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Irish baseball

LBHalos17
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LBHalos17 Just Drafted

LBHalos17

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I'm flying-out to Belfast (Northern Ireland) early in the morning to swim in the World Police/Fire Olympics.  They swim meters instead of yards, and I'm not in my best meters-swimming shape (It'll be only my second time ever competing in a meters race, but I'm only swimming the 50m free individually and maybe with a pieced-together relay, so I expect to survive).

 

I packed a few spare baseballs and t-shirts (Angels and Dirtbags), hoping to come-across some kids playing ball during my trip.  Then, I decided to google "Irish baseball" and stumbled onto the site of the "Belfast Northstars."  They've only been playing baseball on the island since the mid-90's, and this team is comprised of all levels of talent (kind of like the Sunday-league team I'm playing on now).

 

I saw that they are playing a double-header this coming Sat., which happens to be a day-off for me.  I emailed the site, saying that I was going to need my baseball fix (while missing my own teams' practice and Sunday game), and that I hoped to come-out and check them out.

 

I emailed (Neil, the Teams' GM) back and forth a couple of times, explaining my baseball experience, etc.  I was thrilled to get a fourth email from Jon (the Head Coach), saying "Bring your cleats; I added you to our roster for the games Saturday."  I was floored by this response but, of course, I have now packed an additional suitcase with my full Sunday Angels uniform and two gloves!  (extra-bag fees, be damned!)

 

I'm more excited about this opportunity, than my swimming or even possibly playing some Irish links golf!  

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LBHalos17 Just Drafted

LBHalos17

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Seriously, Wicked!  Gotta say those images crept into my head as well; that's a great Conan-skit!  They're my people too!  Part of my reason to get over there as well.

 

Tobi-  I will look into that; thx!  I'm hoping to catch some gaelic-football, that is part of the games too.  Along with finding time to visit Bushmills and some pubs...

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TobiasFunke Just Drafted

TobiasFunke

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Seriously, Wicked!  Gotta say those images crept into my head as well; that's a great Conan-skit!  They're my people too!  Part of my reason to get over there as well.

 

Tobi-  I will look into that; thx!  I'm hoping to catch some gaelic-football, that is part of the games too.  Along with finding time to visit Bushmills and some pubs...

 

Check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26_LwtKgMMA

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Vegas Halo Fan Hall of Fame

Vegas Halo Fan

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I'm flying-out to Belfast (Northern Ireland) early in the morning to swim in the World Police/Fire Olympics.  They swim meters instead of yards, and I'm not in my best meters-swimming shape (It'll be only my second time ever competing in a meters race, but I'm only swimming the 50m free individually and maybe with a pieced-together relay, so I expect to survive).

 

I packed a few spare baseballs and t-shirts (Angels and Dirtbags), hoping to come-across some kids playing ball during my trip.  Then, I decided to google "Irish baseball" and stumbled onto the site of the "Belfast Northstars."  They've only been playing baseball on the island since the mid-90's, and this team is comprised of all levels of talent (kind of like the Sunday-league team I'm playing on now).

 

I saw that they are playing a double-header this coming Sat., which happens to be a day-off for me.  I emailed the site, saying that I was going to need my baseball fix (while missing my own teams' practice and Sunday game), and that I hoped to come-out and check them out.

 

I emailed (Neil, the Teams' GM) back and forth a couple of times, explaining my baseball experience, etc.  I was thrilled to get a fourth email from Jon (the Head Coach), saying "Bring your cleats; I added you to our roster for the games Saturday."  I was floored by this response but, of course, I have now packed an additional suitcase with my full Sunday Angels uniform and two gloves!  (extra-bag fees, be damned!)

 

I'm more excited about this opportunity, than my swimming or even possibly playing some Irish links golf!  

 

Just don't go all Josh Hamilton on us and embarrass us. You represent this board, the Angels organization and your entire country. Make us proud. Don't want to hear about how some 16 year old Irish kid struck you out four times.

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LBHalos17 Just Drafted

LBHalos17

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Just don't go all Josh Hamilton on us and embarrass us. You represent this board, the Angels organization and your entire country. Make us proud. Don't want to hear about how some 16 year old Irish kid struck you out four times.

Bwahahahaha!  Too funny; cuz that's exactly what I was thinking!

 

Just got back late last night... I had a great time with the team!  And, I think I represented pretty well.  I played both games of their double-header last Sat. (They have two teams: their A-team, and a rookie B-team.  The A leaguers must swing wood bats).  In the A game, I started as DH, but ended the game in LF.  I came-up for my first AB in the 3rd inning with the bases loaded, and plated the first run of the game with a sac-fly.  I ended the game with a single, run, rbi, and a walk (no K's!).  We won 3-1, and clinched a playoff spot for the team!  The A-league is similar to my Sunday league back here, but the pitching was not as fast.  I played-down to the level of the B-league in the second game...  I played 2B, but never got a chance all game (the other team was almost completely rookies; brand-new to the game).  We won a mercy-rule game against them.

 

My line for the day...   .666 2-for-3 with 2 rbi, 3 runs, 2 bb, and one broken bat...  I will be mailing them a couple bats (and other items), since it is so expensive for them there.

 

You can follow them at Belfastbaseball.co.uk and see some pics from their twitter feed.  By the way, I also won a Gold in my 50-meter freestyle event (Mens 45-50 age group).

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Vegas Halo Fan Hall of Fame

Vegas Halo Fan

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Thanks for the account of baseball across the pond. That had to be a great experience, playing with guys who are just beginning to learn and appreciate the game. I'm surprised that they let you play in games that had playoff implications. An American could have been considered a ringer.

 

Thanks for sharing this with us. Good to know that baseball lives in places we would never even think of.

 

Tell us the truth. You really were  struck out four times by some 16-year-old Irish kid, weren't you?  :D

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