Bismarck Larks – The Best Entertainment In Town.
Last night at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark the Bismarck Larks were taking on the Mandan Flickertails, the weather was HOT - mid 90's. This was a Northwoods League game that started out as a pitchers duel, then erupted to a Larks 10-1 victory. Last night was 96-5 The Fox's "Day in the sun" as I was chosen to throw out the first ball. There I was standing on the pitcher's mound, confident for about 3.5 seconds right up until my feeble attempt to deliver some heat to the Larks catcher. Let's just say they would have been better off setting up a couple of bowling pins at home plate, for my toss wound up ROLLING towards home plate - HEY at least I got it there right?
Dolly from Cool 98.7 accompanied me to the game and through the gates, we were met by Matt who explained to us the itinerary of the events that I would represent the Fox in, This young man and his sister Kaitlyn are the PERFECT representatives of the Larks, they entertain the crowd between the innings, they take a goof-ball like me out to the mound etc. Their smiles and excellent attitude is addictive, I watched the crowd when these two were doing their job and it was a true delight to see so many people having a good time, with their families - all in part to Matt and Kaitlyn. Of course, Clark The Lark ( Lark's mascot ) was out and about patrolling the stands and going out onto the field helping out as well.
My favorite part of the evening was going up into the broadcasting booth - top of the 4th inning, and sitting in with Ryan Klimcak - a talented up and coming sports broadcaster. Ryan and the 2 others that were in the booth are interns. Ryan's job takes a skill set that very few people have. When you hear a polished sportscaster - it SOUNDS easy doesn't it? Here is the insane part Ryan is all alone, on-the-air supplying play-by-play, color, AND he keeps score ( that alone is hard ). I had a blast, watching a true pro at work. Keep your eyes on this Chicago man - He's destined for glory! Thank you, Ryan, for having me on with you for that 4th inning, Thank you, Matt and Kaitlyn, and the whole staff for making baseball FUN.