch up with Brandon, and watch some fun baseball being played.

Screw Fay. The weekend is great.