Play ball!!

Twelve days from now the 2012 Major League Baseball season will open.  I can't wait!  I fell in love with baseball in August of 2007 when my sister, mom, grandmother and I attended a Yankees baseball game at old Yankees stadium.  They were playing the Royals and to be honest I have no idea who won the game.  What I remember was the electricity of the crowd, the depth of history and the excitement of the players.  It was early August and what I've learned since that game is that early August is the part of the season where organizations are mounting that final run that will get them into the post season.  When I came home from that trip I watched every game I could find on TV including the World Series.  The Boston Red Sox won the Series that year and I learned a lot about the Red Sox players and organization which ultimately transformed me into a Red Sox fan.  When my sister and I vacationed together in 2008 we went to Boston and got to tour Fenway.  We didn't go to a game while we were there, but the history I learned on the tour was very fascinating.  Anyway...since then I've been a very big baseball fan and have enjoyed learning more and more about the game and its players.

 

As a high school student I went to both Wrigley Field and Turner Field.  I've been to Rangers ballpark more than once...most recently in 2010 to watch the Red Sox play the Rangers.  The 2007 game that really committed me to baseball was at old Yankee stadium, I've not been to the new one.  I've toured Fenway and last summer my sister and I went to a Mets game at Citi Field.  Today I got to add another ballpark to the list when I went to Coors Field in Denver, home of the Rockies.  We tried to get there early enough to tour the park, but they were sold out when we went to buy tickets.  In following with my adventures this week though, we were able to get into the park anyway.  The ticket lady told us that a high school game was being played and we could get in for free to watch the game if we wanted to.  I don't have the foggiest notion which high schools they were or why they were playing at Coors Field, all I know is that because of that game I got to see the inside of the ballpark.  We watched a little bit of the game while Christy filled me in on the history and nuances that she knew about the ballpark.  Like all MLB stadiums, there is some sort of story behind something in the park.  I learned several fun facts from Christy today, here are two...1) because of the dry atmosphere in Denver, game balls are kept in a humidifier prior to game time.  2)  All of the seats are dark green or black except for one row of purple seats in the third deck that marks the one mile line.  Sitting in those seats you would be one mile above sea level. 

After leaving the ballpark we walked around the downtown area.  There are lots of shops and restaurants in the area.  We had her two youngest girls with us, so there wasn't a lot of shopping, but we did walk around so I could see more of downtown.  I took the picture below of Union Station, a train station downtown.  It's currently under construction...or at least the front sidewalk is...so we couldn't go inside, but it's a very cool building from the outside.  I may have to see if I can ride a train to Denver...that would be very cool!

I've always been the kind of person that has a few close friends rather than having lots of acquaintances.  I'm not very good at being a friend, actually.  I have some social anxieties and oddities that I think make it challenging for people to stay friends with me.  I'm sure there are things I could do to work on these oddities, but at this point I've not tried to really address it.  I have a handful of friends that look past my deficits and love me anyway.  Christy is one of those friends.  I remember meeting her for the first time in the bathroom that connected our dorm rooms on the third floor of Cathcart at Harding.  The four of us in that suite were thrown together in pot luck fashion.  We were from four totally different places and the friendship that Christy and I formed that year continued to grow and now 15 years later we're still able to pick up where we left off. I am grateful for her hospitality this week.  I enjoyed my time with her and her family.  I won't let three years go by between visits next time!