I am sitting in a restaurant near Grand Rapids, Michigan and I am going to the Midwest League All Star game tonight. But, for the moment, I am watching the Ole Miss vs Texas Tech game that is on the TV. Some Ole Miss fans are at a table next me. They are in town to go to the game, also, and just happens to be Kyle Farmer’s family. Kyle is a catcher for the Great Lake Loons, which is the Class A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is currently batting .304. His grandmother, dad, and mom are all Ole Miss alumni. His sister is going into her junior year but she chose Georgia, where she grew up. Bryan Farmer, Kyle’s dad, pitched in the Atlanta Braves system in the 1980’s. He made it to the Triple A level and played with all the guys that defined the Braves of the 1990’s, Ron Gant, Mark Lemke, Dave Justice and Mark Wohlers.
I extend a very special thanks to the Farmer family for picking up my tab for my food and drink! Thank you, thank you, thank you! That was a very nice surprise. I have to say that I am one of the luckiest people around. I don’t know where I would be without the kindness of others. Since I’m starting to recover from last week and being sleep deprived, my plan for today to write quick post and work on my schedule for the next month. My initial plan was going to go out west, but I have decided to change direction and go out east instead. I can see the Cape Cod League in the middle of summer. From what I hear, it is suppose to be gorgeous this time of year. Kyle’s mom confirmed that it is beautiful. He played for the Bourne Braves a couple of years ago which is in that area.
I have written in previous blogs about my love of Mississippi College Baseball, especially Mississippi State and the Left Field Lounge. I have stated it is the best baseball fan experience in America, Southern Miss and “The Roost”. Now, I can say that Ole Miss has my favorite fans I have encountered away from Mississippi! When this journey is all over I might just end up moving down there. Besides, Kyle’s grandmother was kinda flirting with me and said she would tour America with me. All kidding aside, I will definitely be making a Mississippi college baseball tour next year!
I picked UC-Irvine to win the College World Series; but, now I am rooting for Ole Miss. Texas is my other team that I want since I had a great experience there. Tonight I will be watching the All Star game and rooting on Kyle. I will be paying attention to his career as it progresses and since he is in the Dodgers organization, all the better! Time to wrap this up, I will get back on track with my writing, I want to get to the Terry Stake profile one of these days, he has such a good story, so please look for that in the next few days!
Ole Miss just scored on Texas Tech and is up 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh as I post this! If you enjoy this story and you would like to help me complete the “Baseball in America Tour 2014″, which is roughly 265 days, please click on the following link to see how you can help at www.baseballbuddha.com. Follow me on Twitter and like my Facebook page! Please share this on your Facebook page and Twitter. I appreciate all the help I can get!
Get yourself some Mississippi Mud whatever that means lol. Go Ole Miss for you.