Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

by Nancy Martin         

I finished my book last week, and after three days, the Deadline Madness tension was still preventing me from sleeping through the night.  My husband had the cure:

Tickets to the baseball game.

You'd think for me, a person who--I admit this with shame--really doesn't know much about baseball, tickets are a waste of money.  But my dear husband often gets access to the fabulous seats owned by his employer, and he's supposed to treat customers to a great night at the ball park. When the customers want to bring their wives, I'm supposed to come along, but I rarely do.  But this weekend, the customer was---our new son-in-law!  (Who works like a fiend in his up-and-coming business related to health care, so he'd going to be a gazillionaire.)  So on Saturday night we took my daughter and s-i-l and headed downtown to the new ballpark here in Pittsburgh, which is so charming I can't tell you. It's like an oldtime ball park, except with modern conveniences like extra bathrooms for women and a magnificient view of the river and the city.

First, we walked along the river before the game to people watch.  Near the ball park is a fountain with a sign that clearly says,  NO SWIMMING OR WADING, but it's full of toddlers in bathing suits.  Two mothers in bikinis dangled their feet in the fountain, too.  Since the city had just announced they were spraying by helicopter for West Nile virus, I thought maybe this was a bad idea, but I didn't offer that opinion aloud.

We got into the ball park and grabbed messy sandwiches.  Pulled pork with pierogies on top.  Im not kidding.  This is Pittsburgh. We're serious about pierogies.

After wiping our hands on a gazillion napkins which really didn't help with the sticky factor (which is not a plug for my new book, honest) we found our seats.  Eight rows back from the visitors' dugout. Let me tell you, there are no better seats to watch the game.  You can hear the players talking. Watch all the action. (There is a lot of re-arranging of--uh--cups, let me tell you.) Even I could follow what was happening in the game. And we helped the visiting Mets fans sing Happy Birthday to Jose Reyes, who was adorably gracious about it.

Thing is, though, even if you don't watch the game, there's something going on to entertain, and I'm not just talking about the funny videos playing on the Jumbotron. 

There's The Wave. (I didn't record this.  Somebody much higher up posted it on YouTube.)

 

And the Pierogi racing. 

  

I told you, we're seriuos about pierogies, didn't I?  Also not totally serious. 

There's also ice cream served in little baseball hats.  

The Pirate Parrot shoots hot dogs into the stands with a potato gun. 

A young woman fainted behind us.  We think she had been "over-served."  The paramedics came and gave her an IV!  Right there in the aisle!  Which didn't look very sanitary, I must say. She revived, and they wheeled her out in a wheelchair, and she was embarrassed. Her boyfriend acted like a hero, though. I think he was digging the role.

Also behind us was a group of attractive young ladies who had previously worked for various sports franchises in some form of--uh--customer service.  We think they were mostly t-shirt girls who helped the give away team merchandise, but we couldn't help overhearing them gossip (THEY WERE RIGHT BEHIND US, ALL RIGHT?) about players and stuff the franchise owners would probably prefer fans not hear about. But I have good material for a future book, letmetellyou.

After the game, we were treated to a concert by Huey Lewis and the News, which was pretty good considering how old those guys are.

And firework!  Here in The Burgh, we do fireworks big. I mean BIG.  It was a great show.  Zambellis, the fireworks family, does shows all over the world, but they're based near Pittsburgh, so they always do huuuuuuge shows for the locals.  I mean, the show at the mall in DC on the 4th of July is kinda puny compared to what they do for us here. And the t-shirt I want most in life is the one that says Pyro Crew. 

We beat the Mets, by the way. Which was also nice.  Although the Mets beat the Pirates the night before and the following afternoon, but we got to see the win.

The big excitement for me was that an unruly fan was chased around the stadium and finally arrested RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I mean, I could have patted him on the head. Except he was totally embarrassed about getting arrested, and I didn't want to make things worse. He was kinda cute, too.  (I'm not dead, okay??) The city cops came and did the honors.  They were very quiet about it, but how can you miss seeing handcuffs slapped on a guy smack in front of you?

