Al and I are returned from Birmingham and the SEC Baseball Tournament where we attended eight games in four days. If we weren’t at a game, we were watching it on the TV in our hotel room. One night, we watched the replay of the game that we had attended earlier in the day. Hey—it’s how we roll. As for my predictions, they turned out so-so:

It did rain on the first day on and off. By the end of the second game, it was definitely “on” and the tarp was rolled out for a two-hour rain delay. The weather was beautiful the rest of the week, however, with sunshine and low humidity. Our general admission tickets allowed us to move with the shade so we were always comfortable.

Remarkably, there were no lightening delays. Nor was there a Buc-ee’s nearby, so those two predictions did not pan out. Nor did we consume as much barbecue as I thought we would If you took the over in the barbecue places visited, a move that I urged, you were a loser, much like Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri were the first day. Much of our eating schedule was dictated by what time the game started and how close we were to a decent restaurant; therefore, we really didn’t have time to hunt up any good places. For the record, we only made three barbecue joints.

We did not catch any foul balls, nor did we make any attempts. Twice in the same game, a ball was hit to an LSU fan three rows in front of us and twice he dropped it. Neither time did the ball end up in his possession.

We found not one, but two very cool places in Birmingham. One was the Negro Southern League Museum and the other was the largest cast-iron statue in the world. The Roman god, Vulcan, directs his steely gaze (see what I did there?) over the Birmingham skyline from atop a nearby hill. Both spots are fascinating and will be covered in future posts.

As for my last prediction, Florida was eliminated in the semi-finals by Vanderbilt, the eventual tournament champion. My dark horse, Kentucky, was eliminated on the very first day by Alabama. I wouldn’t consult me about any lottery numbers.

The crowds at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium were friendly and enthusiastic. It was truly a family affair from grandparents down to toddlers and we saw plenty of the latter. One young lady appeared to have just been delivered at the hospital before her parents delivered her to the ballpark. Gotta start ‘em young. They had lots to cheer about as the baseball was outstanding.

Finally, we added one more state to our list of places where we have at least played catch, coming across an old ballyard near Montgomery. That list also includes, Georgia, Florida, both Carolinas, Virginia (of course) Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and the Bahamas. Yes, we took our gloves on a cruise. It’s what we do.