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I’m back at home. It feels great.

Before we tie this excursion (officially) up with a ribbon and a bow, I first want to say that I’m stunned that Washington beat Texas tonight. However, I am kind of excited too, because now we get an if necessary game, which hasn’t been necessary yet. I still think that Pearland will win tomorrow, but I bet Casey Manning throws for Auburn, which means that Washington has a chance.

Tom Fox from the Lock Haven Express told me that Hawai’i is the team to watch. I’d be stunned if the USA Championship Game was anything other than Pearland vs. Columbus, Ga. But who knows?

Also, just to report some celebrations for the team. Fairfield will be honored with an arrival party when they get back to Fairfield at about 2 p.m. on Thursday. The team is leaving at 10 a.m. and it is about a four hour trip. There will inevitably be traffic. We hit traffic on our way home and the trip (which should’ve been four hours) ended up being about five.

Anyway, let’s wrap this up in style, with some awards.

Best athlete at the World Series: Isaiah Hatch, Auburn, Wash.: Hatch is becoming the most talked about player at the tournament now between his pitching performance against both Fairfield and Pearland (he had 15 Ks in 5 2/3 in two relief appearances) and his 4 for 4 performance at the plate against Fairfield, he has done it all.

Most ridiculous travel experience by press members: Kristin Gold and Jeremy Babin, TV, Georgia: The two are competitors, yet chose to stay for more than a week in the same house to keep costs down. Gold has slept on the couch and Babin has slept on the floor. The most ridiculous part of the trip? Due to rights fees by ESPN, neither can shoot game footage!

Best name: Brooks Robinson, Hamilton, Ohio. The best part about this story? He wears #5! His dad is evidently a diehard Orioles fan.

Best fan chant: Japan. “Let’s go Fairfield!” is great, but nothing will top the Japanese faithful singing “Popeye the Sailor Man” against Mexico in Japanese. I didn’t get the explanation behind it, but it was entertaining.

Best fan outfits: Pearland, Texas. Japan’s have been good, and Mexico, with its sombreros, was a nice touch, but cowboy hats and flannel shirts won’t be beat. In my opinion.

Most media friendly player: Nate Klein, Fairfield. In case you haven’t heard or noticed. The 4’8 kid loves to play baseball. It takes every bit of that frame to muster his talent, but his smile and personality can’t be beat. ESPN ate him up.

Most valuable late-night eating establishment in Williamsport: Denny’s. Perkins was the place where we spent the most of our time, but Denny’s was the place that was open late. We ate there twice after midnight after 8 p.m. games. Very convenient, especially since hardly anything else was open.

Highest profile former athlete seen: Dave Winfield. He’s a Hall of Famer and I didn’t see Orel Hershiser up close and personal. I guess that is my fault.

Best entertainment: Dugout. I honestly couldn’t praise the fan- (and kid-) friendly mascot enough. He represents everything that is awesome about the World Series, plus no matter what the weather is or how bad a day it was, he always put a smile on my face, and after working for 12 straight hours, that isn’t easy.

Best Fairfield dancer: Liam Wurzel. He was the only Connecticutter that did “The Worm”! Nate Klein was a close second though.

Best non-baseball related thing to do in Williamsport: Reptiland. Where else can you pet an alligator and see a real life Emu?!

Best quote from Fairfield coach Chris Daley: “It was the trip of a lifetime.”

Look and listen for any big news about the team. The boys from Fairfield will undoubtedly be honored by teams in the area. I know that the Bluefish and Rock Cats have offered to honor them. I’d look for the Red Sox and Yankees to as well.

The entire trip was a blast for me, and I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend a week then watching baseball and writing. I hope you all enjoyed our coverage, I hope you continue to read the Fairfield Citizen and Connecticut Post sports sections.

I also hope you follow me on Twitter for (attempted) witticisms and live Fairfield high school game updates.

Until next time…

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I’m not going to lie, I saw this coming.