When we lived in small towns and our girls were younger, we went to Little League games and swim meets and other summer sporting events where you rub elbows with your neighbors and maybe invite them back to your house for a picnic afterwards, and that's what summer is, right? My husband used to coach our girls in their softball league, and I watched the games with friends, sitting in folding chairs on the hillside. Big fun. But now and then we really enjoy big city life.  A glitzy stadium with the Mets visiting. If this is what empty nesting is like, I'm all for it.

Do you have baseball memories?

By the way: We came home, and I fell into bed and slept for ten hours. Now I'm working on a new book.

Comments

[mary alice at mystery lovers bookshop]

Forbes Field my love...but...you are right.....PNC Park is the bomb.

When lucky, we sit 5 rows behind the owners and my nephew can be heard yelling commands on the radio.

Fireworks.......I can hear 'em from home even if I am not there on the river!

[gaylin in vancouver]

I used to live a few blocks from Nat Bailey Stadium and would go to minor league games on occasion, mostly for really good popcorn and to watch the nice derriere's run around . . . Obviously this was when I was an adult!

I think my brother played baseball when I was little but other than that we lived in tiny towns no where near big league stadiums.

[Reine]

The first time that our granddaughter came to visit us in the US for the first time, what she wanted to do most was go to a baseball game. She had only seen the game in the movies and on TV, so we felt a particular responsibility to do it right. I mean, you know, it would be un-American to do anything but - right?

I loved to sit on The Green Monster at Fenway Park. Seating there was a pretty new option and everyone wanted to be there. We got lucky and scored the tickets. We walked down Avenue Louis Pasteur, crossed the Emerald Necklace and on to the park. Our granddaughter from Denmark was fascinated by the parking attendants directing cars into lots and all the signs warning people, "NO BASEBALL PARKING HERE." She had a hard time with the concept that people had to be told not to park in the tiny Star Market parking lot if they weren't going grocery shopping.

When we were close to the park she smelled the grass. Wow. It's a gorgeous thing, this smell . . . the sounds too, of the gathering crowd. She pointed put all the things she had to have that day, everything she'd seen in the movies. Cotton candy. Peanuts. Beer in a plastic cup. And - a Dodger Dog. Huh?

"Yes, with mustard and sauerkraut . . . please."

"Well, we don't have those in Boston. We have Fenway Franks. They're the same thing"

"Oh. Well good. I want lots of sauerkraut on top."

"Ah . . . well we don't do that in Boston, not in public anyway."

Disappointment mounting, "So they're not the same."

"No. Not exactly. The hot dog and the bun are the same. You can have ketchup, mustard, relish, piccalilli, and chopped onions. Just not the sauerkraut."

"Why not?"

"Because that's how they eat them in the Evil Empire."

Disappointment cresting, "Oh."

"Tell you what, though. When you go to L.A. your father will take you to a Dodgers game, and you can have all the Dodger Dogs you want."

"With sauerkraut?

"Hey, it's L.A. You can have peanut butter and marshmallow with jelly bellies sprinkled on top if you want."

That was the best Sox year ever.

[Josh]

My ex-wife and I went to a Phillies matinee game the day they clinched the division on the way to winning the World Series in 2008, with tickets given to me by my company. Seats weren't bad, we could have gotten a foul if we had moved a little faster, and we had a great time. On the way home, stopped and had dinner at the place where we first hooked up (in 1986), and she drank at least one 22-ounce beer more than I wanted her to. Got home, she was too drunk for sex.

Sort of a microcosm of the last 10 years.

[Nancy Martin]

Gaylin, thanks for the correction. I should have mentioned the derrieres!

Reine, I am not a sauerkraut person. Not even a hot dog person. (How long do they sit on the grill??) But it's different at the ball park.

[Undine]

I'm into horse racing, myself, but it sounds like you baseball people get better food.

And the only fireworks you see at the track is when the 2/5 favorite comes in out of the money.

[Karen in Ohio]

PNC Park sounds like our "new" Reds stadium here, The Great American Ballpark. Named after the Great American Insurance Company, which just built a gigantic (and phallically ugly) building across the road from it. Now the execs don't even have to go to the game, if they don't want to; they can see the game from their offices. But it's the same: right on the river, lovely and open, and with excellent amenities. And overpriced food and drinks.

