Oh I Have Seen Things

The Baseball Trip

Day 12 Saturday, July 3

Oh I have seen things:

O endless highway! US Route 60 East to Amarillo, 300 miles to the horizon, 300 miles of nothingness, scrubland: sagebrush and tumbleweed, red dirt and white sand. No trees, no shade, cow and calf wander aimlessly in the heat. Small strange plants with bulbous flowers clinging to tentacle-like stems. A single windmill struggles to churn, utility poles line the road like so many cemetary crosses. Bullet holes riddle the Pass with Care signs, and a dead coyote lies on the shoulder, trampled by a semi or maybe the U-Haul towing a car, fur floating in the air, up into the hot sun.

This is a slog.

Nonetheless, we made it to Amarillo in plenty of time to see the Sod Poodles (that's right, they are the Sod Poodles) play the Wichita Wind Surge. You may remember way back when - we were supposed to see the Wind Surge in Midland, Texas. But, of course, it was a rainout.

Sod Poodle is a Texas nickname for prairie dogs. Ok...cool.

The Sod Poodles are a Texas League AA affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Wichita is associated with the Minnesota Twins. It was a very good game, fast, well paced. The Poodles scored on a two-run homer in the fourth and a two run double in the sixth. My guy Bryce Jarvice pitched seven innings, striking out eleven and giving up only one run. Final score: 5-1 Sod Poodles.

Here's Hodgetown, the Sod Poodles' stadium. It's named after the 26th mayor of Amarillo, noted businessman and philanthropist Jerry Hodge. He was instrumental in bringing baseball back to Amarillo.