Mi Experiencia de la Liga Nicaragüense de Beisbol Profesional

Tie Game!(?)

There is such a monster in baseball. Believe it or not, you can have a tie game. It is rare, but it happened tonight in Masaya. A little background first. Masaya has been having problems with the electric company down here, so we hear. The electric company wanted to charge the team too much money for electricity for the stadium lights and scoreboard. With that being said, Masaya has chosen to play all day games. This has even included not having a powered scoreboard, or a manual one for that matter.

Masaya played Boer, the Managua based team. The night before we had Boer in Leon. That game by the way, went 18 innings, yes, there is no typo, 18! Back to Masaya. The game itself started out like any other. Pretty fast actually for their standards. We hit the proverbial wall in the 7th inning as usual. Boer had a 1 run lead, but was quickly erased by a 3 run Masaya homerun.

When we made it to the 9th, Masaya still had a 2 run lead. Boer somehow rallied back and scored 2 to tie the game. In fact they scored 3 to take the lead. Now at that point the game was pretty long and the shadows had crept over most of the field. I think you know where I am going with this. Bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, and yes, Masaya scores one to take the lead. In fact they put themselves in a position to win. By the time they scored that run, Boer had made 2 pitching changes and several trips to the mound, and it was getting darker by the second. The last Masaya batter to come to the plate popped up to third base in foul territory for the 3rd out. We had to stop the game then because of safety concerns. We're not sure what the outcome will be; it might actually be a forfeit for Boer since Masaya won't use their lights. Who knows, that's up to the league. But there you have it, for now, it's a tie game!

All-Star Time (We're Halfway Home!!!)

Amazingly, it's All-Star Game time here in Nicaragua. That also means we are halfway done! Today was the All-Star game which was played in Managua. Yesterday we had the Homerun Derby and "Old Timers" game, I would call it. The game was a softball game between the Nicaraguan players from the 70's and 80's. Of course baseball back then wasn't professional, but they still had it.

I was selected to work the plate during the All-Star Game. Not sure how that happened, but accepted the honor. The game went smooth. We only had one snag. With a runner on first base, the batter at bat checked his swing at a pitch up a little bit and in, causing his bat to block the catcher's view of the ball. Needless to say the catcher missed the ball, and was clocked in the mask with the pitch. Nothing weird yet. The ball ended up deflecting off his mask and shooting into a dead ball area. When this happens all runners advance one base. Only problem that we had was that the runner didn't start to run to second after the pitch was missed, and the catcher didn't run after the ball like he was supposed to. In fact, the catcher simply asked me for a new ball. I didn't give him one until after the ball rolled into the dead ball area and we advanced the runner.

The manager asked if it went off the batter's bat, but it clearly didn't. That was it, smooth sailing from there. Every player listed on the lineup card that could pay and was not injured played. Even with all the substitutions, the game only lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes. Not bad at all!

A Shocking Experience...

You might remember in one of my very early blogs about how the showers "work" down here. More specifically hot water. Well, if you remember what I am talking about then you can for sure skip the next few lines and get to the heart of the blog. For those of you who don't remember or who haven't read the early blog, I will recap.

The way hot water is generated down here is through the shower head. Wires, yes live electrical wires, are connected to this special head that creates its own hot water. I had a bad feeling that this wouldn't be so good if anything bad were to happen. I don't think that U.S. regulations would even allow such a device requiring live electrical wires in the shower. Here is a picture of the shower head. Notice the wires.
Ok, now for the reason for this post. For the last four weeks, I have noticed a little twinge from touching the shower handle each time I went to turn the shower off. I didn't think much of it because I had to really concentrate on feeling it. Well, eventually it grew stronger and stronger. All the way to the point of me not being able to turn the shower off without getting out of the shower first and using a towel to cover the handle to turn it off. Not to worry, the hotel staff has changed the shower head with a brand new one. So far so good, but we'll see.

Happy Turkey Day!

Besides my birthday, this is the first real U.S. holiday that I have been down here for. It is definitely weird for a few reasons. First, it's not cold, not even a little. I would expect to see a little snow or at least have to wear a coat outside. Normal night temperature here is 81 degrees. Pretty nice. Second, they just don't celebrate Thanksgiving down here! Third, turkey is far less popular that chicken here, so it is mighty hard to find it. Subway, yes Subway, the sub shop chain is about the only place I know of to get turkey. Needless to say, I didn't have turkey on Thanksgiving. What did I do? I went to see the movie "Shark Tale."