Fireworks, too, only ours are by the Rozzi family, which also puts on the Labor Day fireworks show here (when there is also usually a Reds game), attended by nearly a million people lining the Ohio River on both sides, for a half-hour show timed to music (rock, classic, opera, whatever) broadcasted on a local rock station, and repeated by a million portable radios and other devices. They televise it, it's so hard to get downtown that day (they block off one of the main bridges because they set off displays there, as well.) Steve's and my first date was to that firework show, the second year they had it (1978), when you could still pull your boat underneath where they shoot the rockets. He endeared himself to me by shielding me from all the debris falling out of the sky.

I think this one is from 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOUMw4SwMhQ

My dad umpired Little League games when I was a kid. I'm the oldest in the family and he was apparently so disappointed I wasn't a boy that he bought me a little flannel baseball uniform when I was two. Little did he know there'd be two boys coming along later.

[Nancy Martin]

Undine, I was at the baseball game and missed the Belmont. When I heard the winner, I realized I hadn't missed much!

[Ramona]

I love the movie Field of Dreams. Does that count?

[Holly Gault]

A childhood friend grew up to become a fireworks display designer. He had a business card reading 'Licensed Pyromaniac.'

[Laura (in PA)]

Baseball is fun. I like going to the Phillies games, with the best mascot ever, the Phillie Phanatic. He's as fun to watch as the game is. The new park here (Citizen's Bank Park - referred to as "The Bank") is great, with great food, a Build-A-Phanatic store, a big Liberty Bell that lights up and rings when the Phillies get a home run, and overpriced drinks. (I honestly can't figure out how people can afford to get drunk at these games. Though they obviously do.) The people watching is so fun, I often forget to watch the game. Our latest brush with fame is that my daughter works with the mother of the kid who ran out onto the field during the game, and got tasered:
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Tasered-Teen-Asked-Dad-for-Permission-to-Run-Out-on-Field-92765679.html

We enjoy going to the minor league Reading Phillies games too. Less traffic, much less expensive, and lots of fun. They have lots of entertainment between innings - shooting hot dogs out of a gun into the stands, and veggie races, which include guys in carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce suits racing (an "eat healthy" promotion). There's even a pool overlooking the outfield so you can swim while you watch, or have a birthday party for your kid. You also can catch some of the big league Phillies players in a game there, when they're coming back from injury or sent down to work on something. It's a fun summer thing to do.

My husband has been a die-hard baseball fan his whole life, plus, since we've moved to this area, everybody is always talking about them, so I've been kind of sucked in.

[Katherine]

The Seattle Mariner's ball park has a fantastic view of the sound, often with a sunset.

They serve garlic fries which can sometimes
be a smelly problem!

I like the idea of a "Pyro Crew" t-shirt.

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

FENWAY! Come to town and we'll all go to a game. I have to admit--I love it. I love going to baseball.

I love how whoever it was figured out that it takes just about exactly as much time to throw a ball from out in the outfield to first base as it does for the batter to run to first base. I see this, mathematically, in my head, and it's endlessly fascinating.

And..you know, adorable, on so many levels. I love the wave, and the proposals on the jumbotron, and the KISS CAM, and getting to eat hot dogs and beer and the calories don't count because it's at Fenway. (Little known fact.)

I love watching the Dads with the kids, and the happy little boys in tee shirts and caps, and the women in sunglasses cheering, and all the beer guys, the the peanut shells on the ground and the sun and the strategy and that we're all there for the same reason and oh, gosh, it's great.

And when Big Papi gets a hit, or Kevin, or ..well, I'm topping now.

I also remember, years ago, thinking it was the most boring thing. Times do change.

[Alan P.]

A childhood friend grew up to become a fireworks display designer. He had a business card reading 'Licensed Pyromaniac.' - LOVE IT!!!

Ramona, I have been to the Field of Dreams field. The field is actually on two different farms. The two farmers do not get along. There are two driveways and two gift shops. One farmer rents bats and balls. The other does not allow rented equipment on his land. He owns the infield. If you will be driving between Chicago and Des Moines, it is worth the detour.

