Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Roger and Me. And My Daughter.
So the proprietor of this fine blog finally made it out to a 2005 Diamondbacks game last night, joining nearly 32,000 fans at the BOB to watch the division-leading Diamondbacks take on Roger Clemens and the Houston Astros.
Want to know why there weren't more fans at the game?
BECAUSE THEY WERE STUCK AT THE TICKET WINDOWS!
Seriously, I bet there are people outside BOB this morning still trying to get tickets to last night's game.
My daughter, exhibiting tremendous patience (probably because she didn't want to do anything to jeopardize her shot at the promised cotton candy), and I waited in line to buy tickets for 40 minutes. I don't know if it was the library's "Read Your Way To The Ballpark" promotion (which got my daughter into the game for free), or computer problems, or people who were somehow trying to pick out the perfect seat when the game was in the 2nd or 3rd inning. But by the time I got our tickets, walked all the way around to right field, bought the cotton candy, and swiped my Diamondbackers card, it was the top of the 4th inning.
So I missed the only semblance of offense the Diamondbacks could muster against Clemens. Aside from the slight hope engendered in the bottom of the 6th, the D-Backs looked way overmatched against Clemens. Just bad.
Which isn't too say that the Astros looked much better against Claudio Vargas, who actually struck out 9 batters (as compared to Clemens' 8). But the Astros were slightly luckier with the placement of the batted balls and the timing of those hits, and by the time my daughter and I headed down to the play area at the end of the sixth inning (already an hour past my daughter's typical bedtime, it was 2-1 Astros.
I got out of the parking garage just in time to hear Lamb's homerun to put the game away, 3-1 Astros and pull into our driveway just as the first few drops of rain began to rearrange the dust on the windshield.
I tried to explain to my daughter who the big stocky guy who looked like a typical 43-year-old running out a bunt but was an amazing pitcher was (showed her his picture in the Republic this morning), and why we were sad when Gonzo seemed to have some difficulty with the Biggio double that drove in the go-ahead run.
But best of all, after peppering me with the same question or two about why "the guy" was out when the other guy "caught the ball," she explained perfectly to my wife that "when the guy catches the ball before it hits the ground, the guy who hit the ball is out."
She's a ways away from writing for Sports Illustrated, but it was still cool. Made the ticket lines and the 3 innings of actual baseball worth it...
Want to know why there weren't more fans at the game?
BECAUSE THEY WERE STUCK AT THE TICKET WINDOWS!
Seriously, I bet there are people outside BOB this morning still trying to get tickets to last night's game.
My daughter, exhibiting tremendous patience (probably because she didn't want to do anything to jeopardize her shot at the promised cotton candy), and I waited in line to buy tickets for 40 minutes. I don't know if it was the library's "Read Your Way To The Ballpark" promotion (which got my daughter into the game for free), or computer problems, or people who were somehow trying to pick out the perfect seat when the game was in the 2nd or 3rd inning. But by the time I got our tickets, walked all the way around to right field, bought the cotton candy, and swiped my Diamondbackers card, it was the top of the 4th inning.
So I missed the only semblance of offense the Diamondbacks could muster against Clemens. Aside from the slight hope engendered in the bottom of the 6th, the D-Backs looked way overmatched against Clemens. Just bad.
Which isn't too say that the Astros looked much better against Claudio Vargas, who actually struck out 9 batters (as compared to Clemens' 8). But the Astros were slightly luckier with the placement of the batted balls and the timing of those hits, and by the time my daughter and I headed down to the play area at the end of the sixth inning (already an hour past my daughter's typical bedtime, it was 2-1 Astros.
I got out of the parking garage just in time to hear Lamb's homerun to put the game away, 3-1 Astros and pull into our driveway just as the first few drops of rain began to rearrange the dust on the windshield.
I tried to explain to my daughter who the big stocky guy who looked like a typical 43-year-old running out a bunt but was an amazing pitcher was (showed her his picture in the Republic this morning), and why we were sad when Gonzo seemed to have some difficulty with the Biggio double that drove in the go-ahead run.
But best of all, after peppering me with the same question or two about why "the guy" was out when the other guy "caught the ball," she explained perfectly to my wife that "when the guy catches the ball before it hits the ground, the guy who hit the ball is out."
She's a ways away from writing for Sports Illustrated, but it was still cool. Made the ticket lines and the 3 innings of actual baseball worth it...
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