Opening Day

There is much promise
In an opening day home run.
If the team plays like this all season
They are going to clinch
The pennant.

But in baseball
Failure is the rule.
And so it is in life.

The only promise that opening day can keep
Is that warmer days will come.

If we gather
By the ten thousand
And watch closely,
Patiently,
We will see something amazing
That will lift or break our hearts.

Our Tour of the MLB Parks

I'm at the Hampton Inn in downtown Denver, CO. Mike and I met here at the hotel on Friday afternoon as part of our ongoing stadium tour.

We were about half-way into this tour before we realized it was a tour. It started out when we wanted to see the new Bank One Ballpark in Arizona. We each visited Fenway on separate occasions and, sometime after that, we decided to see all the parks in the system.

Here is a list of the parks we've seen so far with year of first visit in parentheses, ordered by my favorites:

1. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA (1974). This is my first stadium and the one I've spent the most time in. Naturally it's first. It's the stadium against which all others are judged. It is a beautiful park that straddles the old and new eras. The downside is that it's surrounded by a sea of parking lots.
2. Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL (2004). Great old park with lots of life around the stadium. It's the only one I've been to that doesn't have a big-screen TV. The fans there pay close attention to the game.
3. Fenway Park, Boston, MA (1999). Another great old park that makes it easy to imagine what baseball was like in the old days. The green monster is something to behold.
4. Petco Park, San Diego, CA (2005). This stadium has a great location--right in the old gas lamp district--and a refreshingly open layout. It's a very family friendly park. I greatly disliked the crenels in the outfield and the fact that the visiting team's bullpen is out on the field while the home bullpen is protected.
5. Pac Bell Park, now AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA (2005). Pretty average among the new parks, but having the bay right outside the right-field wall is very, very cool. People actually hang out there in boats and kayaks to fish homerun balls out of the drink.
6. Safeco Field, Seattle, WA (2000). This in my new home ballpark. It's got lots of interesting baseball art and very good sightlines (except in right field), but my favorite things about it are the closable roof
7. Bank One Ballpark, now Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ (1998). This is a very interesting park. It, too, has the closing roof and--get this--air conditioning (you need it during the Phoenix summer). It even has a pool our in center field. The downside, though, is that it's in Phoenix, which is just about as uninhabitable as it gets during the summer in this country.
8. Citizen's Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA (2006). This is a well-designed park with some great baseball-themed art. It's close to public transportation, but there's not a lot of life outside the park.
9. Coors Field, Denver, CO (2007). This is one of the first of the new park styles. It has a great location in downtown denver, but not a lot of other things that really make it stand out.
10. U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago, IL (2004). This park was pretty boring in comparison. Lots of concrete. It does have a wide public area out in center field.
11. Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA (1997). This is a middle-generation multipurpose (football and baseball) cement civic monstrosity. Disney bought the team in the '80s and added a little whimsey (fake rocks in the outfield). It remains ugly to this day.
12. Yankee Stadium, New York, NY (2006). They say this was once a jewel, but now it seems like a minimum security prison. If you do go (it's to be torn down soon), go early so you can see the plaques in Monument Garden. They close it before the game, and it's not open afterward.
13. RFK Stadium, Washington, DC (2006). Like Angel stadium, RFK is another multiuse. It's a sad place to watch a game. Our seats on the first base line were pointed toward centerfield rather than home.

Rhetorical Ice Cream Question

Yankee Stadium is a sad, sad place

I met Mike in New York a couple of weeks ago for our annual baseball trip. We saw games in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC and rounded out the trip with museums and lots of beer and walking. I had a blast.

One of the things that annoys me about baseball games, though, is the food vendors. I never buy from them. They're a distraction, especially when they make a sale to someone in front of you.

Mostly, they just repeatedly shout what they're selling. "Hot dogs!" "Bud Light!" The more creative ones turn their shouts into calls, á la "Hot dogs," "Bud Liiiight."

One vendor came down shouting, "Hey, how 'bout that Häagen Dazs?" After about three shouts, he'd mix it up a little to "Hey, how 'bout that Dazs Häagen?"

Hangover

We went to sleep about four hours ago. Mike and I are going to see a baseball game in San Diego today, but last night, we talked until after 5 a.m. And between us, we killed a 750ml bottle of orange-flavored rum.