When I was a manager for Domino's I had use of the franchise seats about every three weeks. Section 130, row 14. That would be on a direct line from the beer cooler to first base. Lee Smith was the closer for the Cardinals in those days. When a 6'5" pitcher stands pretty much in front of you, you know it.

At the time I worked for A&M pizza. the M is for Marty. Marty is also known as "Marty the Sign Man" http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/assets_c/2009/07/600_Capitol-thumb-510x286.jpg, http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2004-10-13/news/he-writes-the-signs/. If you sit with Marty, he will buy the beer, but you have to help hold signs.

My cousin was visiting St. Louis from Port Clinton, OH. All of Port Clinton could easily fit in a section of the stadium. The Cardinals were playing the Twins. Tony Gwin was pushing 3000 hits and Mark McGwire was hitting home runs. Marty had his signs. Cousin Zoe was in heaven.

Maybe more later, gotta check the box scores.

[Karen in Ohio]

P.S. If you click on the fireworks link above, fast forward to minute 5:00. At 9:45 you can see why they close both the bridges on either side of the barges.

It would be so cool to be a fireworks designer. How come they never feature that kind of thing on career day at schools? Surely it would make the idea of taking physics more exciting.

[Ramona]

Alan, you break my heart. Fighting on the Field of Dreams? Say it ain't so!

I also like A League of their Own, Bull Durham, Eight Men Out and The Natural. Which means, I like baseball movies, but not actual baseball. Probably because I don't eat hot dogs.

I should probably shut up before I get kicked out of America for these subversive beliefs.

[Laura (in PA)]

A friend of mine, who is a HUGE Phillies fan, and wants to have Chase Utley's babies (which his wife is in the process of doing for the first time), got a remark from a female co-worker yesterday that she was "just like a guy, with all her baseball stuff." Really?

[Harley]

Huey Lewis and the News? They're still around? I named my first car after Huey Lewis!

[Maryann Mercer]

I'm a White Sox fan (which is quite unheard of here in my city...we have a bevy or Card and Cubbie fans(me too), but very few Soxers. Haven't been to a game since they tore down the old Comiskey (oh those Veeck fireworks) and my sis says I'm not missing anything as far as ambiance :o( However, when my dad worked at his Chicago bank, we'd get really good seats to the Sox home games. I crushed majorly on Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox (which tells you how old I am) and loved the hot dogs. When I was in high school, my little group of friends traveled to Comiskey by CTA almost every Saturday for batting practice and the home games. Batting practice meant seeing those Sox up close and personal, which was heaven to four teen-age girls :o) My favorite memory has to do with the year the Cubs made the playoffs. We were visiting my dad (in Florida)on his 90th birthday and went to his favorite restaurant all wearing Cubs T-shirts...the Cubs were playing the Marlins that night :o) Oddly enough, we got applause when we walked in. The waitress took a picture of us which is still one of the best family photos ever. Oh yeah...I think the Cubs won that game but(as usual) got knocked out of the playoffs. Dang that goat!!!!!

[Laura (in PA)]

I love Huey Lewis!

[Mary Stella]

I have too many terrific baseball memories to list them all here, so I'll share my favorite. I've been a Phillies fan in a family of Phillies fans all of my life. Even my grandmother loved the team. During the season, we'd watch them on tv or listen on radio every night. She'd never been to a game in person because of all of the walking involved.

In 1980 (When we were hot contenders and eventually won the World Series.) Dad was offered tickets to seats right in back of the Phillies dugout for an afternoon game. The VIP seats came with parking right under Vet Stadium.

We took Grandma for her 80th birthday. She had more fun than any fan has in the history of baseball, IMHO. The game (against the Padres) went 18 innings. Mike Schmidt hit home runs in two at-bats. Larry Bowa hit an inside the park home run. My brother snagged a foul ball. The Phillie Phanatic ran along the dugout and kissed her. The Phillies won.

