more baseball

-Since the first days I can remember, my dad has been telling the story about how he used to take his transistor radio with him into bed, and after his parents tucked him in he'd turn it on as low as it went, pull the covers over his head, and listen to the crackly broadcast of the Red Sox game. So of course as soon as I got my first radio, what did I do? Took it into bed, turned it down low, and listened to the Mariners games. Duh. And as I got older, I'd still sneak it in, so that I could keep listening to the postgame shows past my bedtime. So what am I doing now? Laying in bed listening to the postgame show. They're asking people to recall their favorite Mariners home run, and then they're replaying the clip. Gosh, I love Dave Niehaus.
-It was a good end to the game today, even if we lost. I mean, down 9-1, even getting to the point where they start talking about comeback wins is great. Six runs in two innings? I'll take it. And when Junior comes up to bat, you can hear the crowd in the backgroud get excited. They announce him (oh, what a phrase: "coming up to the plate KEN GRIFFEY JUNIOOOOOOOOOOR!") and people start to pay attention. The flashbulbs go off, people stand and clap. And then even when he pops out to center field, the fans are more present. And coming from a season where you never expected people to go to games and they never talked about winning for fear of jinxing it (not that it helped), this is a big deal. They used to say "remember when he had the magic, back in the 'dome?". He's still got it guys. And sometimes he hits it over the fence and everybody goes crazy. But sometimes he flies out and the next two guys follow suit and the game is over. And that's okay too. I get baseball fever every year, it must be something in my genes.

These days in a haiku:
surprise visitors
keep the sadness at bay while
i press on with life

or
who thought of squirting
water up one nostril and
out the other? weird.

and of course:
garlic fries are just
one way to experience
a summer ballgame