Ask any of the staff that I spoke with before the game. For some reason I saw this from the minute we got here. I was confident that Fairfield would win against Auburn the first time. I was confident that Pearland would beat them, and then I knew that if Fairfield saw Washington again, that it would all end.

Don’t ask me how I knew it, I just did.

It sounds like hindsight too. But, Auburn was here for a reason. Fairfield beat them because the team made some more plays and got a timely hit. Auburn wanted Fairfield again, they got Fairfield again, and they beat them. Hats off.

For more on that game, click here

With that being said, I feel bad for the boys. They had a great summer and did something that no 12-year-old team in Fairfield has ever done in reaching Williamsport. They’re champions and they deserve all of the honors, accolades and memories that they will receive.

Along the same lines, it sounds like Chris Daley is upset, but said there is a silver lining. He gets to help his oldest son move into Johns Hopkins on Thursday. He’s going straight to Baltimore from Williamsport and then back to Fairfield. Sounds like Larry Klein and the rest of the team will depart soon, but they’re allowed to stay until Sunday, so maybe they will.

I’m excited to be going home. I miss my bed, I’m pretty much out of clean clothes, and a week away has been a long time. Plus, Williamsport is only so fun to be in for so long.

But with all of that said, this was really a huge thrill for me too.

I’m honestly going to miss the interaction with the other press members. Mingling with people with huge beats, or famous people. I’m going to miss covering an event that my friends and family can watch on TV all over the country, I’m going to miss feeling like a big deal.

Events like this are why I got into journalism and now that it is over, it is hard to go back.

And I know it isn’t about me. It’s about those 11 boys and two coaches who took all of us for a ride. It’s about Nate Klein’s smile and Nick Nardone’s tenacity and Jack Quinn’s goofiness. It’s about fathers and sons taking bonding over baseball as far as it could go.

It’s about an event that is so good and nice, so honest and pure that not even ESPN could screw it up, although they do their damndest to try.

It’s about Dugout the mascot, and trading pins and small towns and cheering the team of youngsters as it takes the field, even as it trails by 11 runs. This whole thing reminds me why baseball is still the greatest sport around. I’m getting emotional just typing this all up. For anyone who has the opportunity, I’d recommend it highly, and if you have kids, take them with you too, they’ll love it.

And I’m happy that for one week, I was a part of it. I’m glad that through this blog and the stories that we’ve put together, that you back at home have been able to see in your minds eye what we’ve seen in person. I thank you all for participating, and all the kind and wonderful feedback you’ve given me. I also appreciate all of the wonderful people that I’ve met. Chris Daley summed it up best in tonight’s press conference:

“It’s been the opportunity of a lifetime.”

I’ll blog when I get home tomorrow and tie this all up. Or we could keep this space open and I’ll blog from Connecticut about the rest of the World Series. I’ll leave that choice to you. Send me your opinions. I’ll be watching either way.

(For the last time) Until tomorrow…

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Fairfield American faces elimination Tuesday night if they lose to Auburn Washington. They were scheduled to play Monday night but rain postponed the game to tonight.

The winner of Tuesday’s game will face Texas Wednesday night at 8.

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The sun is out here in Williamsport for the moment, however there are still clouds in the sky. There’s a 10 percent chance of rain until 7 p.m. Then at 7, there is a forecast for showers. Only a 30 percent chance though.

Fairfield will only be able to start either Jack Quinn or Eddie Magi tonight against Auburn, Wash. Nick Nardone is not eligible because he threw 88 pitches on Friday. By pitch count rules he must rest four days, which means that if Fairfield wins tonight, he will be able to (and likely will) start tomorrow.

I imagine that Auburn will stick with Casey Manning to throw tonight. Manning got the loss against Fairfield on Friday afternoon.

Don’t forget to check out our Live Blog tonight at 7:45 p.m. for the game with Auburn and Fairfield. If anything bizarre happens weather wise or otherwise, I’ll chime in. I’m headed over to the complex now. Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pickensfcsports for more info.

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Yesterday the Little League was happy to have Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield come in and throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the Columbus, Ga. and Hamilton, Ohio game.

