Ah, life's a ball in the bus leagues

When their bus broke down after dark in rural Alabama, the Jacksonville Suns knew they were in for a long night.

By noon Saturday, having spent 12 sticky hours snacking on candy and sleeping on sheets spread out over the pavement of a gas station parking lot, the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers knew just how bad it was.

"A lot of guys are sort of dazed right now," Suns radio announcer Joe Block said from a replacement bus on the outskirts of Atlanta.

Fortunately for the worn-out Suns, their game Saturday night at home against Orlando was postponed because of the transportation problem. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader Sunday.

Players often call the minors the bus leagues because of the long hauls. For good reason, as the Southern League Suns found out.

The whole ordeal began Friday night when Jacksonville lost its sixth straight game, 3-2 to the Birmingham Barons. The Suns packed up and left the ballpark in Hoover, Ala., around 10:30 p.m. CDT and settled in for what they expected to be a 12-hour ride.

But about 35 miles east of Birmingham, the bus had trouble going up a hill and pulled over near Pell City. A repairman was summoned and began working on the bus shortly before midnight.

"We kept thinking we were going to leave soon," Block said. "But we never did."

Trouble was found in a fuel connection, and the Suns were told they were stuck. And there wasn't much relief in sight on a humid, sticky night.

The Suns tried without luck to find another bus in Birmingham or Atlanta.

"We called a couple of companies, but they said it was prom night, and all of them were rented," Block said. Eventually, another bus was located -- but it was about 430 miles away, back in Jacksonville.

Copyright C 2003 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.