Road Trip:Lake County

Our trip had one day to go and this day wasn't set until the morning.
Derreck and I had two plans set depending on whether or not, we will hear from my aunt Becky and uncle Terry.
Becky has been noted in the past, is easily my favorite aunt (I never have problems saying things like that, the truth is the truth after all), Terry might be the same in the uncle division. although he does have some competition-ha ha and I wanted to try to see them before we left, if they had time.
So, we decided if we hadn't heard from anyone by say 11;00, we would leave and be on our way to Pickle Bill's for a seafood lunch, but if we would hear from them, we would stay in town for lunch and then move onto Lake County.

About 30 minutes before we were going to leave, we heard from them and agreed to meet at Buffalo Wild Wings.
Ashland had been one of the first few places to have a BWW franchise, but their store had become very small and time had passed it by so in the last year or so, a new restaurant had opened in a different portion of town.
Derreck, of late, has developed an issue with BWW, while I on the other hand, quite like it.
I might have chosen local champion Lyn-Way, but Becky said they are constantly loaded with people
on Sunday mornings.

While they prepared (and picked up Missy as well) to drive in, Derreck and I first hit a packed Grandpa's Cheesebarn to bring some cheese and more for the ladies and then a Wal-Mart stop for some supplies for the drive home.
As we walked through the parking lot, Derreck received a call that told her that they were there and since we only had to cross the lot to reach BWW, we were there in a minute.
They were kind enough to buy us lunch and the catching up and stories (I even learned something new about my dad) was very enjoyable.
Thanks to Terry and Becky for picking up the tab and for spending such a good time with us.

We drove to Lake County for yes, yet another heat index of over 100 degrees.
The waiting team was the Fort Wayne Tin Caps, a San Diego Padre affiliate and since we do not have any San Diego teams on our circuit, there was a chance to add some players that we have to travel to see.
The hoped-for hit was the Padres 2017 first rounder and top 100 pitcher Mackenzie Gore, who ignored our requests (Derreck and I were alone in an area) and walked across the outfield.
I did add Tin Cap Luis Almanzar on his Bowman, so the Tin Caps weren't a total loss, but not tagging Gore for the top 100 set was disappointing.
I was able to add a few Captains, most notably perhaps my favorite Indians prospect that no one is talking about in outfielder Oscar Gonzalez on three cards.
I asked Gonzalez to sign and he said he'd come back.
90 percent (if not more) of the time, that's a kiss-off, but Gonzalez came right back to me.
Gonzalez is still raw with just ten walks as of this writing, but his. 286/11.43 line is still encouraging to me, yet Gonzalez did not make the Midwest All-Star game and teammate Will Benson did,
Benson, who signed one card for me, is having huge issues despite 13 homers as of this writing as he is hitting just. 173 with a Tebow-like 99 strikeouts in 266 at-bats.
Despite the talent and power potential, strikeout numbers like that don't tend to get better as you rise in the minors and for the life of me, I don't get how a guy hitting .173 makes the All-Star team.

After I bought a Midwest League top prospect set and a Captains logo baseball, we watched a few innings and Derreck asked what do you want to do?
As in stay for post-game and another shot at MacKenzie Gore or hit the road and arrive home a few hours early.
We talked for a bit and I told him that I was fine either way as both had their advantages.
Finally, he decided to go and his reasoning was sound- Had we spent that time, staying longer and getting home later and we didn't get Gore to sign-the ride home was going to be long and very gripe-filled!
Neither of us was really hungry, so we didn't stop on the way, which was faster as we went home via the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which continues to raise their prices to now 28 bucks from the Ohio line to the Breezewood exit.

Believe it or not, this was my first ever trip with Derreck alone through our long friendship.
Derreck is like a younger brother to me and my family and I had a great time with him, especially since he hasn't been graphing as often this season.
Also special thanks again to Missy, Aunt Becky, Uncle Terry and a very special thank you to "Aunt' Gayle for providing us her home to stay in...

That finishes the road trip coverage for now, but we have plenty coming up with massive inbox cleaning, the TRS boxing ratings, the non-sports podcasts that I listen to, so stay tuned!