The 12-time all-star and current ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst wanted to take in the Little League World Series, but also wanted to promote breast cancer awareness. Winfield’s mother died of cancer. He has partnered Ask.com and Susan G. Komen Foundation.

However, he gave a 36-minute press conference where he spoke about a number of different baseball related subjects, including, but not limited to George Steinbrenner, Lou Piniella, Roger Clemens, instant replay, his favorite coach and his favorite city in which to play.

Without further ado, Dave Winfield’s comments on:

Lou Piniella: “Lou’s got a very good shot [at the Hall of Fame]. He’s a very good manager. He’s very passionate about what he did. He always gave his heart and soul. He’s done it all. There’s times in life where the game will wear you down. He gave his heart to the Cubs…he’s entitled to bow out when he wants and how he wants. You can see that it breaks his heart to leave the game.”

The Little League World Series: “There are some good little players. This is what baseball is all about. The kids hearts and souls are into it. It is just as good as it gets.”

The advice he’d give to Little Leaguers: “Just have some fun with this. It’s a beautiful setting, don’t get caught up in the setting, just do what you’ve been doing.”

His favorite Little League coach: “His name is Bill Peterson, he’s in St. Paul, Minn. He’s probably the only coach to coach two Hall of Famers, myself and Paul Molitor, he volunteers all of his time, even today. He’s been a coach, now he manicures a field that was named after him.”

George Steinbrenner’s death: “I felt bad. You don’t want to see anyone pass on. There were years when I played for him where he made things difficult. He was tough on everybody, he wasn’t likable at that point. It was kind of like two eras of Steinbrenner. Fortunately at the end, we came to an accord, we talked a lot. He apologized, it wasn’t made public, we had a really decent relationship at the end.”

Roger Clemens indictment: “You don’t like to see this in baseball. It’s a difficult situation. If he’s as adamant about it, maybe he didn’t use drugs. If he did, it’s going to get ugly.”

PEDs: “If performance enhancing drugs weren’t a bad thing, every player who used them would say ‘I used them.’ But nobody will admit to it because they know it is illegal, improper and wrong. Don’t do the drugs.”

Playing in New York: “Some people are made to play in New York, some aren’t. Some like it, some can handle the pressure, some don’t want anything to do with it. I think I was OK with it.”

Instant replay: “It’s worked here. I don’t know if Major Leagues is ready for it. I’m sure they’ll consider ways to get it right. No one wants to have a decision wrong. But I don’t see it happening in the next couple of years.”

MLB Players “There are a lot of good ones. There are a lot of guys to look up to.”

Major Leaguers watching Little Leaguers: “I’m sure that just about every Major League player has seen a part of the Little League World Series. I know because they’re watching ESPN. But they pay more attention when there is a team from their state here.”

Links
I haven’t passed along links to too many stories lately, so here are some:

A story on Instant Replay here

A story on Fairfield center fielder Chris Howell here

Last night’s recap and why Fairfield thinks the rain out helps them here

As always, stay tuned here for weather reports, and be sure to tune in to our live blog tonight at 7:45 for Fairfield’s elimination game with Auburn, Wash.

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Ok, there is a lot for us to get to tonight, and there are a lot of answers that I do have in the aftermath of Fairfield’s rain out tonight.

Here are the facts. Fairfield will play Auburn, Wash. on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. The Columbus, Ga. and Hamilton, Ohio game will re-start and be played six full innings starting at 4 p.m. That game will be on ESPN. Games 20 and 22 will be moved to Wednesday.

The simple answer is that Fairfield will play at 8 tomorrow night and if they win, they’ll play Pearland, Texas at 6 p.m. Nick Nardone is not eligible to pitch against Auburn again, due to pitch count rules, but WILL be available to pitch against Pearland on Wednesday night should Fairfield get that far.

It’s pretty much a no-brainer that if Fairfield wins on Tuesday, head coach Chris Daley will come back with Nardone against the powerful Pearland team.

