A Day At The Ballpark

I have always enjoyed baseball. I have not always enjoyed my team, the Mets, but always there was baseball as a concept that seemed bigger and larger than me or my individual team. They got a glimpse of that concept in Field of Dreams, maybe my only other movie-on-desert island along with Schindler's List.

Now that I am exiled in a Major League city it is a very good opportunity for me to take in a game or two everyone in a while. I suspect I'll be leaving St. Pete before the Ray's do, but either way, it is a temporary sentence for both of us.

Tropicana Field

Compared to most other ballparks, this line is ridiculously short. Poor Ray's can't get anyone to come see them.

Another plus to seeing a game here is that out of all 30 MLB teams, This one has the lowest attendance. Like the lady said to me after there was a snafu regarding my ticket:

ME: Since you had to issue another ticket for my seat, will I have to fight someone for it?

TICKET LADY (LOOKING AT ME LIKE I WAS CRAZY): I can't see anyone fighting over a seat today.

I hopped on my bicycle and rode up about 6 blocks, then over several and, there is Tropicana. All told it is less than 30 minutes for me to pedal myself to a game.

Every time I enter a stadium and see the diamond, it is almost a religious experience for me.

They have built a new 360 degree walkway this year so since I was there in plenty of time, of course, I decided to avail myself of the scenery.

They have a tank of Ray's out in center field. I remember reading that the netting over the Ray tank was added after they discovered that Ray's can't catch home run balls, and several incurred some injuries until they figured this one out.

My seat, pretty close to the field and just by the bullpen.

Embarrassing side show to keep the attention deficit victims fully occupied.

The Ray's lost today, 9-6, but it was an action packed day with homers, stolen bases, and a good assortment of things to watch. My seat was pretty darn good and biking over takes all the pressure off parking and added expenses. All in all catching a MLB game is still a bargain, and a damn great way to spend an afternoon. And I didn't have to fight for my seat, neither did the other 13,000 who joined me today.

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