Great night for baseball

A half moon hangs in the sky. An 85 degree night with no threat of rain. Another great night for baseball. I am in heaven, quite literally, the upper deck at the far corner of the left field seats for the third game against the LA Dodgers. Our view is the wide angle lens shot of the field, less intimate and immediately compelling than other places I've sat, so it takes time to settle in and focus. Fortunately, tonight I am joined by Peter, Isaac and Joe, 3 absolute Baseball aficionados, who trade colorful commentary past present, even future. On either side of me I am treated to 'BSL" Baseball as a Second Language. At one point, Isaac is describing a game that he saw, and though I know all the words he is using, the meaning is opaque to me. At this moment I wish that I had a tape recorder to document this language sample.

As a child, my father would listen to the Pittsburgh Pirates games in the car, but because all I knew was that he wanted us to be quiet, I did not appreciate how dear this experience was to him. I don't remember him ever actually attending a game, and don't remember ever being taken to one, so in looking back am sad of this lost opportunity to share my father's love of listening to the color commentators. for a team that was in it's prime.  I can only now imagine the rapturous melody of a skilled announcer who could convey excitement through the speakers of the radio in our Buick stationwagon. : "And it's a high ball to center.........it's over the head of the center fielder..........it'sA HOME RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The first 5 innings go quickly, up down, up down. Cole Hamels pitches brilliantly  letting  in one hit that goes nowhere for the Dodgers. But the Phillies are not hitting either, so we wonder if this will be another long game.
Then  Ryan Howard is up to bat. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. And it's a high ball to center...it's over the head of the center fielder..its A HOME RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 NOW we have a game as both teams start  hitting. Along the way the Phillies produce some excitement with 2 elegant triples.  Triples are about the running: there is always the tension as the runner bolts around second-will he try for third base? Home? Will the fielder be able to throw it in time for an out?
The Dodgers pitcher walks several runners. With the bases loaded, 2 outs, a 3-2 count  the fans are on our feet cheering, cheering, cheering. The batter swings, "it's a flyyyyyyyyy ball................... ...............caught by the center fielder". Like a balloon deflated, we settle back into our seats. The stadium is quiet again.
The Dodgers challenge Hamels with some hits, but he fights back with strike outs to retire them for another inning, for a total of 8 innings.
The Phillies do score one more with what I learn is as close to a 'suicide squeeze play' as I am  likely to see, a close slide to home, safe at the plate. Another chance to stand and yell. The Dodgers never recover, and with no runs in the top of the 9th inning, the game is over. Smiles all around.  Phillies 2, Dodgers 0.

A postscript: We pour into the Broad Street subway line that is always waiting for us after the game. The train is crowded, not just with the red and white of the Phillies fans, but also with fans carrying programs from the "Glee" concert. I get some vicarious pleasure from hearing the reports of the concert, which I had considered going to until I found out the price. One man with a program said, "It was good" and the woman he was with said, "It was fantastic, he's lying". One family has come from Baltimore, another man from New York.
"Isn't the show playing in New York?", I ask him. "Oh, I saw it there, too! With all the teenage girls, gay guys, and women who could drag their boyfriends."

What I've seen since 2010

Here is what I enjoyed during the OlympicsFri. Feb 19 Compulsory Ice Dancing,
Sat. Feb. 20, Russia/Slovakia Women's Hockey,
Sun. Feb 21 Original Dance-Ice Dancing,
Mon. Feb 22 4 concurrent matches Women's Curling,
Tues. Feb 23 Ladies' ski cross, Ladies' skating short program Weds.Feb 24 Women's Speed Skating

2010
 Philadelphia Flyers Stanley Cup games on TV
Seven Philadelphia Phillies baseball games at Citizens Bank Park, 
One Yankees game in New York October 6, 2010
NLDS HISTORIC Game One of the playoff series with the Cincinnati Reds, OCT 17  23  
National League Pennant: Game Two Phillies 6-Giants 1, Game Six Giants 3- Phillies 2
Nov 15 Eagles vs. Redskins 59-28

So far in 2011 
March 30 76ers basketball, April 6 Phillies vs Mets
April 6 Phillies and Mets
May 4 Philies and Nationals  10-7
May 25 Phillies, Cincinnatti Reds  5-4

The 19th Inning Win-The Game That Would Never End

A beautiful night for a game, the third against the Cincinnatti Reds. Peter, Gabriela, Barbara and I settle into our seats in the 416 section, just where I like them, high above the first base line just to the right of homeplate.
We look forward to Roy Halladay's pitching, and hope for some good hitting. As the Phillies hold onto a slim 3-0 lead for a good part of the game, Halladay's pitching is erratic, finally letting in 3 runs. And then the fun begins. Inning after inning the teams battle it out. First the Reds get a run, then Ryan Howard belts one out for a homerun. And then..... Well just look.
Peter jokes about the  game that he brought Gabby to that lasted 13 innings. We laugh again as the innings pile up. First 13, then we are introduced to the "14th inning Stretch!"...Singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for the second time as if we are punch drunk at a New Year's Eve party...

