At the Old Ball Game

Yesterday I came home from an eight hour shift at work to the delightful smell of burritos and a fresh Schlafly Summer Lager.  Then Dad says, "Remember when we went to the baseball game where we sat right behind the dugout?"  "Yes!  That was so much fun!"  "Well, I got them again.  I think we should all go, tonight."  "It's tonight?!  Yeah, let's go!"  So we ate dinner rather quickly and jumped in the car to go.  Last minute, at it's finest.

It had been raining on and off all day, but the game was still on, as scheduled.  We parked a few blocks away from the stadium and upped our step counts walking in.

It was a beautiful night for a game: slightly overcast in the fifties with a slight breeze.  We walked down to our section and the usher wiped the rainwater from our seats.  We were in rich man's land, now.  Both Dad and I had only been to the new stadium once before, and Mom didn't think she had ever been, so it was fun scoping everything out.  Dad found the pitcher speed gun and I learned about how different speeds correlate with different pitches.  He also explained a strategy the other team was using to essentially force outs.  The shortstop moves over in between first and second and the pitch goes to a certain spot that makes the ball go right to him.  

The game went by surprisingly fast, with whole stretches of innings going by one, two, three.  We ended up leaving in the middle of the seventh to avoid the exit crowds, but listened to the win on the radio during the ride home.  What a fun night!

(photos by e.hunt)