The wife has been out of town since Tuesday morning and I've been doing nothing but working, so I went online yesterday evening and bought a ticket to this afternoon's Angel's game. I hadn't been to see the Angels live for three years. I spent most of the past two summers either sick, in the hospital getting ready for or recovering from surgery, or at home recovering from one surgery or another plus dealing with chemotherapy side-effects. I did get to watch a lot of baseball on television those two years - lots more than I'd seen for years. I think I saw every one of the Angel's playoff and World Series games two years ago.
It is great to be at the ballpark on a bright sunny afternoon. I lived in Chicago for a number of years, back before they started playing even a few night games at Wrigley Field. Plus when I was a kid back in Ohio we always went to Cleveland to see the Indians on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. And my little league and high school baseball games were never under the lights. So while I've seen lots of night baseball on television or listened on radio, and I've certainly been to night games live, what resonates with me is baseball in the afternoon.
On top of the pure pleasure of just going out to the stadium for a 1:05 pm first pitch, the Angels have been playing great baseball. They started today one game out of first in the West and had won nine games in a row. So hopes were high as I headed out to the game.
I timed my arrival at the field for two hours before the first pitch because I wanted to see batting practice - I hadn't seen a major league team take batting practice for years and years. I like the informality of the ballpark during batting practice and warm-ups. The stands are still pretty empty - it's mostly the hardcore fans. The players are a lot more relaxed. But, it was not to be. I had forgotten an old "rule" - most teams don't take batting practice before a day game that follows a night game, and the Angels had played last night.
But it was still fun to grab my seat and sit in the hot sun, slather on some sunblock (not sunscreen - sunblock, something like about SPF 984) and wait for the players to come out and warm up. I had a good seat - two rows from the field, the end of a row - with one little defect. It came with what at Wrigley Field or the old Boston Gardens would be called an "impaired view". If you stood at home plate and started walking directly down the foul line to first base and then kept walking until you hit the stands, and then climbed the wall and kept walking out the same line, you would run into me in the second row. Only trouble is, before you could climb the wall you'd have to peel your nose off this enormously tall, thick, bright yellow steel pole. Yep, I was directly behind the foul pole. That explains why that seat was available the day before the game. Oh well, maybe someone a couple of seats down my row wouldn't show up.
One thing I love about baseball is that the warm-up rituals and chatter and cutting up are the same whether it was me back as a seven year-old or in high school, for minor leaguers, or for the pros. Doesn't seem to matter if you grew up playing ball in a small town in Ohio like I did, or in suburban California, or in the projects in Chicago, or in the Dominican Republic, or Mexico, or Japan, it's all the same.
I was on the first base side, so a few players from the visiting team (Minnesota Twins) came out to warm-up just across the wall and down a few feet towards first base from where I was sitting. They paired up, with one standing about on the foul line and the other out in right field a few feet, and started tossing the ball back and forth. At first, while their arms are cold, it's soft, looping throws. All arm, standing flat-footed. Every two or three tosses, the one in the outfield takes another couple of steps back to increase the distance. As their arms warm-up and the distance increases just a little, the loop goes out of the throws and they are throwing nice, flat sharp pegs to each other. Not all that hard, just enough to have a little snap on it. The distance increases a little more. They are putting more and more body into each throw, stepping into it and pushing off their legs. The distance keeps increasing as the player backing up is now into center field. The throws begin to loop a little again as the distance increases and they can't peg it on a line. Their bodies are all the way into it. At this point you notice that the infielders have stopped backing up but the outfielders are continuing to increase the distance until finally the far player is out almost across center field with the warning track just behind his heels. They are now throwing little imitation pop-flys or Texas leaguers (if you gotta ask, you ain't from around these here parts, are you boy) so that they can move around a little and practice their fielding. Now they are warm and the arms are loose, so a little clowning around transpires. One comes back from across the outfield to about pitching distance and pretends to be a pitcher throwing from the stretch. It's clear from this why he's an outfielder. Another couple of guys are spraying the ball around a little, making each other lunge and jump for the ball. A couple of balls come into the stands from errant throws or half-hearted stabs at a catch. I haven't played baseball for 35 or 36 years but it's all very familiar.
So then a bratwurst (with kraut and mustard). Then the parade on the field of seveal hundred very young little girls who I learn about girl scouts. The national anthem. And finally the first pitch. We've got a good pitching match-up. The Angels are throwing Bartolo Colon, who started out ragged this season but who has been pitching much better lately and chewing up a lot of innings. The Twins pitcher is Johan Santana who has an earned run average below 2.00 since the All-Star break. Well, the Twins get to Colon for four runs in the third inning and the Angels never get Santana figured out. But there's a lot of action right in front of me. The Twins right-fielder, Jacque Jones, makes two great defensive plays - one a diving catch going full tilt towards center field and the other a leaping grab to rob an Angel of a home run early in the game when it could have turned everything around. Gotta watch Sports Center tonight and see if either or both make the web gems. Jones also got the big hit for the Twins, a three-run homer in the third inning.
It's 6 to 1 Twins in the top of the eighth and I pull the plug. I actually do a California fan thing and head out with over and inning and a half to go. I can't believe that I'm doing it but I've been in the hot sun for over four hours and can't take it any more. Besides, I bought a ticket for tomorrow afternoon's game, so I'll be back. And tomorrow, I'm sitting in the shade. Tomorrow the Angels start a new winning streak.
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