{"id":382,"date":"2010-06-05T10:36:33","date_gmt":"2010-06-05T15:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/?p=382"},"modified":"2010-06-05T10:58:50","modified_gmt":"2010-06-05T15:58:50","slug":"ricketts-park-part-ii-the-high-school-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/archives\/382","title":{"rendered":"Ricketts Park, Part II: The High School Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>First off, let me apologize for my delay in releasing any new pieces for all the people of Sombrero Nation.\u00a0 This last month has been quite a ride.\u00a0 First there was the state tournament (in which the Scorps lost their semi-final game in heartbreaking fashion), then I had to finish up my first year, as a high school teacher, and most recently I have just become an uncle for the first time.\u00a0 Big ups go out to my sister, Blaire.\u00a0 She needed a mere 3 pushes to pop that beautiful baby out and into the world.\u00a0 Congrats, I love you Blaire and baby Londyn.<\/p>\n

Anyways, on to what the article is really about, Ricketts Park<\/a>.\u00a0 As I helped as an assistant to the varsity squad in May, I took notice of how special Ricketts was.\u00a0 This was not the first time I had felt this way, but it was the same feeling from a different perspective.\u00a0 I had casual conversations with graduating seniors about what it meant to have played at such a great field.\u00a0 I also had conversations with younger guys who have their whole high school career in front of them.\u00a0 There were as many similarities in their answers as there were differences.\u00a0 No matter who I was talking to, I started each conversation the same way, \u201cSo what has it been like to play as a Scorp at Ricketts?\u2019\u00a0 Older guys answered with comments like, \u201cIt\u2019s fuckin\u2019 awesome, man\u201d or \u201cIt\u2019s so badass\u201d and one kid, who will remain unnamed, responded with \u201cIt\u2019s the fuckin’ shit.\u00a0 There is nothing else like it.\u201d\u00a0 The second half of this last quote is what stuck with me, mostly because there really is nothing like playing at Ricketts Park.<\/p>\n

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In a previous article<\/a> I took a brief moment to inform you about Ricketts.\u00a0 For a Farmington High Scorpion<\/a>, it means even more.\u00a0 When you finally head to Ricketts for 7th<\/sup> hour class and after school practice it means one thing\u2026you\u2019ve made it.\u00a0 For me that moment came as a sophomore.\u00a0 For others it didn\u2019t come until their senior year.\u00a0 And even more, there are those few who make it on the varsity squad as young freshmen.\u00a0 Now making the varsity squad that very first time is something special for all aspiring baseball players.\u00a0 But the first time you step foot on the luscious grass of Ricketts, you become keenly aware of just how sweet the grass is on the other side of the fence.<\/p>\n

Ricketts park is a field owned and maintained by the city of Farmington, as all the ballparks in Farmington are, and has one of the greatest grounds crew outside of Division one and professional baseball.\u00a0 Sure, they become lazy as shit during the summer, when they don\u2019t have the high school season or the Connie Mack World Series to worry about, but when they are on point the field begins to twankle and glisten thanks to their efforts.\u00a0 Once you make the varsity team, this all becomes clearly apparent.\u00a0 There are no more shitty hops on the regular, or grass so tall it makes even the hardest hit GB a slow roller.\u00a0 Being able to play and practice on that field for the first time is similar to stepping on to a pro field for the first time (I was fortunate enough to experience this during a pre draft workout for the Brewers at Miller Park<\/a>.)\u00a0 Some people might think about when they first put on the varsity white uni, or when they first get their legendary varsity boathouse jacket.\u00a0 But they would be wrong.\u00a0 The first time they feel like they have made it is when their feet feel the crunch of finely raked dirt; the first time they step foot in the grass and it feels like they are walking on clouds.\u00a0 Simply put, this feeling is purely euphoric.\u00a0 For most of us who have come up through the ranks of FHS baseball, it is the closest feeling we will ever have of \u201cmaking it\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another thing about Ricketts is the on-field equipment.\u00a0 It is the only place where BP is taken inside of a true turtle shell cage.\u00a0 It is the only time that the shag group has a net to protect them from batted balls.\u00a0 It is also the only team in the program that gets to practice with real baseballs.\u00a0 Now I don\u2019t mean real as in balls that exist in fact.\u00a0 I mean real as in balls that have not been used for the last 6 years straight.\u00a0 These baseballs are white.\u00a0 These baseballs have seams.\u00a0 These baseballs have their covers firmly attached to the insides.\u00a0 Now these may seem like small things to some.\u00a0 But as the C-team coach for the program, I know what a difference it makes.\u00a0 When I came up as an assistant to the varsity after my C-team season ended, I even felt like I had made it as a coach.\u00a0 Throwing BP felt like a dream.\u00a0 So you have a nice field surface and some good equipment for the first time; so what?\u00a0 How does that make Ricketts so special to a high school baseball player?\u00a0 Let me tell you about the best part of Ricketts.<\/p>\n

If you recall, I mentioned that Ricketts has stadium seating and holds up to a few thousand fans<\/a>.\u00a0 This is what fellow blogger Dee<\/a> and myself call tits.\u00a0 When those seats are filled to capacity it is harebrained.\u00a0 And it fills up this way twice a season, for the showdown between cross-town rivals FHS and PVHS.\u00a0 The stadium is overflowing with passionate, semi-intelligent, wild and crazy fans for these games.\u00a0 The first time that you walk up to the plate with all the noise going on in the background, it feels as if you are playing in a World Series atmosphere.\u00a0 Ricketts literally begins to shake and bake with such abundant energy.\u00a0 Put simply, it is cooler than the ice on any rapper\u2019s wrist.\u00a0 There is just nothing that can compare to playing in front of thousands of fans as a teenager who can\u2019t even buy porn or tobacco legally.<\/p>\n

Anybody who has played high school sports aspires to become a varsity player.\u00a0 They long to be able to say they made it.\u00a0 This is no different for FHS baseball players.\u00a0 The only difference between you and us is one thing.\u00a0 Ricketts Park.
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First off, let me apologize for my delay in releasing any new pieces for all the people of Sombrero Nation.\u00a0 This last month has been quite a ride.\u00a0 First there was the state tournament (in which the Scorps lost their semi-final game in heartbreaking fashion), then I had to finish up my first year, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,17,8,14],"tags":[466,467,269],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":385,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions\/385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}