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One week from today (today being Thursday, June 15. If you are reading this later than that please adjust the time frame for yourself) the Vancouver Canadians Professional Baseball Troubadours will finish the first half of their season on Thursday, June 22. They will be on the road playing against (and hopefully thumping) the much-maligned Eugene Emeralds.
The Northwest League divides the season into two halves, with the winner of each half facing each other in a "best-of-five" championship series.
As of this writing, the C’s have won five in a row and are currently one game up on Spokane for first place in the first half.
Hopefully, they can hold on to that top spot and we can all celebrate their victory next week. But a lot can happen in a week. Especially in a six-team league. Baseball can also have a cruel sense of justice that seeks out and punishes hubris.
So for now, we’ll just say “Go C’s," enjoy some quality baseball, and keep one eye on the standings.
As our summer marches on and we prepare to make the grand switch from the first half to the second half, I wanted to flag a few upcoming happenings at The Nat that we can all look forward to as a little treat.
1. The return of Fireworks Extravaganzas
I know not everyone is a fan of fireworks. Or extravaganzas. Personally, I love the word extravaganza and am fairly neutral on fireworks. But however you feel about either, come June 29 (and then six more times after that), the C’s will be turning up the John Cougar Mellencamp and lighting up the sky above The Nat once again.
2. The return of Saturday night games
For the first half of the season this year, we have been treated to an extra helping of nooners with all Saturdays at home being day games. I love watching baseball in the daytime, but there’s something special about the energy of a packed stadium on a warm summer Saturday night that I have missed and look forward to experiencing again.
3. The return of Dog Day of Summer
Truly, this is my Christmas. Those who know me well can pretty easily break down my personality: I am a fan of baseball and I am a fan of dogs. That’s pretty much it. I even have a framed picture of dogs playing baseball by the same artist who painted the famous series of dogs playing poker. My most prized possession.
On June 27 this year, it’s the one day of the season when all dogs are welcome to come to the ballpark and take in a game. It’s perhaps the closest thing to a perfect entertainment experience that exists on the summer calendar. I also will be doing a special article completely devoted to it, so keep your eyes peeled for that as we get closer.
What are you looking forward to in the second half? What are you going to miss about the first? Come and let me know. As always, you can find me (and soon also my dogs) at The Nat!
