Baseball, Baseball, Baseball

This has been my life for the last year, and it looks like it will be this way at least until the middle of summer....and who knows, maybe into August if the boys can live up to there potential. For those who do not know, Matthew has been playing for the local little league for about three years. The team he was on when he was 10 came in second at the state championship, and they (maybe I should say we) have been wanting to make it back ever since. Now he is 12, and for little league this is it. We have two of our leading pitchers back to make a run again. For Matt's part, he has grown into a starting pitcher himself. He does not throw as hard as some, but he has good location and a couple of off speed pitches that when he is "on" he is difficult to beat. But to get to this point has been a lot of hard work. We have played for two other teams; both travel teams to face tougher competition, playing in a number of tournaments including the Winter Nationals. All with the hope that his god given athletic ability and skill along with hard work will allow him to really contribute come this summer......which is now here.

As one travels in Mexico you will see a baseball field in almost every town....from our small town of Puerto Penasco, to Hermosillo, Guaymas, Sonoyta, etc. These appear to be minor league teams with all of the players trying to reach that same lofty goal as mine; to play in the major leagues in the USA. One of the blogs I follow writes about a day at a game in Guaymas.

http://http://brendandroygoingtomexico.blogspot.com/

I really need to check the game schedules for a game in Puerto Penasco. I think it would be good fun that would need no translation.

Swine Flu

The Swine Flu is making a real impact on my life the past few days. Believe what you want, I think that most of this is panic, but how the world reacts has implications. My wife and I had a cruise planned out of Long Beach to the Mexican Rivera for next week....now that is off as the cruise lines have canceled trips to all Mexican ports. We have been really looking forward to the trip to get away but now that is off.....but that got me thinking about Rocky Point, and other places in Mexico and the impact of all of this hype. I guess I was not the only one who had this on their mind as on the front page of the business section in the Arizona Republic today has an article about the economic impact this issue and the overall fear of violence is having on our small city; Business is off by more the 40% since the Swine Flu announcements. The piece goes on to quote one vendor who only had one sale all day as there are no "gringos" as the vendors out number the tourists 10 to 1. Very tough times.......



To get a better view of how real people in Mexico feel about the flu "pandemic" we talked a couple days ago to Yolanda. For those who know, she and her husband Victor help to take care of our house and we talk to them about twice a month. They have lived in Puerto Penasco for many years now originally from Durango, Mexico. Yolanda and Victor are scared of this flu. According to her, the locals are staying home and only going out as needed....real fear appears to be hitting this small town. If that is the case in RP, just imagine what the poor are feeling in places much closer to Mexico City. According to the news today, the small town north of Mexico City that was the start of the virus had 60% of the population sick. That kind of news appears to have spread to the entire country and is making everyone in Mexico nervous. I am not sure if other bloggers read my little blog, but I would love to know how other Mexican families are dealing with these issues.