The whole game when the players entered or left the dug out, Grandma called hello and yoo hoo to her favorites. Finally, on his way in after a sacrifice single, Garry Maddox smiled and tipped his cap to her. Made her day even more special.

I love baseball, but I've never loved it more than the day I got to share with Grandma and her first game.

[Pam aka SisterZip]

Oh, Ramona, if you haven't seen it, you must watch "For The Love of The Game" with Kevin Costner & Kelly Preston. Not only a great baseball movie (he is pitching the game of his life and trying to decide if he will retire or get traded), it is a pretty good romance movie (shown in flashbacks during the game).

In 8th grade I got "Straight A" tickets from the Cardinals. Actually I had the highest B average and they had a set left, lol. All I remember is sitting on the 3rd base side way out in left field and seeing Lou Brock. I just thought he looked perfect. He now lives around the corner from my cousin, lol.

Dear Hubby's uncle had a newsletter that did the statistics for the Southern Minor Leagues. He was close friends with Bing Devine, general manager for the Cardinals for years. In 1982 he scored press passes for the World Series. Aunt Dell went to the 3 previous home games with him, but decided that she would give Dear Hubby the chance to go to game 7. He said that he didn't care to, but if they didn't mind, I would love it. We sat in the press level (changed to luxery boxes) over the wagon gate in right field at Busch Stadium II. They had the Busch beer wagon with the Clydesdale 8 horse hitch right under our feet. We could look over the edge and there they were. I was so tempted to just jump down on top of the wagon to go around the warning track with Gussie, but I really didn't want to spend the night in jail, lol. The excitement in the stadium was electric. Everyone was happy and excited. At the end of the game...of course, the Cards beat Milwaukee to win the Series (and did not win another until 2006).

Best baseball moment of my life!

[Debby]

I like baseball. Not as much as football, but still. I do prefer going to the Reading Phillies games, for all of the reasons that Laura (in Pa) mentioned. Smaller, less pricey, easier parking, closer to the field, the pool, the fun.

However, I do occassionally get to the big league Phillies games. Not often, tho. A couple years ago, I was near 3rd base and almost caught a foul ball.

Next weekend, June 25th, I will be at the game v the A's. It will be Organ Donor Awareness Night, so I might actually get to be on the field beforehand as part of the event. Sadly, our seats are on the 400 level, so no flies (other than the buggy kind) for us.

[Pam aka SisterZip]

My sister & I are crazy baseball fans. I got free tickets to a game and Dear Hubby didn't want to go. And thank goodness because it went into extra innings. He would have wanted to leave, but we stayed until the very end. We were rewarded with a win and no voices the next day. It was very cool & wet and we yelled ourselves silly. Only about 4k people were left at the end. We didn't get home until about 2am. Had a blast. :-)

[Nancy Martin]

"Licensed Pyromaniac" may be the best business card I ever heard of! Holly, we need him to be a guest blogger someday.

Hank, I forgot to mention the Kiss Cam! It's adorable! I especially love it when they find an elderly couple and the man jumps on his unsuspecting wife.

Mar, I love your Grandma story!

[Karen in Ohio]

Mary Stella, that may be the sweetest baseball story ever. So kind of the Phillies to single out your grandma. My mom is a rabid fan, who doesn't go often, but not even sunstroke can make her leave the game. Seriously. I thought she was a goner.

Isn't it great that the teams sponsor Straight-A nights? Of course, given the taxes we pay for them to stay here, it's the least they can do.

[marie]

Nancy, it looks like you had a great time.

A few neighborhood hunks used to play baseball in the summertime. Adolescent girls used to wait each week to catch a glimpse of them on the baseball diamond.
I have gone to a few Major League games but memories drift to my youth.

[Nancy Martin]

You sure she wasn't "overserved," Karen?

[Joshilyn Jackson]

The ONE time I went to a baseball game I was in Chicago and I am SO sports-hopeless I do not remember who was playing from there, but the other team was the Braves.

I was pregnant and about an hour in the close seating and the yelling---I started feeling...not okay. I went to the bathroom and there was a line out to SATURN.

I was like, PLEASE PLEASE LET ME CUT I AM PREGNANT AND I HAVE A BAD SITUATION ABOUT TO HAPPEN.

