USF Summer Baseball Blog No. 22 - Jordan Remer
July 27, 2009
Freshman left-hander Jordan Remer writes to us from Bend, Oregon, where he is pitching for the Bend Elks.
Baseball has always been a key component every summer since I started playing. When I was younger it was just a few games, but it started to get more serious as I became more serious about baseball. Each summer, more games were added to the schedule, and slowly baseball began to take over. Well, the trend continued. This is definitely the most baseball I've played in one summer, and against the best competition.
Before college started, I had never been away from home for more then a couple weeks, and the same goes for most college students when they first go to school. The difference is that most college students go home for the summer, but I have been given the opportunity to have some of the most fun playing baseball everyday in a small town named Bend, Oregon. The town itself is beautiful; due to its elevation it is strangely similar to Tahoe. There are trees everywhere, its nice and hot (today got up to 95) and there is a big, slow river that runs right through town that everybody floats down on inner tubes to spend time with friends. One of the perks of playing baseball in Bend is that everybody has heard of the Bend Elks baseball club.
Bend has had the Elks for ten years, but before the Elks there were the Bandits, and before them there was another team and so on, so there is a tradition of baseball in the town. Jim Richards, who happens to be USF alum (GO DONS!), has been the owner of the Elks for the past ten years and has made many contributions to the town. The players favorite contribution that Mr. Richards has given the community is called "$2 Tuesdays!" where tickets are $2, beer is $2 and hot dogs are $2. The reason the players like it so much is because every Tuesday night game routinely brings over two thousand fans to come watch us play.
This is my first experience living with a host family as well. My "host-parents" are so nice; they're an older couple with a son that is around thirty. He is a retired hand-surgeon and she is a potter. They are an interesting couple, but they love baseball and take really good care of me and Pete. The refrigerator always has food, they have the ultimate cable TV package, and all they ask for in return is for us to be clean. Clean our rooms, keep our laundry clean, clean our dishes and put them in the dishwasher. The only problem is that neither Pete nor I have a car, and since the host family keeps themselves quite busy, we ask for rides from players everyday. It can get a little old asking the same 3 players for rides everyday, but they understand and really don't mind.
Previous summer ball experiences have been driving all around to this tournament or that game, maybe a hundred fans at the championship game. But nothing compares to having thousands of people watch you play baseball, and then have thirty kids ask for your autograph when the game ends. When people see you walking around with an Elks shirt on, they ask if you're on the team. My roommate Pete Levin (who is transferring to USF in the fall) was in a Big 5 and the cashier wanted to just give Pete the undershirt he was trying to buy. The Elks are a part of Bend, and the players are loved. Being recognized by complete strangers beats my old summer ball experience. I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer brings, and I can't wait to do it all over again.