Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I remember as a child sitting on the couch with my dad watching baseball.  My dad was a devout Phillies fan.  One year we had made the pilgrimage to Cooperstown, NY to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  I was in elementary school and let me tell you I was bored to tears.  We would also eat hot dogs and ice cream in the little plastic helmets at Reading Phillies games under the blazing sun.

This is the 2008 World Series trophy that traveled around last year for fans to view.  If you can't tell, I was frozen.  All I remember from that night was that it was very, very cold (hence my three layers of clothing) and the unbelievable line of people to have their picture taken with the trophy.

My husband who is not a sports fan bought season tickets to see the minor league team that now resides close by. And now for the third year in a row, we will sit and enjoy the games with friends.  We will sit in the same seats that we have occupied since the team's inaugural game in the new stadium. Tonight marks the night of the start of the season with the team's first home game.

The boys will ogle the players girlfriends or groupies, people will dress up in their outrageous outfits, drunks will heckle, and we will gorge ourselves on rare occasions on hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, and maybe a beer or two.  We will chat with friends that we have made with other ticket holders around us, sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the 7th inning, and we will once again question repeatedly why they don't sell Cracker Jacks at the stadium.

I have to say it was pretty boring last year compared to the previous year when their outfielder threw a temper tantrum, cursed the umpire, and then went into the dugout and threw a bat onto the field. He was ejected of course.  Needless to say he had a wee bit of a temper.  His outburst was the highlight of the game.  There was also the night they went through almost all of their pitchers and the first basemen was sent in to pitch and struck out two or three players in a row.  We still joke that he probably has the best pitching average in the league. Sad, but true.

Of course there was the flying bat incident last year.  Beware of flying balls and bats reads the signs.That would be good to remember. That is also why when we take the girls this year, we will be sitting on the lawn on a blanket far from flying projectiles (except of course for the occasional t-shirt or koozie).

Hopefully, there will also be no need to remind any overzealous fans whose mouth gets away from them that it is afterall just a game (and that there are little kids present).  If you have a blue mouth (yes, that means you, Mr. Yankee Man), watch out for flying balls, bats, and mad mamas.

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