Weekend is Here

The weekend is here and that means baseball games for the Merchtem Cats. Tomorrow and Sunday we take on the Port of Antwerp Royal Greys for the 3rd and 4th times in a row. To put it bluntly, we need to win very badly.

In lieu of getting into last nights nanigans in Leuven, which again was a blast (and left me dying to know what Joris writes in his little black book and how I can get dance moves like Bram H.), I will instead switch fields and talk about 10 things you are likely to see at a Belgian ballgame...

10) Odd dimensions or multiple infields in one field.

Nope, you are not blind... the distance sign down the line reads 97. It's not feet, but 97 meters is no insurmountable distance for the likes of power hitters like me. And make sure you don't throw to the wrong second base, because there is more often than not a second infield in the outfield.

9) Bad hops that almost hit someone in the face

Unfortunately, a majority of the time this has been me. It isn't so bad when I need to trim my whiskers, but I think I would rather do it the old fashion way... with a knife.

8) Favoritism towards the Antwerp teams

Even when the non Antwerp teams are playing each other, the Antwerp teams somehow get the calls.


7) Bush league on-field displays

Pitchers mouthing off to batters they just struck out, visiting teams hitting BP on the field when the home team doesn't, pimping home runs big time, bunting for a base hit when up 10 runs, and the list goes on. There is at least one at every game.

6) People drinking beer

Fans and players alike... before, during, and after the games would not surprise me at all.

5) (Read like Hebrew) Calls easy missing umpires

Good look MIAC the in blues the make they. Enough said.

4) Yankees apparel.

Not uncommon to see someone wear Yankees gear one day and Red Sox gear the next, or my favorite, Yankees and Sox gear at the same time. Depending on the day, you might think that the Yanks are the only MLB team that exists to the Belgians.*** This really should be number 10, but I though about it too late and am too lazy to change it***

And a big drum roll for the final 3.... Brrrrrrrr....

3) Zino

Doesn't matter who is playing, where the game is being played, or at what time, Zino de Law (the 15 year-old player for just about every team of the Merchtem Cats organization) will be at the game. Rumors are circulating that he lives in the dugout at Cats field, and lives off of waffles, pintjes, and other food that he steals from the snack shack under the cover of darkness.


2) People peeing in open view of everyone else

Doesn't matter if there is a grandma right there, pretty much anywhere there is a fence... someone will be peeing on it in plain view of everyone else. If you have stage fright, this is not the place for you.

1) Cigarette breaks by players

Our team, the other team... at some point someone is taking a break to "de-stress" with a square. Rod Beck would be proud of the Belgian baseball fraternity.

A typical example would be our catcher asking pitchers to notify him two minutes early before they want to start their pre-game warm up/bullpen so that he can smoke is ritual pre-game heater.

And coming soon to a Belgian field near you... Cats victories (see last post).