Baseball 2021

Our Night of Baseball

topdogStories 2 Comments

Last week, we went to our first Spokane Indians baseball game since 2019. It was a good night for baseball.

Last year's season had been cancelled because of the Kung Flu. The team took the opportunity of a lost season to make some changes.

They moved into a new league, doubling the number of games. More games meant an earlier start to the season, moving from a comfortable mid-June to an often chilly early May.

They also instituted changes to accommodate government regulations on Kung Flu, which I detailed in an earlier post.

Fortunately, I was not required to wear a stupid mask.

The result of filling only 25% of the stands is an unnaturally quiet evening of baseball. I should have brought a book to read. It's hard to make money in the minors if you can't fill the stands, so I hope this lunacy ends soon.

Making Foul Balls Look Easy

As we sat in our seats, virtually alone in our section, one of the batters hit a foul ball. It carried over the barrier net and landed right behind us. The Missus jumped up to grab it as it skittered around.

I remained sitting. It wasn't worth spilling my beer for a baseball, but I kept my eye on it as it pin-balled around the seats behind us. Eventually I reached back casually and scooped it up as it slowly rolled past my seat.

It was at that moment that tragedy struck: some of my beer sloshed over and spilled on my leg and the concrete below.

The crew at the stadium have a standard practice with foul balls. They run to wherever it came down in order to check that everyone is okay.

They saw me crying uncontrollably and came to investigate. When I told them what happened, they didn't seem very concerned.

Doubling Down

This was the second foul ball I've corralled in my baseball watching career. I'm proud to say I never left my seat for either ball. I go to these games for leisure, not to field stray balls.

foul balls

Insert obligatory "my balls" joke here.

It wasn't a bad night for baseball. The temperature was unseasonably warm for early June, in the upper 80's.

We left early, after the seventh inning, but we have a good excuse.

Our habit these days is to wake up early in the morning around first light (a little before 5 a.m.), and by 8:30 in the evening, we're usually a bit wiped out. Add a couple beers and I start having trouble keeping my eyes straight, and open.

I'm getting old. But that's not news, either.

Comments 2

  1. I got a foul ball at a minor league game, way back in time. This was when you could bring in your own food and beer. Nothing like warm, cheap beer (so bad the headache started before the buzz) and 10 for a $1 loss leader hot dogs from the local supermarket.

    Good times.

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