Taking Names and Keeping Score
My hat's off to all of them
Charlie Anderson
Unless you have been out of town for a protracted length of time, living in a vacuum sealed chamber somewhere or in a comatose state for the last couple of weeks, you know by now that Thomasville is currently hosting its third Dixie Pre- Majors World Series in the past five years.

The festivities began last Friday, July 27 with another outstanding banquet and opening ceremonies complete with a grand fireworks show. Since then it has been all baseball with teams from eleven states and the host Thomasville team getting things underway with six games on Saturday, July 28, being divided between the Thomasville High School Field and Tucker Field. The double elimination tournament involves the playing of twenty-two games over the course of six days with the possibility of a twenty third game needing to be played should the undefeated team going into game twenty two be defeated by the team entering the game with one loss.

The planning and preparation for such an event doesn't start a couple of weeks before things get underway but begins months in advance as all of the logistics of housing the visiting teams; lining up umpires; securing score keepers, announcers and other staff required for the event takes place.

In the weeks immediately leading up to the actual opening date there is a lot of physical work that goes on making sure the playing surfaces are in the best condition they can be and that lights, scoreboards and sound systems are in place and in working order. Of course gathering the necessary supplies for the event such as baseballs, scorebooks, diamond dry, sand, replacement clay, and tarps just to mention a few, are all critical to the smooth flow of the tournament once it is underway, especially in case rain or other weather conditions that might cause delays or postponements.

Although Dixie Baseball has a number or National and individual State officials that come to offer a helping hand in the actual playing out of the tournament, for the most part all the multitude of functions that are required to ensure that things run smoothly fall on the shoulders of the Thomasville Recreation Department and some of the other city departments.

Just as they have done in each of the previous events like this, including both the other World Series and all the State Tournaments, these people and the army of volunteers they have enlisted to help them have done a wonderful job. As I have encountered visitors from these other states this week, all of them have been noth- all of them have been nothing but complimentary about the way things have been run and the hospitality they have received during their stay here.

Besides the obvious economical boost the World Series has brought to our community over the past two weeks with a lot of out of town visitors spending money on hotels, food, gas and plethora of other things, who knows what good exposure through an event like this might mean in the future. If nothing else having the folks who come to Thomasville from these other states be able to go back home with a good feeling about their experience here has to make us all feel proud.

With that said let me be the first to tip my hat to all of you involved in making this years' World Series another great success and thank you for demonstrating once again what a special place the town we call home is.

Until next time.....be safe!

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