Phantastically Phrustrating Phun game with Phriends

Tonight, or rather last night, or rather this morning's game was the third time I've gotten to stand up for a 14th inning stretch! And each time we won, so the several thousand of us diehard fans who stayed sang  the traditional "He's got High Hopes" as more of a scream than a song.

The game ended at 12:15 am with a win for the Phillies in the bottom of the 15th inning, but not before Peter, Joe, Marc and I had moved down to the 300 section with some other wonderful rowdy folks who cheered and jeered and screamed and sang "Take me out to the ballgame" for the second time.

Baseball story now archived at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish History

The museum is right across the street from Independence Visitors' Center and the Liberty Bell Plaza, which is where I ended up on July 4 (not the pool you ask? it was too chilly). The museum admission was free, so decided this was a good time to see the Baseball exhibit.
It is a sweet exhibit, with some interesting Jewish ball player lineages and a diagram of the diamond and field with the positions labeled in Yiddush.

But on the second floor is a booth to share stories. To get you started there is a video of two wonderful welcoming people giving directions in the most charming way-'You'll do great" the cheer you on.

The stories can be about history, family and of course Bezbawl. Here is the story I told
http://s3.amazonaws.com/nmajh-live/data/iys/videos/3/20073_640_360_25_544k.mp4

Who says baseball is boring?

After a lackluster first few games that I've attended, I am a bit apprehensive about going to the game, so to clear my mind I concentrate on the sights and sounds and the people that I meet. Leaving early enough around 5:15 allows me to stroll to the subway to enjoy the splashes of red and white shirts, hats and backpacks that weave through the subway cars as we all board the Orange Line to the ballpark. Then at the end of the line, stepping out of the station, I am thrilled by the sounds of the ticket barkers-  "Have a ticket" Need a ticket", the food vendors-"buy your water here, it's $4.50 in the park, buy it for $1.00 here" "Pretzels, hot pretzels", crowds at the sports bar across the street. It all brings a smile to my face. A darling couple with tickets in hand for Diamond Club seats 11 rows behind home plate-tell me that the tickets are a retirement present from their son. "Who's pitching", I ask? "Cole Hamels"  A woman with a Phillies RBI shirt explains the Phillies youth sports for boys and girls that she coaches.

It is all grand. I am slowing down, easing into another game as I find my seat that is the usual birds eye view of home plate, and panoramic view of Philadelphia. The weather-perfect. The friends who have joined me-perfect.

Let's play ball.

You can read the sports writers play by play for a better description of the game, but for me it is one of those 'sit on the edge of your seats' evenings. Most notable are the tremendous diving catches in the outfield and breathtaking balletic outs at  the infield. Cody Asche at 3rd dives to stop a line drive in its tracks and later jumps like a basketball player with his arms stretched as high as he can to catch another.

Ben Revere

End of game 14th inning

A nice steal adds to the drama, and an unfortunate hit to Carlos Ruiz' head another. But of course the most tension filled parts of the game are the 5 extra innings that could go either way several times. The pitchers take charge and do their job, including Papelbon, ( who seems to have changed his entrance music to something even louder than before). There are many chances to be heroes to make that final hit to bring in the run, but the one most deserving for that honor is Chase Utley, who drives in a runner with a home run to right field.

 The final joyous score-Phillies 5  Marlins 3

But wait, the night (or morning by this time) is not over. The field is cleared, the lights turned off in preparation for fireworks.

To use a tried and true phrase: We are blown away.
These are the best choreographed fireworks I have ever seen, from bombastic to quiet, from patriotic to pop, the music and lights mesh perfectly.

Happy happy happy.

At last a clear night for baseball 2014

Peter, Ron, Gayle, Tobie with Phillies sunglasses

Though there are clouds and a chill at noon, the sky turns blue and lovely for the evening. I think about the anticipation, trying to analyze the indescribable once again as I walk to the subway garbed in Phillies T and hat and a bit of a spring in my step. The Phillies are last in the division and I still feel excited. Go figure.

Trout Jerseys-all the fashion trend

To my puzzlement, at the ballpark 1000s of fans are wearing Angels T shirt with the number 27 on the back. How could there be so many LA Angels fans here tonight and why is everyone so enamored of.........oh I get it- that's Mike Trout's number. And he came from Millville NJ, 35 minutes outside of Philly. Turns out the shirts were made special for this evening's 'homecoming' of sorts, as 8000 Millville fans stream into the park to cheer on their hometown hero.

Even I know about Mike Trout, the 22 year old phenom. Here's a piece from a news article:

"You can feel the energy on Main Street at Jim's Lunch, where Jim Maul's family has served the locals since 1923. "Hey, anyone going to Mike Trout's game Tuesday night?" yells Jim from behind the counter.
"The whole town is coming, you kidding me," says Steve Stanick, president of the Millville American Little League where Trout played. "This is about the biggest thing that's ever happened around these parts." As many as 8,000 of Millville's 28,000 residents loaded onto buses and into cars to make the drive to Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday to see Trout make his Philadelphia-area debut"

As we stroll around the park before the game, Gayle spies a woman with a sign that reads ' I was Mike Trout's art teacher". I go right up to her and she is delighted, giddy even, to share that-yes- she taught Mike Trout in elementary school. I can't help but take her face in my hands to drink in the giddy, infectious pride.

But there isn't too much to shout about in his performance. Yes, he does get on base, but no long home runs (fortunately for the Phils) Still, every time he comes up to bat, the crowd cheers. Even when a hit or a homer could mean the Phillies would end up behind (which they eventually did).

Enough about Mike Trout. The Phillies are doing okay with a 2 run lead until Cliff Lee starts to lose control and Cody Asche makes a costly fielding error that lets in two runs. Two more runs later, the Angels are ahead 4-2.  The Phillies never have a sufficient rally, despite another run batted in, and with an anticlimactic double play in the bottom of the 9th inning, the game is over.

Yet, yet, yet........of course it is disappointing........ and of course it's hard to watch gifted athletes underperform. There were some lovely outfield diving catches, and Ryan Howard did catch some over the head balls for a nice surprise that saved the last few innings.

In spite of the loss and the guy behind us who has had his heckling quips down pat, and some over analyzing by Peter's guest, we have had a nice evening. Not exhaltant, not uplifting, but a fine way to spend an evening with friends with the Philly skyline out in front of us, a full moon behind us, and baseball.

First game postponed

The previous day's game is played under terrible conditions, but it seems they don't want to lose two games to postponements. That is what happens to the April 30th game. I am prepared in the morning for the worst case scenario:  my pack is filled with two layers against the cold, rain gear, heavy socks, an umbrella, winter coat, gloves, hat. The day is stormy from the morning on out, and soon enough the game is called.

See you June 2