Hunter Steinmetz tied the game at 1 with a solo home run –
– but that was the final run the Bears scored all year. Unfortunately for them, TCU added seven and will continue to play.
I’m still such a child with losing, but I told myself not to cry because of cameras. I’ve been known as Meem my whole life, and I don’t care to flip the final two letters. But no one was looking for me, as far as I can tell.
Starter Doug Still rubbed Tiger Balm on his shoulder between innings, the spicy scent wafting through the dugout. Horned Frogs wandered off the on-deck circle, though it was purple and stamped with “TCU.” The coaches and players noticed. Oh, they noticed.
I didn’t know why, so I stood next to the fire extinguisher where someone had set a pair of headphones on the case. I strained to hear what a commentator might say, but all I heard was something about Mizzou playing.
Stealing signs, maybe.
Sometimes, when I didn’t think the batter would crack the ball into the dugout where I stood, I took out a notebook and I wrote down a question:
“Have I lost my mind? I swear that was a strike.”
The strike zone was indeed unique – on about every pitch – but the batter had to take a swing, too.
Even the most upbeat of Bears had to look away sometimes.
All game I carried a camera and a catch in my throat. The catch became a lump when Elliott Barzilli hit a home run to add three more runs in the top of the ninth. 8-1, TCU. The fans yelled and stomped their feet, the dugout ceiling rumbling in a way I only know from earthquakes.
I took a few breaths so I wouldn’t remember February 22, 2011 again.
Maybe I stopped paying attention before that because Brian Howard – a St. Louisan – pitched for 7 1/3 innings. But as he walked off the field, waving his cap to cheers, I wondered who he was.
Tall, lanky guy. 44. He was a reliever with a couple of good innings, I thought. What’s his deal? I suppose I expected the Bears to score. I don’t notice details sometimes, but the starting pitcher? Or maybe I was just focused on the people in this dugout.
But in the end, we all saw the Horned Frogs.
by 
I had to put my sunglasses back on even though the sun had set.
Yeah … still bright out there