Yep, finally home. I was coming down off a big high--we won a doubleheader; I went 2 for 3 the first game, 1 for 3 the second, scored all three times I was on base, and had an assist and a putout.

But I got my come-down. Tonight was the final, I-really-am-leaving-tomorrow get-together for my friend John and the group of friends he's assembled here. And that was tough. We gathered at a pub, had some beer and potato chips and other bar fare, and just enjoyed being together one last time. I see most of these people a couple of times a week anyway, but John kind of became the heart and soul of the group. Well, that's not entirely true. John was probably the soul. We've still got the heart, and she'll be around a while.

John said a lot of things that made me think, but I'll save those things for another time. Suffice it to say, for now, he's going through a lot right now, and they're things we all need to consider, and he looks at those issues from a perspective I've never seriously considered before. Right now, frankly I need to just cry and get it over with, but it's been a really long time since I've been able to just do that.

There are some friends you just wish you spent more time with when you had the chance. It's not like I'll never see John again--he's got family here, so he's been coming to St. Louis a couple times a year his whole life and doesn't expect that to change. But it'll never be quite the same again.

I need to find a way to not make that same mistake twice.