It's also as if we are seeing a double header, but of course it is the SAME game. The teams volley back and forth with some base hits, and even bases loaded at one point for the Phillies.

Soon they let all of us in the upper stratosphere move down one level, since more than half of the crowd has left. It is astonishing that so many of us are still there. I think after the 14th inning stretch there was a sense of accomplishment at reaching that milestone, so why not stay until the end of the party. The mood begins to fade between the 14th and 16th when inning after inning, neither the Phillies nor the Reds can produce anything resembling a run. The mood makers bring out every silly inspirational movie and tv clip from Rocky to Animal House.

We begin to hear from the announcers about the longest Phillies game (21 innings in 1918 against the Cubs-The Cubs won it in Chicago). We wonder if this one will approach that. I wonder if we will have a 21st inning stretch! The music picks up and many of us are standing for every pitch. It seems also that the Phillies, who have gone through at least 4 relief pitchers after Halladay left in the 8th inning have no pitchers left. Kendrick hit a batter. He's out. Bastardo lets in a run. He's out. Madson does pretty well, then Baez who manages to keep the Reds in check. Then Valdez!!!??? A  position player who steps in as a pitcher. (the last time he pitched was in college ball)

The fans light up again,cheering on this quirk in the pitching lineup and the mass rotation of player positions as the catcher becomes the third baseman and others around the field take some new positions.

Quote of the game by a 6 year old seeing his first game. He had many great questions for his dad throughout, but this was the best  "Where is Roy Halladay? Did he go home?"

And so, finally, in the bottom of the 19th inning, it takes a sac fly by Raul Ibanez (Raooooooooooooool) to  break the spell. How? It is only the 2nd out, so Jimmy Rollins on 3rd base is able to tag and run home. Barbara and I don't even realize the game is over until we see the Phillies pour out of the dugout and start the celebration.

Final Score  Phillies 5 Cincinnatti Reds 4

A cold night for Baseball

A cold night for baseball, almost football weather, so we bundled up in winter jackets, and huddled under a fleece blanket for the second of three games against the Washington Nationals. This was the first of the series of 6 pairs of tickets that I bought on another cold day in December. The seats were literally 'out in left field', a new vantage point for me. To see the big screen, we had to turn out heads behind us, which though at first annoying, I realized meant that for most of the game, I was watching the game instead of the screen.

For the first 5 innings, the game was slow, with few hits on either side..

A new season of baseball

Overheard at the game by the men behind me
A: Ike Davis, he's a 1/2 Jew. His mother's Jewish
B: Then he's a full Jew
A: No! Really?
B; That's the rule. Look it up
 ----------------------
A: What's the name of your team
B:  The Muts
:

Sitting in the 309 section of the ball park for the first time this season, I've arrived early enough to take it all in once again: the checkerboard patterns of the field, the stands slowly filling up with 45,000 fans, the cool spring air on a cloudy, but dry night. And I am thrilled.

Tonight I am by myself because my friends are in the 306 section. I consider going there, but frankly would rather be alone in a better seat than move over 3 sections. So, I take stock of who my neighbor fans are for the evening.
To the right is a nice couple who introduce themselves as members of Hosts for Hospitals, the organization that coordinated the tickets for the evening. Behind me a group of men in their 50/60s, one of whom is a diehard baseball and Mets fan, the team the Phillies are playing tonight. He is  a New Yawker, loud opinionated, knowledgable about baseball, which comes in handy later in the game,..
In front are soon to be a group of 20 somethings, there less to see the game than to drink and flirt fawn over each other as they drape themselves across each others laps for pictures.. THere is one woman in particular who could seem to care less about the game.

This is a night of hits and home runs, where the Phillies lead 7-0 after the 4th inning. I decide to walk around a bit, do some shopping, go to the bathroom and I hear groan after groan after groan. When I return to my seat the score is 7-5! And then in the 5th inning, the Mets get 2 more runs.

Blanton has fallen apart and is taken out of the game, which in the 6th inning has become a real game again.. But while he played he hit a single down the 3rd base line for 2 RBIs.

Meanwhile, the young woman in front of me who could care less about what is happening on the field has gotten out of control. She drapes herself all over her friends, stands up and blocks the view. We all watch with amazement, including the family with the 3 year old directly in back of her. The staff person calls her out, and I suppose gives her a good talkin' to, which doesn't help much as she returns to her seat and proceeds to drink more beer. Her woman friend is visibly embarrassed, but the men are eating it up.

But I digress! The 6th inning.and we we sit once more on the edge of our seats, counting every strike and ball, waiting for the runs to come in.
The Phillies don't disappoint, with 3 more runs including a home run.

The final score is 10-7, a satisfying night.. Not only did I get to stand up and scream, but when I clapped with all my might, it didn't hurt my hand.

A wonderful way to celebrate a year after my accident on March 21.