Tag: ball

Take me out to the ballgame

Take me out with the crowd

Buy me some doughnuts, ice cream and French fries

I don’t care if that baseball never flies

Let me root, root, root

For the Blue Jays

If they don’t win it’s a shame

Ahh

For it’s one,

Two,

Three strikes you’re out

At the Blue Jays game

These are my slightly modified lyrics of this all-time great baseball song, which is sung at all Major League Baseball ballparks during the 7^th inning stretch. My son and I enjoyed the song last night as we attended the ballgame.

I love going to a Blue Jays game, something I have discussed before. There’s something special about the mix of sounds (often scalpers hollering for ticket sales) and smells (could it be sweat?) outside the ballpark as I walk up the long path before I enter the massive stadium. Even though I know they are disgusting, my mouth even salivates as I pass one hot dog stand after another.

Going to a ballgame with my son, Matthew, is what I love best. He is a super fan and has become a walking encyclopedia of player statistics and baseball history. He knows details about every player on every team and provides a very educated analysis to not only me but everyone around us as the game. I believe the two guys to our left last night were very amused by the knowledge they gained last night.

We had great seats last night, as we sat in the third row down the third base line. The crowd, like always at Rogers Centre, was loud and enthusiastic.  Now that I have been to a ballgame a few games with my son over the last couple of years I have discovered some patterns and made some observations:

1. There is always one big guy sitting a few rows behind me who likes to yell, really loud. He’s quite jolly, he’s a super-fan and likes to holler Go Jays Go, often.
2. Beer flows at a baseball game like cold water at a children’s park on a sweltering hot day. At over $11 per can, the Blue Jays could sell only beer at games and still make a fortune. The guy in front of me consumed so many cans of beer that I lost count after he purchased the sixth one. Wow.
3. When the home team (in this case my Blue Jays) are having a rough night, you will see the best catches of the night made by fans in the stands, catching foul balls. One woman caught a foul ball off the edge of the second deck last night, and wow, it was spectacular. The fans saved the biggest cheers for themselves.
4. There are many people who are at the Rogers Centre but are unaware that there is a baseball game going on around them. There was a nice and very friendly young family to our right last night. I think the father is a fan and would like the same for his two sons. The mother spent the whole game on her smartphone, either chatting with a friend or video chatting with various relatives around the world, showing them where she was. It was very distracting.
5. Even though the current Blue Jays’ baseball stadium has existed for over 25 years, the crowd is still fascinated and in awe when the domed roof opens or closes before, during or after the game. With clear skies after another day of rain in Toronto yesterday, the roof opened as we sat down in our seats. I watched, transfixed, as the CN Tower appeared before us as the roof inched open. 

   

   

   

6. The most sought-after item at every baseball game is a $5 official MLB baseball. Seven to ten-year-old boys were most interested in acquiring one of these last night, from a foul ball or in the case of our section at the game, the friendly ball boy. The hardest job in baseball is not the umpire’s, it’s the ball boy’s. This pour soul was harassed all night by young children, who begged him for a ball.

Matthew was one of the lucky few who charmed his way to get one of those sought-after balls. My son, who is one of the biggest Blue Jays fans I have ever seen and who was depressed for days last year when the Blue Jays fell to the Cleveland Indians in the playoffs, didn’t even notice that his beloved team lost last night 3-1. Why? Matthew got one of the official game balls, and this made his day.

What are your favourite moments at a baseball game? Have you made any interesting observations? Share them with me – comment here, tell me on Facebook or Tweet me @AliciaRichler.