Somehow, though, I'm not that hung over. Just now I went out to the lobby for some coffee, though, and it was like a commercial for hangover medicine. There were kids running and yelling, some workman with a loud pressure washer, and the bright, bright California sun.

Debates and Baseball

Let me tell you about my 2004 Presidential Baseball theory. It came to me near the start of the baseball season, when I heard that the Democratic and Republican conventions were going to be held in Boston and New York, respectively. Since the best baseball post-season in recent memory happened last year between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, I wondered aloud to a few that maybe there's an analogy--or even a superstitious connection--this year between the teams, the cities, the parties, and the presidential candidates. Two wins are crucial to me this fall: that Boston beats New York and that John Kerry beats George Bush.

In a few ways, the pennant race has mirrored the campaign. The Red Sox came out swinging in the first week but then fell behind as the Yankees set the pace. In fact, other than some problems with their starting pitching, the Yankees have done everything right. But then, a few months ago, there was a fight between Jason Varitek and Alex Rodriguez that somehow inspired the whole Boston team. They went on a tear, winning a long string of games and rapidly gained ground on the Yankees.

This week, both teams entered the Division Playoffs, and Boston swept the Anaheim Angels in an exciting Game 3 yesterday. The Yankees won against Minnesota and it looks as though they're headed for a showdown in the American League Championship Series--just like last year.


The Boston Red Sox after winning the ALDS
The Kerry campaign, too, got a big boost from several Democratic nomination debates in the spring. He sort of hit the skids after the convention, though, as the Swift Boat front group successfully directed the media's attention toward what he did or didn't do while he was in Viet Nam. It was a sucker-punch, to be sure. No one on the Kerry side was expecting an attack on his war record because his opponent sat out the war in a patrician draft dodge.

Like the Varitek/A-Rod fight, the swift boat nonsense rallied and focused the campaign. For the last three weeks, Kerry has come out swinging in debates and on TV interviews and his poll numbers are climbing.

There's less than a month to go, and we're at a critical point in our collective history. I hope Kerry gets the job and lets America be America again.

Vote Kerry! Go Red Sox!

Where I'm At

I'm watching a lot of baseball these days, hoping the Dodgers and the Red Sox will win, but Dodgers for the World Series. I'm adjusting to working at home. I overprepared for some of the adjustments, and I was underprepared for others. Some came totally out of left field.

For example, Wendy asked me tonight how long it had been since I had left the house for something other than a walk in the neighborhood. It was three days ago, when I went to the library and the gas station. I didn't know it would be so easy to become a hermit. Also, I told her earlier today that I thought I would have more time now that I'm not spending three hours a day commuting and eight hours a week in meetings. "I hate to break it to you," she said, "but you've been sleeping in. You get out of bed at 8:30." Well, she had me there.

Pedro just threw it away at first and, luckily, the runner didn't advance.

The truth is that I feel like I've been thrown from the merry-go-round and I haven't yet found my stride. I've been dragging my feet on everything but the contract work because doing it makes me feel cozy and safe compared to the other stuff.

Wendy and I talked about that tonight, too. It's the same problem that inhibits my art...maybe hers as well. Fear of not having done something before. Fear of not wanting to do it wrong.

Pedro just hit Darin Erstad in the shin to load the basis for Vladimir Guerrero. Guererro hit in two runners.

But, rule of thumb, I only write when things are good. Things are very good. I'm glad to be sleeping in. I must remember that I'm drinking less coffee and I've lost almost 10 lbs. so far. And things can still get better, which is to hope what soil is to a plant. If you ain't got hope, you ain't got shit. I guess that's why I like baseball.

Kevin Millar just did a one-man double-play to end the inning. [Red Sox went on to win the game!]

Chicago: Dodgers @ Cubs

Staying with Mike at the Palmer House Hilton. I got in last night around 7 and Mike got to the hotel at 1. I went out last night and had a few drinks with dinner at one place, and then at another place attached to the hotel, they charged me $2 for two martinis! Damn, I hate that when you go to a bar, you don't readily know how much your drink is going to cost unless you ask them outright.

We're going out for breakfast and then to see the Royals @ White Sox.

