Life In The Way Back...

And by that I mean a minor league that has no other identification other than "Independent."

Independent leagues have sprung up in the last decades more than in the past. They've always been around, just not to the multiple numbers that exist today- all eight of them. There's the Golden, Northern, the Frontier, the Can-Am, the American Association, the Atlantic, and the United.

On a drive across country recently, I chose the latter... actually, it chose me. It was in the way, and part of the plan.

Greetings to the Amarillo Dillas and mascots ((one pictured, thanks to me)) that are trying to get kids to enjoy their time at the ballpark. And, yes, the 'Dillas are a great marketing ploy, pun, and everything else trhat is supposed to make minor league ball go the way of the black ink in a balance sheet.

The league stretches form one end of Texas to the other: Amarillo is the northern outpost, with Harlingen, San Angelo, Edinburg, Robstown, and Laredo cursing every bit of bus-travelled pavement they have to travel to get there for a weekend series.

I actually Mapquested it... for the Edinburg team to get to Amarillo for this particular roadie, it took 744 miles in whatever-form-of-motoring they chose. 12 hours...??? Doubt it... with meals, rest stops, and bathroom breaks...???

I'm thinking 15...

But these towns turn out for their teams- precisely for that reason. And there are some teams that even billett the players in "Host Family" programs so these kids away from home and country get three squares and a roof over their head. Presumably, it's some kind of home hospitality. There's no money in it for the hosts- just some tickets and a parking pass in exchange for being good hosts and role models.

According to independentbaseball.net, over seven-and-a-half million people turned out for all eight leagues ((some pictured to the right again, thanks to me)) in some form or fashion in 2009. Good for all of them. It makes you see how the game is just as much an economic engine in hard times as much as it is a way for people to pass the time on a sunny evening where the wind is blowing in from right and right-center.

Lesson learned... if you're going to drive the ball, drive it to left.

And I think because of all 15 hours on the bus, when the Roadrunners showed up they were quite happy to stretch their legs and take out their frustrations on the Dillas pitching at the... wait for it... the "Amarillo National Bank Dilla Villa."

No lie... and thank your sponsor... they are, after all your back-to-back United League Champions trying for a three-peat.

But the downside to the Independents is the roster size- 21 active- most of them, you hope, are pitchers. It looked like not even that many made it with Edinburg. Could the bus (or vans) fit that many...?

I thought they were in for it... it was the other way around...

But they had it in for the home team whose stadium is positioned near the Vance Reed Livestock Center. I wonder if it had something to do with there not being a clubhouse. The players had to use the restrooms like the paying customers.

The starter for the Dillas, Frank Corolla, got a case of the walkies and was already down 10-1 by the top of the fourth. The only thing that seemed to kill time successfully was the cart race with college kids trying to take each other out as they raced in the grass from first to third.

And when the Roadrunners' Wilson Bautista hit a ball off Corolla so hard that no one even looked as it cleared the left field wall, it was 11-1. Corolla then committed an error on a grounder back to the box, and got mercifully pulled.

The Dillas scored one run, much to the sarcastic delight of the fans who were left to make it 11-2 heading to the sixth. But I had officially had enough after the inflatable sumo competition between two girlfriends who couldn't even stand up in the outfits.

Three innings max... and I was done...

After giving up 25 and 10 runs in games earlier in the week, when I saw the final score and highlights on the late, local news, the 15-11 final shouldn't have surprised me. I just wonder how many were left in the stands to see the comeback...

So, who is the only team standing in the way of Amarillo's three-peat...???
Edinburg...

But there is over a month left in the regular season, and the United League is proving itself to be an escape for players to actual, organized ball...

And that's what it's all about, isn't it...???
A stage in a better life that you hope and dream about every day...
And if Potter Memorial Stadium is where it starts, then, so be it...