And this little trio of friend women had been beering it up and they got very shirty and would not let me, then others started wanting to let me, and then about 9 people in this line were screaming at each other about if they should let me go ahead or NOT and I think it woudl have come to blows if I had not,about 47 seconds into it, started puking all over the floor, at which point, the waters parted as if by magic, and I got to do the second half of my retching into the MOST disgusting toilet EVER INVENTED. Honestly, the floor was better.

Heh.

Never. Been. Back. TO. A SINGLE Sporting Event.

Unless one of my kids was playing. :)

[Carol R]

I've never heard of pierogies so I must be missing something special. So glad you finished the book, I've grown quite fond of Roxie.

[Cathy]

I currently live in DC. I'm very fond of the Nationals' ballpark. It has great sight lines, lots of bathrooms for women, lots of reasonably priced seats and really friendly and efficient staff. It is also metro accessible, and the transit cops and WMATA are very good at directing traffic flow to and from the game. Until this year, they had fireworks most Friday nights. They also have one reasonably cheap food option, and you're allowed to bring in your own bottled water. And of course they have the Presidential race every game where Teddy Roosevelt always gets screwed. "Let Teddy Win" is a favored chant. I try to go to all the Mets/Nats games, although i find them a bit confusing as I was raised a Mets fan.

Favorite memory is from the old Shea stadium. When I worked for the NYC Law Dept., we had an annual outing to the opening day game (at our own, not the taxpayers, expense). We would get the second cheapest tickets. This tended to put us in the sections of the ballpark where some people would get really drunk and unruly. One time, two guys got into a fight and were so drunk they didn't notice they were rolling/bouncing down the concrete steps, followed closely by several security guards and NYPD officers. My supervisor, upon seeing them go rolling by, shouted, oly partly tongue-in-cheek, "Everyone watch closely. If we're potential witnesses, the case can't be assigned to our division if they sue the city"

[lil Gluckstern]

I love baseball, and I loved the pirogie race. I like PNC park to look at. I'm an SFGiants fan, but I can't go to games because of disabilities, so I just watch the games and go traveling vicariously. I just like the rhythm of the the games. I can watch almost any team play, and enjoy myself.

[Nancy Martin]

Carol, honestly, you're not missing much with the whole pierogie thing. They're dumplings filled with potatoes and cheese. It's more the *idea* of pierogies that's fun.

Can't anyone imagine people getting shirty with our Joshilyn? No. No and no. So, they deserved to get their floor puked on.

I make a particular effort not to drink too much at a stadium to avoid the bathrooms there. But I must say the bathroom at the Outback Steakhouse last night was disgusting. If I hadn't eaten first, I don't think I'd have ordered anything else from a place that lets the bathroom get into that kind of longterm state of total horror.

[Donna]

Love, love, love baseball and loved reading everyones stories. Have been a life-long Yankee fan - can't get any better than that. I remember as a child they had something called "Ladies Night" and all females paid $1 for a ticket. They probably can't have something like that now as people would scream discrimination. Loved hearing about the food - periogies - on a sandwich - how funny! Beautiful day here in CT and baseball tonight at 7 PM - great day,
Donna

[Nancy Martin]

Donna, those of us not in NYC can't imagine the Yankees ever letting anyone into the stadium for a buck. Nothing against you, of course. Just saying. Enjoy the beautiful day!

[Nancy Martin]

I am heading out to JoAnn Fabric to find an outdoor fabric (to cover the pad on my white wicker sofa) to go with the gajillion of these Marimekko pillows:
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/outdoor-furniture/pillows/meridian-marimekko-madison-20%22x13%22-indoor-outdoor-pillow/s179020

The deck of my porch is a pale blue/green, and all the furniture is white wicker. Opinions on the fabric would be much appreicated. This is the right color, but I don't think the patturn works with the yellow Marimekko:
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat2143&PRODID=xprd581640

Karen in Oh, are you there??

