last friday night i went to my very first professional baseball game. (actually, it might have been my first professional sporting event ever. i’m pretty sure the hockey games i’ve seen were all minor league or college.) because it was my first game, we splurged (a little) and got nice seats–second deck, mostly behind first plate. it was fun! i enjoyed the atmosphere of being in a large stadium with 80,000 other, mostly happy people. i enjoyed the indoor/outdoorness of it (it feels like an enclosed building, but then birds and butterflies fly through to remind you that the ceiling is open). i have to say that having not grown up in a sporty family, i still mostly enjoy the fluffy crowd-pleasing schlock they cram into the edges of games to make them more “entertaining”–i like that the mascot slid down a huge, spiral slide every time a home run was hit. i like that they shot off fireworks every time a home run was hit (i learned that it’s true–they’re much less impressive when it’s still light outside). i enjoyed the sausage races during the 7th inning stretch. i even enjoyed watching the “zamboni” crew that came to clean up the field between innings (i know they’re not zamboni’s when it’s not hockey, i just don’t know what they’re called in other sports.) i also enjoyed having mr. h-s beside me, with his arm around me, patiently explaining stuff i didn’t understand and pointing out what the cryptic notes on the scoreboard meant. we almost got beaned with a foul ball on the way to buy snacks (that was exciting!) and we got free “collectible!” bobblehead dolls on our way into the stadium. best of all, the home team won and it was a good game–both teams scored, but not close enough to go forever in extra innings. oh, and one guy’s bat broke, that was exciting!
