Kids, Nature, sports, Stories, Weather

1-2-3 Strikes You’re out

40 Comments

There was:

  • a human bowling game – someone in a huge plastic bubble running toward 6-foot high nerf “pins”
  • an obstacle course for two teams each with a stretcher and a patient. I’m glad both the patients were mannequins
  • a back to front race in which two strangers were tied side-by-side, but one facing forward and one facing backward. The winning team went pretty fast considering
  • a tire race. Let’s face it, the gentlemen took this one by a landslide
  • an eye ball race – two kids, each wearing a huge eyeball costume. The brown eye won.
  • t-shirt launching into the crown
  • tiny tykes racing teeny motorcars – this makes it clear why five-year olds don’t have licenses
  • a drone contest that made it abundant clear that flying these things isn’t as easy as it looks
  • an adorable big wearing a large pin bow

Oh – and then there was a baseball game. Great seats, perfect weather, no one truly obnoxious sitting anywhere near us, a pedi-cab ride all the way back to where the car was parked.  We lost but it was still a wonderful evening!

Do you root for a home team?

 

40 thoughts on “1-2-3 Strikes You’re out”

  1. One granddaughter is on a traveling fast pitch softball team….I’m a loud voice cheering when able to watch her games. They are live fed so though not present in person I can hit the thumbs up, heart etc and or write comment(s) which goes right to the gal transmitting and she in turn gives messages to the team when appropriate. So even from afar I root for my granddaughter’s ‘home’ team. They are at Nationals in Florida now…we watched last nights game…a grand win….and look forward to the game this afternoon.

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    1. One of the things I thought about last night was how fast they throw these balls. And how fast they are flying once they’ve been hit. After one swing and a tip, the ball flew backwards and hit the metal scoreboard – SUCH a loud noise. Made me glad the ball hadn’t come in our direction!

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  2. Sounds like a fun outing, vs. Were you at a Saint’s game? Also, I’, confused about this: “an adorable big wearing a large pin bow.” An adorable big what?

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        2. Didn’t think you did, but obviously, if you’re typing a blog at 11:30 PM, the pipeline of blog posts must have run dry.

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  3. I have rooted for the Twins. Last game I attended was game 6 of the 1987 World Series, so I’m not what you’d call a huge fan. But it was great fun attending a game with 55000+ screaming fans.

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  5. I’m not much of a sports fan. Even my kids playing; I try to pay attention. But then I see a bird fly over…or a shiny car goes past. Suddenly the crowd is cheering and I don’t know why.

    Wife and daughter are big football fans. Usually, the way the Vikings play, I have to go outside when a game is on. I wait for the cloud of black smoke to come out of the house then I know the game is over and I can come back in.
    Sister and BIL have season tickets now for the games and I will probably attend at least one. Being there is different than watching on TV. Although I suspect I’ll still be distracted by shiny lights and shiny people.

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    1. Don’t know about shiny people, but there are bound to be some colorful ones. Our neighbors across the street belong to a group of people who can’t afford to attend the Vikings games but who love to participate in the tailgating parties. They dress up in some pretty outrageous outfits, and when the game starts, they go home and watch it on TV.

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    2. Even when I’m not distracted, it doesn’t help. Many many years ago I ended up hosting a client who wanted to see the Twins play. So we went to the ballpark, loaded up on junk food and sat to watch the game. At one point all three bases were loaded and Kirby Puckett hit a home run. Of course the crown went wild. But then they kept going wild. And kept going wild. I turned to one of the folks I was with (luckily not the client) and said “what’s the deal”. They said it’s Kirby Puckett’s first career grand slam. Then I foolishly said “what’s a grand slam?”. This person still reminds me of this to this day!

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  6. I’ve been a fan of sorts for the local teams since becoming a Minnesotan in 1960, I rarely have seen a game. Couldn’t afford the price of entry.

    I did attend a Saints game that became notable in history. The promotion that afternoon was using mimes as cheerleaders. After a few beers, the crowd turned and began chanting, “Kill the mimes! Kill the mimes!”

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  7. Reading your recounting of the night’s events, my reaction is that there were an awful lot of contrived stunts jammed together. It’s as if the management wasn’t confident that the putative main event—the baseball game—would be sufficient to entertain the crowd. While I personally would concur with that apprehension, it still smacks of a kind of desperation. Perhaps in person it didn’t seem that way, but it makes me wonder at what point they decide to eschew the baseball altogether and just assemble an evening of silly stunts?

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    1. It’s a long story, Bill, but essentially you are right. This baseball league was founded for somewhat different reasons than that two big national leagues. To find an audience, this league had to go a different way, not strictly relying on the quality of the play to draw crowds.

      The Saint Paul team was owned by Mike Veeck, son of the most famous flimflam man in baseball. That is, his dad built his reputation on humor and not just excellent baseball. Bill Veeck’s most famous innovation was to send a midget up to the plate as a pinch hitter. The midget was very short, of course, and his instructions were to bend low and never swing at a pitch. He walked on four pitches that, not surprisingly, were all high.

      Part of the motivation for creating this league was to give people the pleasure of outdoor baseball on a summer night. The Twins were playing their games at the Metrodome at the time, the ugliest and least natural venue in all of professional baseball.