[peach]

I've just gone through that match the color on cushions and pillows with my mother. I had to make new cushions for her wicker furniture and have been recovering all her pillows. (3 more to go). Not knowing your taste and knowing that the actual colors don't match real life exactly, it's hard to pick. I went for floral on my mother's cushions, with coordinating plaid on some pillows and coordinating striped fabric on others.

I agree that your potential cushion fabric's pattern might be a little too much of one type of pattern. A stripe with some red, yellow and blue/green might be nice. A subtle print with a hint of yellow might be nice. I saw this in a strip which might look good: http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat3261&PRODID=zprd_02301596a and this one is a little off the wall but I really think it might work http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat3261&PRODID=zprd_02301596a

Happy hunting.

[Donna]

I know, a dollar does seem incredible but, of course, I hate to say it but it was about 50 years ago! Ugh! I remember walking to get into the ballpark and one of the players, Moose Skowron (I think that's how he spelled it) was late and was rushing in at the same time. I remember thinking he looked huge - biggest guy I ever saw. You'd never find any ballplayers now walking along with the masses. Hope everyone has a great evening,
Donna

[Nancy Martin]

Today, the baseball players all seem so young to me.

[Reine]

Hi Nancy,

I know what you mean about the hotdogs, but Fenway Franks come fresh from Kayem to the park, go into the steamer at a safe (we hope) temperature, then go on the grill just before serving. I love those hot dogs . . . too much, probably!

[Deb]

Nancy,
The ballplayers today ARE young - they're children, as far as I'm concerned!!

Hi Donna from CT (I'm the one who lives in your town!) When I was growing up, my dad told us that if we weren't Yankee fans, then we were "dirty Commies"! I've never been to a Yankees game (sadly) and have been to only one major league game - a Phillies game back in 1999. It was their last home game of the year, and they won. (I've got a brother in Philly.)
Something about hearing a baseball game in the background on TV or the radio just makes summer seem perfect!

[Becky Hutchison]

LOVE the post, Nancy! You did have the best seats. Lots of gossip, tension, mystery, and excitement. Wow! All my times at the Orioles games are really tame and lame compared to your interesting night out.You get all the luck, girl. ;-D

[Reine]

Nancy,

Oh for a real porch again! And how great to be redecorating porch fabric - sounds wonderful. I love Peach's ideas, and I think Karen in OH will have good thoughts too. Her color sense is brilliant. [That might translate to: When we met we were wearing and surrounding ourselves in the same color scheme.]

[Karen in Ohio]

Heh. Yeah, we were both wearing purple!

Nancy, it would work best if you had something in the room that tied the two together, I think. It's hard to say without seeing it in person; computer monitors are notoriously bad for color matching. Both very pretty, though, and I really like mixing those patterns.

Sorry I didn't answer earlier; I've been gone all day. And found a bathing suit on my first try. I was tempted to shop for a wedding gown without my daughter, but thought that was really tempting fate too much.

[angela pisciotta]

I once went to a Cards game with a guy from work. Well, he got drunk, was loud, obnoxious, bought tickets for the cheap seats and had us move to the box seat,etc. I seriously thought about leaving him there. I didn't speak to him for 3 weeks after this horrible date. We ended up getting engaged the night the Cards won the 82 World Series and this August we'll celebrate 28 years of great married life! Go Cards!

[Mary Stella]

I gotta say that I'm pleased to see so many other Phillies Phans commenting on this blog. Go team! Now that I live in the Keys I don't see many games and we used to have season tickets to the Vet. The last few days have been great, however. First the Phillies played the Cubs so WGN carried the games. For some reason, my local Dish Network carries WGN. Yesterday, today and tomorrow it's Phillies vs Florida Marlins. I'm watching the game as I type this. Go Phillies!

[Reine]

Woah, Angela! what a great way that bad date turned out!

[wholesale jerseys]

I finished my book last week, and after three days, the Deadline Madness tension was still preventing me from sleeping through the night

[Jenny Milchman]

Nancy, your students will gain power from your being there--I know it. I can't wait to hear--maybe another blog post later in the summer will describe how it was...

In the meantime, I love these words, and charge myself with continuing to climb ladders...

[ergo baby carrier]

Today, the baseball players all seem so young to me.