Well, hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Hopefully mine will be different next year!

Driving Around in My Automobile!

Driving is quite the experience in Nicaragua. So much so, that I had to do it again. This time I drove to Chinandega, almost. I'll get into that a little later. Anyway, notice the picture ID I am holding? That is a genuine Nicaraguan license. Where did I get one? I found it at the stadium one day. It is pretty interesting, not much info to it, but a fingerprint on the back. I guess that is a good identifier. I don't know if they have all the fingerprint copies stored somewhere in case any crimes happen and they fingerprint for clues.

Back to the drive. We were running late and I wanted to stop along the way to take a picture of a sign that I had seen many times on the road to Chinandega and Leon. So, I decided that it would be best for the real driver to take over after seeing the sign. You might wonder what this sign could possibly be. Well, believe it or not, the city Nagarote is a sister city to Norwalk, Connecticut and there is a huge sign on the side of the road to prove it. So, for all you blog fans from Norwalk, Connecticut that are reading this now, here is a picture of the sign:

Needless to say once I gave up the wheel to the real driver we made up time very quickly. We made it to Chinandega with time to spare. Mission accomplished though, another round of driving and a picture of the sign. All in all, not a bad day.

Robado!!!

I guess you always hear stories about safety and security in countries like Nicaragua, but really discount them for the most part. They always seem to be blown way out of proportion and far from the truth. Well, it makes you think when something happens to you.

I should have known something was going to go wrong during our game Wednesday night. Our game lasted two hours and twenty minutes, which is an absolute miracle for down here. Usually the norm is three hours and then some.

I prepared for the game as usual. We locked the gates as usual, and walked onto the field as usual. There is one entrance/exit on the outside of the stadium and one on he inside to the field from our locker room. The entrance from the outside is guarded with huge steel doors, much like a jail cell would have. Past those gates were another set of gates with similar steel doors. I think I can easily say there is more steel guarding our locker room than Martha Stewart's. Each gate also had a heavy chain that was locked to the bars with a big padlock.

Turns out all the steel and locks really don't matter when you're able to just cut the door hinge off the wall. That's what they did; they cut the doors clean off the walls. The locks did their job; they were still attached to the gates.

All in all, they stole all of my stuff including my equipment bag, keys, clothes, money, uniforms, supplies, shoes, and more. Most of all I was most devastated that they stole my pocket English to Spanish dictionary, that really puts a slow down on talking their language. They also stole the other American umpire's shoes. Miraculously though, they left behind the pair of shower shoes I had. Surprisingly none of the local umpires had any of their stuff stolen including cash. Oh well, what are you going to do. The police told me to make a list of what we had taken and they would be by later that evening to make a report. They said they would conduct the crime scene investigation while I was compiling the list at the hotel.

I made sure to ask several times that they were in fact coming to the hotel later that night. They said yes and to be ready. When I got back to the hotel, I had someone call and send word the League President about what happened. They weren't able to get a hold of him right away, but eventually got a hold of him. He was in Chinandega, the farthest city away from Managua in the league. He had a message sent to me that he would be returning to Managua after the game and would be coming by the hotel to see me.

So I made the list for the Police and started to wait. A few hours later, the League President came by to see how I was and what he could do for me. He saw the list and said he would submit it to the team for them to pay for the losses. We'll see what happens. Oh yeah, what happened with the Police? Well, you have to understand first that in Nicaragua, when someone tells you a time they are going to meet you, it either means it is the time they are going to leave to see you and you have to plan accordingly, or that they are lying. Well, the Police never showed up until the following morning. They asked me basic questions about what happened. I actually was starting to get very upset because it seemed like they knew nothing about what happened. Anyway, they wrote the report and told me they would be back later that afternoon to give me my copy. When do you think I will really get? It hasn't shown up yet!

Driving Around!

Wherever I go, meaning different countries or cities, I like to drive a car or vehicle somehow so it will really "count" for me being there. Well today I did just that here in Nicaragua. I was able to talk our driver into letting me drive a trip from Managua to Leon, roughly about an hour and a half away. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like I just asked him on a whim and hoped he would say yes. This developed over time. I had to first learn how to even ask him! So over time, I started joking with him that I wanted to drive one day. Well, the one day came when he accepted my offer.