Opening Day 2004

We got tickets from our friends Maki and Rich. I was so happy to go that I got here an hour early. I sat there with the day's paper, reading up on the season while the ground crew sprayed down the infield. And then, over the PA, they played "It's a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame" and it made me miss all the times I went to day games with dad. I would spend a fortune just to go again to a game with him. That's kind of a problem--I fixate on impossibilities like that. We went so many times that it practically became routine. Now, to be cut off from that routine, seems endlessly cruel.

But that is not living in the moment. If I could learn to better savor the moment, maybe I wouldn't suffer such nostalgia.

4/19: I just went looking for this song on the Internet. Hearing it at Safeco was the first time I've heard it all the way through...I think it was originally written as a salute to the Cubs. I grew up hearing it at the start of Dodger radio broadcasts. It was originally recorded by the Harry Simeone Songsters and recently appeared on a Rhino Records collection called "Baseball's Greatest Hits - Lets Play II," which is unfortunately out of print and seems to be pretty rare (used listings start at $90!).

Excellent TV Baseball

I watched some excellent baseball this weekend. The Giants and Angels are playing in the World Series. While Saturday was a close low-scoring game (I think the score was 5-4 Giants), yesterday was a close high-scoring game (11-10 Angels). Its amazing that we haven't seen a blowout by one of the teams. They're off today and tomorrow and play again Wednesday in San Francisco. I'm rooting for the Angels.

Wendy got more done around the house than I did. I designed our basement coffee table and bought and cut the wood for it, and aside from a few computer things I had to do, that was about it. Wendy, on the other hand, repainted and redecorated the guest room and put stairs on the deck to the hot tub. She was beeming yesterday with her accomplishments, saying that it put her in a very "can do" attitude. She woke up this morning in a very good mood.

We're thinking about taking a Tai Chi class being offered by the parks district.

Early Autumn Weekend

I had a great anniversary-celebrating weekend with Wendy. We went out to the Pleasant Beach Bistro in Winslow for dinner and then to see "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which was pretty good. In the morning, we got up and had a great breakfast and lounged around the house until about 1 p.m. Then we took Cinder to the park--the leaves there are starting to change color, some of them are a brilliant fire red. We then went to the Bay Hay and Feed store, which is a cute little country store on the other side of the island.

There was still a bit of daylight left when we got home, so I went into the yard and cut and split about a half cord of wood while Wendy cleaned out the garage! We also gave each other presents. Wendy liked the red flannel sheets I picked out for us, though they're prone to lint balls, and she loved the woodcut I bought. She even knew the artist's work! Wendy gave us a ship's log, which was a brilliant idea (I wish I thought of it) and she filled it out with the details of our first voyage. Yesterday we went to the Olympic National Forest with Cinder and drove the truck up to an observation point where we could see all the way to Seattle (well, we could have if it had been clear). All in all, it was a great weekend--playoff baseball, too! Go Angels, go Twins!

My Fatherless Father's Day

It's difficult not to let the summer slip away from me. I'm putting in a lot of hours at work again, and when I'm not there it seems like I'm doing some project around the house. Right now we're working on a fence for the side yard that will keep Cinder from chasing the neighbor's car and getting dashed beneath their tires again. We're taking photos of the work and I'm keeping a little log (well, okay, it's still inside my head). I'm planning to make a webpage for the site.

Last Sunday was Father's Day, and it was pretty difficult for me. I wondered beforehand how I would react. I was in the driveway cutting wood for the fence posts when a story came on the radio promoting a new book of essays by famous people on the subject "What Baseball Means to Me." Of course, the day before the holiday, they kept talking about the bonds between father and son forged during baseball games, and how this would make a perfect present. I tried to keep working, but I just stood there with the saw in my hand, weeping into my safety goggles. Wendy told me to sit down and let it all out and I did…for about twenty minutes. I guess the odd thing about grieving is that there is no straight path to acceptance. A couple days before, I felt like I was adjusted to him being dead, but then again on Saturday it felt like the most unbelievable injustice. I had tried to pre-accept his death. When he was sick but still alive, I tried to keep consciously remind myself of the fact that he was still alive and that I was fortunate that he was since two friends had already lost their fathers.