What isn’t a no-brainer is who Fairfield will throw on Tuesday night. I spoke with Daley after the game was called and he said that he has not made up his mind on a starter.

If I were managing the team, however, this is what I would do as far as pitching is concerned:

1.) Start Eddie Magi against Auburn on Tuesday night. Magi’s off-speed stuff is what makes him effective. Auburn admitted that it had trouble with Nardone’s curve ball, but could hit his fast ball. Sounds (to me) like a matchup advantage for Fairfield.

2.) If Fairfield wins, start Nardone on Weds. night. Again, a no-brainer. He’s your ace. Pearland is good. You need your ace to beat a good team.

3.) If Fairfield wins then, come back with Jack Quinn and all hands on deck on Thurs. Fairfield will need to use all of its starters to beat Pearland. It will likely need heroic efforts from all of its pitchers to get to the US Championship Game on Friday. Because of the rainout (and barring any further rain) Fairfield will have to now win five (and possibly six) days in a row to win the Little League World Series.

Don’t sleep on Nate Klein or Patrick O’Leary seeing action at some point over the next three days. Even giving them a start sounds likely. But if you’re Daley, you have to take that chance. If his team loses, it goes home.

Weather forecast for Tuesday

Since this is now a hot button issue, I think it deserves noting that the high tomorrow will be 71. There is a 30 percent chance of showers (which is what it was for Monday on Sunday night). It looks like we have a chance of showers all day and night, so be leery of that.

What else I did today

Personally, the rain out fit the mode of today. It was a pretty annoying day.

I woke up far too early, got rained on on two separate walking trips to the fields which was exacerbated by the fact that I left my raincoat in the hotel room, feared losing my reading glasses (don’t worry mom and dad, I found them in my bag), and waited to try to speak with our Connecticut-based umpire, Rob Bleggi, who never called me back.

I guess he gets a pass though, because he umped two games today.

What made the day more frustrating was this rain that suddenly cropped up out of nowhere. On no radar that I saw was rain even a threat in the evening. Weather.com had the chance of rain after 7 p.m. at 15 percent, yet it down poured until 9:30. Ridiculously enough, it has not rained since about 9:15.

Murphy’s Law, I was told.

However, I trekked to Reptiland today in nearby Allenwood, Pa. I saw alligators and butterflies. Lizards and rattlesnakes. It was a pretty decent time. I got to pet an alligator and a boa constrictor. Not bad for the $12 I shelled out to get in.

I also spoke with Dave Winfield today, who was up here to throw out a ceremonial first pitch and do some ESPN work. There’ll be a full blog posting on that coming tomorrow.

The plan for tomorrow is to wake up (hopefully later than today) and wander around to speak with some people collecting pins, for a story I’m going to work on tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll take in all of the games that matter (there’s a consolation game at noon, don’t even get me started on that) and then be all set to Live Blog Fairfield’s elimination game tomorrow night against Washington. Check it out at 7:45 p.m. It should be a lot of fun.

Until tomorrow…

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Fairfield American faces Auburn Washington Monday night at 8 p.m. in an elimination game. Fairfield beat Washington in their first game of the Little League World Series when Nick Nardone was on the mound.

If Fairfield wins, they face Texas Tuesday night, the team that beat them 14-1 Sunday night. If they lose, they are eliminated.

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As you may or may not have seen, the tarp is on both fields as we are experiencing a (hopefully brief) rain delay.

As you may have seen, if you’re following me on Twitter. I got caught outside in it. I’m only slightly soaked, but due to the wonder of media rooms, am drying quickly.

I don’t think (as long as this delay stays brief) that Fairfield’s game will be impacted by the rain here. Lamade Stadium has a break between the end of the Mexico and Puerto Rico game until the Fairfield game is scheduled to start. So it is likely that Fairfield will start on time.

HOWEVER, because there are two games being played on Volunteer Stadium, it is entirely possible that our live blog will be the only way you can see the start of Fairfield’s elimination game with Auburn, Wash. again. So check back here and look for us at 7:45 p.m. for the live blog.