As some of you may know I have a part-time gig in the spring and summer - I keep score for the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A farm club for the Cincinnati Reds. There are a few of us who rotate so I don't do every game - usually once or twice a week. Last night, as I'm sure you saw all over the national news, was Opening Day at beautiful Slugger Field.
Basically I keep score the way many of us learned as a kid, but much more detailed. What happens on every pitch, where every ball that's put in play ends up, etc. Since I have to see every pitch, I have to pee really fast and I can't leave early. Which on a balmy summer evening is not a problem. But when it's early April and the wind chill at 10 PM is 31 degrees, well, that's less pleasant. (Of course, the game went 10 innings as well. I should have known it was going to be one of those nights when the pre-game skydiver MISSED THE ENTIRE FIELD. Wind, shmind, a baseball diamond is a really big target!)
Other than the toe-numbing cold it was actually a pretty good game. Bats pulled it out in the bottom of the 10th. Ran into a buddy who I hadn't seen in a while, although why he would stay for 9 innings and THEN leave seemed odd. You're already cold, man! Go the distance! Ease his pain! Do it for Moonlight Graham!
It's always fun to see who's back in the minors, or which former Bats have ended up elsewhere. Biggest surprise was that Mark Bellhorn, former Red Sox big leaguer, is the Bats' starting second baseman. Maybe it's the fact that he hit .190 for the Padres last year...hard to say.
Got there too late to check out the food this year - that's never been a strong point for Slugger Field. I get a great seat behind the plate, but sometimes the fried-bologna sandwich aroma is a bit overpowering. And a frosty cold one didn't really sound all that tempting last night. So at least I didn't spend the money I earned on concessions.
My next game is in a few days and the forecast looks promising. Go Bats!
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2 comments:
Can you beat outdoor baseball? Yeah, probably. Still rocks, though, in my book.
While I didn't attend the football, I mean baseball game, I do love opening day. Of course, now it is the second week and the reality of my team sucking arrives (again) but I still love baseball. Also, the mlb.tv deal on mlb.com is great, the quality is better than expected.
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