Baseball Starts with Incredible Weekend

The Potomac Nationals season got underway this weekend with a six game homestand starting on Friday. The first game was unfortunately rained out.

On Saturday, Tank, Chuck and Ryan worked the game as Peggy and I were in Richmond for the Spring Festival, a kids show at Richmond Raceway.

I decided to do the Raceway Show as a favor to Todd and Danny and dropped Big Red off on Wednesday since I knew I would be tied up in Woodbridge getting ready for the PNats opening set of games. Peggy and I drove over Saturday morning leaving Harrisonburg before dawn. I actually was thinking I'd do maybe $100-150 or so and be happy with that. Mainly, I thought I was doing my friends a favor by covering the show and I would have been happy with that.

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Boy was I wrong. It was only a 4 hour show and we got slammed. After so many so-so shows over the past couple of months, it was great to have a real winner for a change. After we finished, Peggy and I headed for Woodbridge to make sure everything was up and running for the delayed PNat opener.

Since it is early April and the weather was cool at best, I thought the crew would have a lousy Saturday (comparing it to our usual Summer Saturday's which are always great). 

Wrong.

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The three also got slammed and we had a Saturday equalling a normal summer Saturday when I always have four people working. Do you get the impression that I underestimated the weekend? Just wait.

On Sunday, I decided to only have Tank and I working.  Sunday's, historically, have been a disappointment. It's too hot for a big funnel cake day, and I never sell as much lemonade as I think I should. We have never had a Sunday where I needed more than two people.

Wrong, again.

Tank and I did more than 30% more than our sales on Saturday and more than doubled our best Sunday ever for a PNats game. I'm still scratching my head!!!!!

Then, the bottom fell out. Monday was terrible, Tuesday was rained out and the double header on Wednesday was horrible.  But, then, I expected that. Oddly, that was all I got riight for the whole week.

It was great to be back in Woodbridge for another Pnats season. We have become a part of the Nationals family and I love working with Jim, Lonnie, Carter, Travis, Andrew and the rest of the PNat staff. And I like the new general manager, Josh Olerud who took over for my friend, Jonathon that is now in Pensacola, FL.

I'm off this weekend but have PNats games on Mon, Tue and Wed. Then off again for Easter. The following week is Richmond which this year will feature races on three nights instead of the two of the past. So, the month should end with a huge weekend.

As I have mentioned fleetingly in the past because I was waiting official announcements, we will be working a Pfish 3-day concert event at Watkins Glen on July 1,2, and 3. And, it looks like I will have two locations and be required to stay open 24 hours per day at at least one of the locations. If you might be interested in going with us to work, let me know. I need some extra people for that one.

1st Race of 2011 a Good One

Big Red's racing season got underway over the weekend at Martinsville Speedway. While not a record breaker, it was a great weekend  despite some unseen problems. And, we introduced the new foot long Corn Dog which was a big success.

I went down on Thursday to set up which is my normal procedure.  Only, this time it just about killed me. I figured with my recent medical problems, it had to be related to that, perhaps from the meds, but I had very little strength and my stamina level was non-existent. The work got done, it just took considerably longer than normal.

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Friday, practice day, is always a nothing day that I had planned to work by myself. No sense in spending on labor to just sit around and look pretty. And, it was a slow day, thankfully the way I was feeling. Still more than double what I did on Friday in 2010 but certainly not enough to cause me any problems. But, still, I just felt crappy.

As the crew arrived, Peggy, Chuck and Ryan on Friday night, and Tank and Laura early Saturday morning, I told them all I was not my normal self and they were going to have to carry the weight.

And let me tell you, they did!

Basically, Tank cooked funnel cakes. Chuck handled mixing batter and cooking corn dogs. Ryan sugared. Laura ran the front, Peggy filled in giving everyone breaks until Sunday when we ran two cash registers. I handled bottled drinks.

My other problem this weekend was that I struggled walking. And at Martinsville, that's tough as you have to park about a mile and a half from the stand with several pretty good hills to go up and down. That was tough plus I had some shortness of breath. Also, keep in mind, a couple of months ago, I pulled a groin muscle and it seemed to act up this weekend. I'm not sure what came first but it only added to a miserable weekend for me.

Business wise, it was great. While it is impossible to compare to last years spring race where Sunday was rained out, and the race run on Monday with over half of the concession stands closed. We were close to those totals, but fell short of the total sales because last years ended up being 4 days instead of 3. Still, a good weekend.

And, the crew was awesome especially Tank and Laura.

Needless to say, first thing this morning, I called my doctor and spent a good bit of the afternoon there. They did a bunch of tests (chest xray, EKG, blood work, etc.) and basically, my doctor said, "Hell. I don't know what's wrong with you."  At least it isn't my heart or my lungs. But, can I tell you how much I hate doctors?  $221 bill and he doesn't have a clue? But that needs to be the subject of another post.

My craziness continues this week. Potomac Nationals baseball starts on Friday with a six game home stand, plus I have a kids show at Richmond Raceway on Saturday with a baseball game in Woodbridge on Saturday night.

Another report will follow.