Anyway, he had a bunch of season tickets he hadn’t used that he exchanged for more tickets for the last home game of the season. Since he couldn’t use them all he offered them to all fellow Squire-ites. I called Cynthia to ask if she was interested in going to the game with the kids. I knew the answer (NO—definitely capitalized), but felt I needed to give her the opportunity of spending some time with me and the kids. She happily found a friend to go to dinner with and then sat at home and watched a movie by herself while I took the kids to the baseball game.The Owlz play at the baseball field of UVU (formerly known as UVSC). UVU has even worse parking than BYU if that is possible. So while we left about 25 minutes before the game was to start we still missed the first inning trying to get parked. So in the 30+ minutes I was stuck in a long line of cars all wanting to park I was peppered with questions and comments like “Can’t you just go around all this traffic?” and “If mom were with us we could get out and go to the game while you parked the car.” No I couldn’t go around the traffic unless we wanted to walk a quarter mile back to the stadium and yes apparently I am of no more value than the chauffeur in my children’s eyes.
I can’t wait for the day when they are old enough to open the car door and demand their dear old dad hand over their tickets and they will meet me inside. My only hope is that they won’t have visible tattoos or piercings in unnatural places or be dressed entirely in black when this event does inevitably happen.Our tickets were along the third base line and since it isn’t a large stadium quite adequate. We were seated for less than 5 minutes when Nathan informs me that he wants to go sit on the grass. You can buy cheaper tickets if you only sit on the grass. I told him we could go sit on the grass later. We didn’t last more than another couple of minutes in the seats before we had to make our way to the concessions stand. $20 got us 3 hot dogs, some chicken tenders, and 2 churros. I am not sure how long ago this sustenance (I will not call it food because that would be giving it too much credit) had been prepared.
The Owlz got off to a great start against the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League by scoring one run in each of the first four innings. My ever-charming daughter Ilene began to declare that the Raptors were winning. Her justification was the that “score” was Raptors 6 Owlz 4 using the H column (hits) as basis for this opinion. Then ensued a lengthy discussion on the vocabulary and record keeping of baseball. Colums 1 to 10 for the score of each inning, R for runs (the score), H for hits, and E for errors. Having to explain it all to a seven-year old made me realize what a difficult game baseball is for the uninitiated. Oh yeah, everyone knows three strikes and you’re out, but 4 balls for a walk. And how many fouls before you are out??
After that discussion was over, Nathan wanted to know what was the difference between a ball and a strike and why the umpire kept leaning over the catcher!!
The ballpark has a kids play area. It is a monstrous contraption full of suspended bridges and slides. It is fenced off and two poles suspend a large netting over the entire area to keep foul balls from killing some unsuspecting child. As it was now dusk, it was quite a challenge to keep track of my three kids when the entire play area looked as if it were overrun by a swarm of children.
The sixth inning lasted well over an hour in which the Raptors scored 8 runs and the Owlz two on the night’s only home run.
Well we stayed until the bitter cold end. It is definitely September with cooler temperatures at night. I was glad I took a blanket to sit on the grass (yes we did that for a while in the 7th inning).
In the bottom of the eight inning a man just behind the dugout collapsed. So I was then questioned further as the medical staff administered to him. An ambulance came out on the field and suspended play for over a half hour.
Luckily the 9th inning went quickly and we were able to watch the fireworks and then get home by 11 pm. The only good thing is that I didn’t spend a lot of time in the bathroom with three little bladders following me around!
2 comments:
What a dad! Ah, those questions and questions and questions.
Dan took Jackson to the new high school's first football game last Friday and they loved it. I was surprised Jackson lasted so long.
Kudos for staying for the entire baseball game. I have a hard time doing that. Football, I can do. Baseball, nope.
Sounds like an exhausting evening! Hope you all had some fun.
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