I stood at the window like a lost puppy waiting for his master to come home. In my case I was waiting for to mailman to arrive with what I hoped would be a letter from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Tucson Electric Park tomorrow morning which meant the off-season was quickly coming to an end. It also meant that today was probably the last day the mailman had to deliver my invitation to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.
Earlier this month the Arizona Diamondbacks announced their list of non-roster invitees that would be in camp when Spring Training began in Tucson. This year they identified 17 players who would be invited to attend.
Among the list of players were right-handed pitchers T.J. Beam, Josh Ellis, Barry Enright, Kyler Newby, Rodrigo Lopez, Wes Roemer, Brian Shaw, and Matt Torra. Left-handed pitcher Tommy Layne was also on the list.
Catchers Carlos Corporan, Sean Coughlin, and Konrad Schmidt were invited as were infielders Jeff Bailey and Mark Hallberg. The outfielders who received an invitation included Collin Cowgill, Evan Frey, and Drew Macias.
I scoured the list looking for my name but it was not among the 17 listed. Surely this was a mistake. After all I have been playing baseball since I was four years old and I had been a Diamondbacks fan since 1995 when the team was awarded.
I read and re-read the list but each time I could not find my name. Perhaps it was just lost in the mail. So here I am standing at the window waiting and stalking the mailman.
As he approached our mail box I leapt from the house running as fast as I could towards him. His eyes became the size of baseballs and a look of fear enveloped his entire being. He threw the remaining letters addressed to my mailbox in my general direction and retreated to the safety of his car.
There in the box was a white and Sedona Red envelope with the Arizona Diamondbacks address. My heart was racing as I stood there trying to read the address which was made more difficult by me shaking like a leaf.
I tore open the envelope excitedly anticipating my invitation to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. I unfolded the paper expecting to see instructions of where to report and what to bring to Spring Training.
Instead it was a letter inviting me to purchase a parking pass for the upcoming season. Dejected I slowly walked back to the house with the realization that yet again I didn’t get invited to Spring Training. When am I ever going to learn?
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