Much to my surprise, I climbed into the front seat to prepare myself for what I bargained for. The car is an early 90's Toyota. Most cars down here have manual transmissions and this car was no exception. I was excited about that since my truck back home is a manual as well. The only problem I had and noticed right away was that the gas pedal seemed to be tucked away somehow. I had to keep my foot in one spot to press on the gas and also on the brake, not at the same time of course. I couldn't lift my foot up at all. Basically I pivoted my foot between both pedals.

Now driving in Nicaragua is very different that driving in the U.S. I really don't think they have driving laws down here, but merely suggestions. Unless it is a busy intersection, there is no such thing as a red light, or stop sign. There were a few busy streets I had to basically floor it just at the right moment or else we would have never gotten across.

We ended up getting to Leon in pretty good time. Although it was a Friday and right about at the time people were returning to work from lunch, so there was a ton of traffic. After getting to Leone safe and sound, I gladly handed over the keys to the car back to the rightful owner. Once was enough, it counts!

Volcano!

Finally! Something worthy of blogging! Sorry it has been a while since the last entry. Not much has been going on here. We have pretty much fallen into a routine. The routine hasn't been exciting at all. Games 4 days a week, and nothing else. Except for the occasional rain out during the dry season, nothing exciting at all has happened... until now!

Today was an off day due to the elections going on down here. I believe the stadiums are used as polling places, therefore no games. We decided to do something with the day instead of staying around the hotel as usual. We took a trip to one of the many nearby active, yes active, volcanoes. In fact I believe all volcanoes down here in Nicaragua are active. We had a blast! (No pun intended.) It was really amazing to park and walk right up to an active volcano.

I was really amazed by how large the crater is at the top of the volcano. The only think I could compare the size to would be the Grand Canyon, but obviously the Grand Canyon is much larger. Anyway, I posted pictures for you to see.

Here is some background on the volcano. "Volcan Masaya" or Masaya Volcano was an object of veneration by the indigenous people during the pre-Columbian age. They believed the eruptions were signs of anger from the gods and to appease them they offered sacrifices, which often included small children and maidens.

Later, during the Conquest, the Spaniards baptized the active volcano "La Boca del Infierno" or "The Mouth of Hell". They planted a cross, "La Cruz de Bobadilla" (named in honor of the Father Francisco Bobadilla). It was placed on the crater lip in the 16th century in order to exorcise the Devil. The last eruption of the volcano was in 1772. Maybe it's due???

Welcome Dry Season! Unofficially...

I've heard all about the "supposed" dry season and have anxiously awaited it. Well, it's finally here! Today, November 1, is the beginning of the dry season in Nicaragua. The locals here have told us that once the dry season hits, the temperature will cool down because it will be less humid. We've also been told to enjoy our last looks at clouds. Clouds are non-existent, or a very rare sighting to say the least during the dry season.

I'm sure that the dry season takes time to actually happen. I couldn't imagine that Mother Nature just knows that it is November 1st and not to produce clouds and rain anymore. I have noticed a slight difference in temperature over the last few days. It doesn't seem to be as humid as when we first arrived, but let me tell you, it is still quite hot.

So why am I writing about the dry season? Well, I just thought it was funny since I was sitting here in my room, and it started pouring outside. Stay tuned for more weather updates!

Happy Halloween! Lucky 13!?

Trick or treat is the way of the day and night. I can tell you that down here, I've been tricked! There was no treat in today's game. Lucky 13? That will become quite evident shortly. So, how did I spend Halloween in Nicaragua? I spent the majority of the day on a baseball field. Today I was in Leon, Nicaragua, which is about an hour and a half from Managua.

The game started off as every other game had before. Leon had fallen to a 3-1 deficit to San Fernando. As it seemed the theme for the past two week's games, the home team rallied from behind and tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. I think you know where I am going with "Lucky 13" now. Yeah, the Halloween treat, or trick as I like to call it, was a 4 hour marathon baseball game, which ended in the bottom of the 13th inning on a sacrifice fly. There was a close play at the plate, but the runner made a great slide and beat the catcher to home plate. If that wasn't enough excitement for this Halloween game, the manager of San Fernando wanted to appeal 3rd base that the runner left early. We allowed the appeal since there was still one of the San Fernando infielders remaining in fair territory when he wanted to make the appeal. Had everyone left the field, no appeal could be made, that's just the rules. I guess that it would have been a real trick or treat for the manager had we not been able to uphold the appeal.

Oh yeah... Happy Halloween!!!