So tonight I went to my local Yuma Scorpions independent baseball league game. The season just got started and I am trying to make it to at least one game per home series. Mike Marshall runs the local squad and tonight they were hosting the Orange County team, managed by none other than Gary Carter. I grab an official MLB baseball that my two year old son has been destroying in our back yard and head to the ballpark for a nice evening of baseball with my father-in-law who is visiting.

So tonight I went to my local Yuma Scorpions independent baseball league game. The season just got started and I am trying to make it to at least one game per home series. Mike Marshall runs the local squad and tonight they were hosting the Orange County team, managed by none other than Gary Carter. I grab an official MLB baseball that my two year old son has been destroying in our back yard and head to the ballpark for a nice evening of baseball with my father-in-law who is visiting.

We arrive early to watch some BP and I see Gary walking into the dugout with hitting coach Darrell Evans. I walk up, ball and pen in hand. To give you an idea of the setting, there are only 200 folks that show up to the game and I would bet that only 50 know who Gary Carter is and only five people know that he happens to manage this team. I would also bet that I am the only one who knows who Darrell Evans is....which is tragic. So, I say "Hey Gary, do you mind signing a ball for me?" He says "You sure you don't want Darrell's?" I laugh and tell him I would prefer both.

So my father-in-law, Roy, and I are standing around with Gary and Darrell. Pretty cool. I ask Gary if he is excited about being in beautiful Yuma, Arizona (it was the final game in 3 game series) and we joke around about how great the middle of the desert is. Gary points out I am wearing my Cardinals hat. Making small talk Roy says "You had some really great games against the Cardinals" and Gary, says "Yeah, I had some really great games against every team" Reading that, he sounds like a douche, but trust me, in person it was funny and we all laughed. He signs the ball (on the sweet spot), we talk, he hands it off to Darrell (who signs below Gary) and that is it.

Its funny because when I went to spring training in Phoenix I was talking to Trevor Hoffman, while he was in a uniform, an active ball player, and I was a little nervous...nervous on the approach, nervous on the conversation, nervous as he also pointed out that I was wearing a Cardinals hat. But with Gary and Darrell two players from my youth (more Gary than Darrell) I was much more at ease. Maybe it was the weight they have gained or how they have aged or maybe the fact we were standing in a dilapidated stadium in the middle of the desert, I don't know. Regardless it was a nice experience. I was tempted to ask Gary about the Mets and trying to replace Randolph or what he thought of "The Bad Guys Won", but I didn’t want to push my luck.

The game was great. The Yuma left fielder stole a homerun in the bottom of the seventh in a tied game and Scorpions won it with a walk off run. There are a few other managers in the league that I want to meet to include Steve Yeager and Cory Snyder. The next game I am looking forward to is against a team that Jeffery Leonard is managing. Do you think I could get him to sign it "One Flap Down"? Do you think he would notice my Cardinals hat?