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    2. Oh come now, Bill, the Saints are known for the silly gimmicks that they feature as an integral part of their baseball fun. They know that if people are interested in seeing a major league baseball game they’re going to go see the Twins. If they show up for a Saints game, their mindset is going to be, let’s have some fun in the process. While winning is pretty much the only satisfying outcome of a Twins game, I think the spectators’ expectations of a Saints game are different. Show me a good time for the whole family, and we’ll enjoy the night even if the home team loses. Sorta like going to see the Harlem Globetrotters, I think. You can have a great time even if you’re not a basketball fan.

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      1. I knew the Saints had a reputation for silly stunts, but I was struck by how relentless they seemed in the recounting. It’s difficult for me to imagine finding that worthwhile.

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        1. I should probably wipe that silly grin off of my face, but I’m curious as to what you would consider “worthwhile”? To me vs’ closing statement: “We lost but it was still a wonderful evening!” says it all; she and Nonny had a good time. I’ll grant you, different strokes for different folks, so perhaps a Saints game isn’t your cup of tea.

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        2. The key phrase in my statement is “for me” and I don’t mean to impose my tastes or inclinations on anyone else. I’m happy that VS and Nonny enjoyed themselves.
          Spectator sports are not and never have been my cup of tea, and for that reason alone I would not have been there. But from the description of events, it sounded as if the venue had lost sight of what their core identity was. I sounded like a muddle.
          I can scarcely bear to sit through most television shows, even ones with actual content, so I don’t expect I would be satisfied with gimmick events.

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        4. Well, at this point I think we have firmly established that Bill is glad that he didn’t attend last night’s Saints game; he would not have enjoyed it.

          Personally, I’m a sucker for people competing in silly pursuits, and I’m pretty sure I would have laughed a lot, especially if someone had bought me a beer or two.

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      2. At least the Harlem Globetrotters’ stunts had, I believe, something to do with basketball. The diversions listed above were just random junk. Obviously people are willing to pay to go and watch it, but I don’t get it.

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        1. Bill, you remind me of one of the women I dated in my Match-dot-com days. I believe I’m much more easily amused than you.. For which I am grateful. Given how the world is going, I’m glad to get a smile here or there any old way I can.

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        3. Hey Bill – I will admit that in the way I re-counted the silliness, it seems overwhelming, but each stunt is actually quite short and spread out between all the innings, it doesn’t seem relentless. The main thing to remember is that I am not a sports fan, I know enough about sports to fill a small thimble, so if I am to report on a baseball game, there has to be something besides the game for me to talk about. If I just talk about the game, then it would meet our Fifty Words category!

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  8. I have fond memories of attending Vikings games with my daughter many years ago. For her last birthday, I wanted to give her a really special gift since she was turning 50: a Vikes game with me. When we went 15-20 years ago, tickets were around $60 bucks. When I ordered these two seats, they were $375 apiece!!! And these weren’t even the best seats. Those went for $1000 apiece. It seems that the cost of going makes attending only for the well-to-do and companies that buy up whole sections for the season.

    As we always did before, we dressed up in full Viking costumes: purple wigs, face paint, feather boas,Vikes apparel. I wore a fringed purple flapper dress from a Halloween party. The sheer thrill of walking into the massive new stadium, the crowd roaring, and the loud music was electrifying. We were ecstatic to once again join the home team, boisterous spirit together.

    Then came two times when the Vikes were within six inches of their goal line but couldn’t make it over. Somehow, however, we managed to work up to a tie game. It went into overtime and all we needed was one 3-point field goal. For the only time in his season, the kicker missed it. Life isn’t always fair, but this was to be the highlight of our mother/daughter year, and we really really deserved to attend a winning game!!! The $700 would’ve been worth it then.

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  9. I don’t follow any teams. I am just not interested in sports, especially pro sports.

    My dad loved sports but really didn’t foow any one team. He just liked watching well played games. My mom loved watching the Twins.

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  11. I enjoy people watching events
    one of the best times I ever had was the time I went to the Olympics in atalanta and found out the guy who invited me had no intention of joining me. I went to a million events (bought 4 tickets sold 3) and had a wonderful time people watching and rooting for the person or team I chose for whatever reason.
    I love football baseball basketball am glad I never learned about hockey (it would have consumed me as a kid) I enjoy soccer and fastpitch softball as well as good old fashion softball, the home team is relative. at twins vikings wolves games I root for the home team. at other stuff I get to decide. I enjoy going to events in other cities and I love the saints. I have only been a couple times to the saints but always enjoy it. looking at a game later this summer with a group I am loosely associated with that has a saints night. fun outing for surel
    tailgating is a hoot. the old kicks were the best fo that and the vikingsa t the met, the dome is different way to do it I never got the hank=g of. now I watch at home after years of vikings season tix. did twins fr a couople seaosns and v=wolves for a couple. I would like to get hooked up with the lynx but havnt so far id better hurry I am a big lindsay whalen fan and she is getting near the end
    thanks for the post vs. good one

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    1. Oh yes – the people watching was grand. From the sticky little boy whose father carried him at arm’s length up the stairs past us more than once to the gal sitting in front of Nonny who had on a t-shirt with different types of dinosaur bicycles (think tricyclatops, velociraptor). Fascinating!

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  12. I always have a good time when I go to a Saints game. Don’t know very much about the team, but not many do. It’s a lovely stadium, it’s my hometown and it’s summer. You can’t beat it.

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