Take me out to the ball game...

Friday night, Kyra and I got a treat. We got to go see the Diamondbacks play. Just the atmosphere of the game is enough to entice me there, and Kyra was game. It was nice to get to do something and have it be just the two of us. I think she enjoyed just spending time with her dad one on one. The seats we had were in the 1st row of the upper deck, between home plate and first base. Because they were the 1st row, leg room was actually existent! Given my fear of most heights, normally these seats would cause me a little anxiety, but I was able to control it and enjoy the view. I even looked over the rail and down at all of the little people below. I made a point to tell Kyra to make sure she could back up the story. We got there about 45 minutes before the first pitch, and parking was a breeze. As a treat, we rode in one of the rickshaw’s that dropped us off right in front of the ballpark. In we went, up the escalators, bought our bag of peanuts, found section 310, and settled in. Perfect timing, the starting lineups were being announced. Kyra was a trooper; she actually made it 3 innings before getting a little restless. We then got up and explored the ballpark. We walked all the way around, finding many different things. We found Baxter’s Den. This is where in the forth inning the D-backs mascot hangs out and lets the kids get their picture taken with him. Not all of them though. A little boy who had been patiently waiting his turn got snubbed because the inning ended and Baxter had to leave. He was about 4 years old and was quite upset. I felt bad for him and his mom. I know that the policy of him leaving after the 4th inning is posted, but it still was disappointing to see Baxter leave with out letting the boy sit with him. Next it was on to the Peter Piper Pizza play zone. Kids were running around playing all the latest video games and having a good time. Some of them had sooo many tickets that they had won; they must have been there the whole time. So much for the game. We looked around a bit and were on our way. By the time we had made it back to seats it was the 7th inning. I got a hot dog (no game is complete unless you have a hot dog), Kyra got some popcorn, and we watched the rest of the game. It was fun singing "Take me out to the ball game" with Kyra for the 7th inning stretch. After the game, we were treated to a pretty good fireworks show. They opened the roof and had about a 5 minute show. Not a bad way to finish the night. On the way home, I told Kyra that when I was a kid and my dad would take me to games, on the ride home we would always listen to the post game show on the radio. After about 3 minutes, Kyra asks: “Do we really have to listen to this?” So much for traditions. Overall, we both had a good time. Here are a few observations I had during the game:

The scoreboard is truly amazing! It is huge and crystal clear. It is a really big HDTV

.If you like the game of baseball, there are no bad seats in Chase field.

The arm strength of the players amazes me. Mark Reynolds was standing 15 feet behind 3rd base in foul territory and was throwing the ball to first like it was on a rope. It looked like he wasn’t trying!

I think it is important to settle in to your seats and enjoy the game, not the drinks. The lady next to us had a different idea on why she was there. In the first three innings, she had left her seat 4 times, each time getting a refill of her refreshment. I missed Stephen Drew’s home run because she was in the process of stepping on my toes and blocking the view.

Late in the game, Tony Clark got a pinch hit single. I love Tony. He is the oldest player on the team and one of the elders in the league. The D-backs were losing pretty good at this point. Tony never was a threat to steal 2nd base even in his prime. It made me laugh that the Atlanta Braves held him on 1st base. He wasn’t about to steal. Tony even managed to make the pitcher throw over to make sure. Tony took about two steps and he was on the bag before the ball was even on its way to first. Really, if I know that Tony is not going to steal, shouldn’t the Braves know as well?

Fireworks are fun to see. They are also an emotional treat for me. The show we saw was good, but since it was not the 4th of July, I didn’t get the enjoyment out of it that I normally do.

Everybody that attends a game (including me) can umpire a game better than the actual umpires. It amazed me how many times the fans thought the umpires blew a call. The guy behind me seriously thought the umpire behind the plate couldn’t recognize a strike. Like he could! We were in the upper deck and he actually said, ”There is no way that was ball 4!”

When the pitcher pitches the ball, anytime the ball hits the ground or is tipped by the batter, the umpire removes the ball from the game and replaces it with a new ball. Why then, when a batter gets a base hit, does the ball not get replaced? I would think if the ball is going to be altered in any way; it would be when it is struck by the bat. MLB must pay a fortune in baseballs.

Throughout the game, the crowd (starting in right field) tried to do the wave. This drives me crazy! It just shows you that Diamondback fans are not pure baseball fans. The wave is a FOOTBALL event, not a baseball event. I wish the fans would learn this. If I write a letter (or an email) to the management of the Diamondbacks, do you think they will request that the fans not be so green? By the way, it never got past the lower level, but it did make it around a couple of times late in the game.

As it turned out, the Diamondbacks lost. But it’s OK, because it really wasn’t about who won, it was about taking in the experience and more importantly, spending alone time with Kyra. Thank you Clint and Jaylee for the tickets!