Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Phun phor Phillies phans, Phart 3

As the game wore on, it became obvious to even the towel-wavers among us that the Mets were going down to defeat. All the Phillies needed to do was to win and they were the Division champs. With the score 6 to 1 in the seventh inning, we started counting the outs. The Phillies half of the inning was the more excruciating part. Never mind all those pitching changes and base hits, we just want to get 9 more outs and get on with the playoffs. Somebody tell the Nationals to stop trying to win this game, or worse yet, make it look like they were trying to win – which is a waste of everyone’s time.
A small group (including my friend) had retreated to one of a TV near an empty concession stand to watch the last 3 outs of the Mets/Marlin game. As the Marlin squeezed the final out, the ballpark quickly got the news and the place erupted. By then, Brett Myers was on the mound closing out the game for the Phillies, with their 6 to 1 lead virtually insurmountable. The place was about to erupt again. At 4:35pm, Myers struck out Willy Mo Pena and the party officially began. At 4:36 my friend turned to me and said, “So, you ready to go?” I really wasn’t thinking about it, since there were fireworks going off, players dancing around on the field and fans screaming and high five-ing each other.
I said, “It’s been 14 years since I’ve seen a baseball team dance around on the pitcher’s mound. I’d like to watch this for a minute.” There goes my ambiance.
A few minutes later, we were two of a scant few heading out to our cars while the revelers were in the ballpark watching the dancing. The players carried their celebration from the clubhouse to the field, gleefully spraying fans with beer and water, running laps around the field and making “thank you” announcements over the public address system. Or so I was told.
I saw some of it on TV at home, where the ambiance isn’t quite as festive.
Remind me not to complain about going places alone anymore. Much.
TOMORROW: The exciting conclusion.

1 comment:

kimmyk said...

this is a bunch of tongue twisters.

i dont know baseball anthony.

i think i'd rather watch a sporting event from home. i know no one pee'd on my seats.