Cast your mind back to Monday 13 March. GB faced the star-studded Colombian team in the World Baseball Classic. Having been run-ruled by Canada the previous day, our optimism had taken a hit, but Drew Spencer’s team pulled off a victory that none of us present will ever forget.
Also, if you cast your mind to Friday 10 March, Ian and John issued this challenge to the GB manager.
Ian continues the story…
If we thought the suits went down well, nothing could have prepared us for the reaction to “Geri Dresses”.
We’ll admit to feeling a little nervous about how a swing state like Arizona might react to two middle-aged men wandering around in micro dresses – so much so, in fact, that we thought to ask some of the police that we met the day before if there was anything we needed to worry about. “No Sir, you just make sure your major assets are covered, and you’re all good.”
[Editor’s note: Are we sure they said, “major”]
We made to sure to get dropped off as close to The Crown as possible this time, but that still meant that we had to cross the road and walk by Willie’s Taco Joint – I guess we would find out pretty quickly what kind of reaction we were going to get… And we were right!
At first, we spotted a few people taking their phones out; this transitioned into cheering and clapping before full-blown applause broke out. I think we posed for two dozen photos before we made it to The Crown (which was only next door).
The reaction there was similar, if slightly more conservative, but once we stepped inside from the terrace and saw Monica, the young lady who’s been looking after us so well all week, the selfie requests and cheering started up all over again. We were even behind the bar at one point!
Whatever happened before we got into the stadium was outshone inside, though. A matter of seconds after we took to our seats on the 3B dugout, we were up on the big screen with “Wannabe” ringing out for everyone to hear.
And during the anthems, we were picked up again, this time on the broadcast. Within minutes, Jomboy Media and a few others were sharing it, and we were being seen all over the world by a whole new audience.
The game itself was incredible. GB did us all so proud. Losing 2-1 to eventual semi-finalists Mexico, who might have expected to pile a few runs on us, was an incredible result. We made sure the guys knew how much we appreciated their efforts, as did every other GB fan that was there.
We made our way down to the dugout – so many players’ families were there, NGB and development agency representatives, and people like Melanie, a GB Baseball Fan who lives over here and took the slightly shorter trip to come and see the guys play.
My voice is almost completely gone from all the shouting and cheering, I’m so grateful for all the people that I’ve met, and it is something that I’ll never forget… And you never know; we just might get to do it all again in 2026!
The whole experience has been completely ridiculous from start to finish, and if this is the last update I send, I hope you all realise how much this trip has meant to me… And even more so because now the world knows all about baseball in Britain. We will be back! #LetsGoGB
Featured image courtesy of Diane Koperniak. Article photos courtesy of @JomboyMedia, and Ian’s Twitter feed.
Ian Blease is a contributor to Bat Flips & Nerds. You can follow him on Twitter @Bleasedog