Essayist
Well, it’s the middle of the 4th inning with the National League winning 2-1. Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to stay up for the whole game. I’ve had a pretty bad allergy attack this afternoon and this evening, I’ve been loading up on antihistamines. They are just barely beginning to kick in but that means I’ve got to go to bed soon or I’ll regret it in the morning.
So, 10 minutes and I’m off to bed. But I’m still pulling for the AL to win.
Today was a day of parks: Central Parks, Amusement Parks and Ball Parks.
I woke up close to 10 AM with no headache but feeling somewhat queasy and unbalanced from the night before. I also had a very sore throat, which was damaged, I think, in the previous night’s regurgitation. Jen and Jason got up and headed over to the old place in Astoria to do one last round of cleanup. My head felt extremely heavy (albeit, pain-free) and I thought laying around wasn’t helping any. So I forced myself out of bed, dressed, headed down all 61 stairs and made my way, bleary-eyed to Central Park, four blocks away.
I wandered around the park for a while, eating a hot dog at the Bethesda fountain in order to get something in my stomach, and then headed over to the small pond over by 5th and 72nd and planting myself on a bench for a while. After Jen called me, I wandered back to their place to meet them. There was more resting, and showering (it was hot and muggy) and then the three of us headed out to the park again, this time for a late brunch at the Boathouse.
We called Jon and Hollie on the way there asked them to meet us for brunch and they agreed. I was extremely quiet all through brunch because I couldn’t shake the queasy feeling. I knew it was all in my head, but I just couldn’t quite shake it. However, after eating as much of my Boathouse salad as I could manage, I did feel better, probably because I had something other than water in my stomach.
We met Kevin outside the Boathouse just after 4 PM and wandered to the west side of the park. Eventually, we made our way to the D train out to Coney Island. The train ride out to the end of the line took about an hour. By this time, I was feeling much better.
Coney Island seemed packed. It was kind of like being at the Santa Monica pier. There was a hot dog eating contest going on. We wandered around the boardwalk, and made our way to the famous wooden roller coaster, the Cyclone. I stared at it lustily, but made what was perhaps the best decision of the weekend: I decided to forego the coaster ride until my next trip to Coney Island. My head still felt just unsettled enough to where sudden drops and turns might have led to extreme reactions. Instead I forced myself to turn away and we headed to the ballpark. (Note: it was not out of fear of roller coasters that I decided not to ride. I’ve ridden everything Magic Mountain has to offer; it was merely the unsettled feeling in my head that forced me away.)
Kevin had gotten us tickets to see the Brooklyn Cyclones, a short-season class-A farm team for the Mets, play against the Hudson Valley Renegades. The games was held at Keyspan Stadium just off the boardwalk in Coney Island. We were seated in section 21, down the left field line. It was a fun game to watch (the Cyclones won 4-2) and after the game, the crowd of 9,303 fan were treated to a fireworks display. It was a lot of fun.
On the long train ride back to Manhattan, I was feeling 100% better than when I woke up this morning, with the exception of a very sore throat. But even that was beginning to feel better too.
It has been raining heavily here most of the morning so far and it is possible that for the first time since I’ve held Orioles season tickets (three years now), my Sunday game may be rained out. The game (against the Nationals) is scheduled to start at 1:35 PM which is still about 4 hours away. But the rain has been coming down pretty hard and looking at the weather radar, there is more to come.
NOTE: I’m posting this on Tuesday, June 13, but the events described herein took place on Saturday, June 10, 2006
Saturday began as gloomy and cold outside as Friday night ended. The ambient temperature when we finally woke up (around 9:30) was 39 degrees! It was also misting slightly. Doug and I headed over to the local Rite Aid and got some Advil, which we both needed. We then headed over to TJ’s for breakfast. Doug had a big breakfast, but I could only manage some toast and orange juice. Once the Advil kicked in, however, I felt much better.
Right around noon, we headed over to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which was literally right around the corner from our hotel (of course, in Cooperstown, anything is right around the corner).
I was looking forward to coming home, sitting down and relaxing, and watching the Yankee game. But the game was rained out. Now what am I going to do!?
I just finished watching a pretty crazy game in which the Yanks beat the Red Sox 13-5, and batted around twice, in the second and the third innings. Boy was that a fun game to watch on a Monday night!
I was pretty tired when I got home from work this evening, which is unusual, considering I had my regular 30 minute nap at lunch and that usually does the trick for me. I think it has something to do with the fact that I was out until 11 PM last night and didn’t get to bed until almost midnight.
In any event, my dilemma of the moment, aside from just plain staying awake, is what to watch:
1. The Yankee/Red Sox game starts at 7 PM
2. Tom Hanks is on Inside the Actors Studio at 8 PM
3. Season finale of House is on at 9 PM.
I can’t watch the game and watch the other two, but I don’t want to miss them either. If I had a DVR, I might have a way of solving the problem, but I don’t. So I think I’m going to watch the game for an hour, then switch to #2 for and hour, and finally to #3. I can catch parts of the game during commericials.
And if I’m lucky, I’ll get to bed by 10 PM.
As I mentioned earlier, we had our first softball game tonight and we lost; the final score was 22-16, but it was dark in the last inning and we probably shouldn’t have played it. We still would have lost but the final score would have been 17-14. Still, it was fun. I went 3 for 4, although I had only one decent hit. The team played very well overall, and with the exception of some baserunning errors and some work needed in the outfield, I think we did okay.
When I got home after the game (it was nearly 10 PM) I caught the last three innings of the Yankee game. At one point, the Yanks were down 10-1 but came back and ended up winning the game in the bottom of the 9th inning with a walkoff homerun by Jorge Posada.
…not just the fact that they lost 2 out of 3 to the Red Sox, but that on the second play of the game, Matsui broke his wrist diving for a ball. He’s likely out 3 months, if not the whole season. And this puts an end to his remarkable 518 consecutive game playing streak. An all around bummer for the Bombers.
I can’t wait to get home tonight to catch the first meeting of the Yankees and Red Sox! Since Wakefield is pitching for Boston, I have a good deal of confidence that the Yanks will win. As it is, they have taken a slight lead for 1st place in the division. Overall, I’ve been very happy with their performance this year so far (early as it is in the season).
The real interesting element to tonight’s game will be to see how Boston fans react to the return of Johnny Damon.
Hopefully this won’t be one of their traditional four-hour games. I’ve got to catch a 7 AM flight to Los Angeles tomorrow.
Each year I have had my season tickets to the Orioles, I have made a CD for the trip to and from the Yard. Of course, this year, wthout a radio in my car, I can’t listen to the CD on the way, but I nonetheless felt it was important to keep up the ritual and so I have created a “Trip to the Yard 2006” CD. In past years, I have strayed somewhat from cliche and traditional, but this year, I felt the need to come back home and make it a bit more traditional. Here’s the playlist:
1. Baseball–Home Run (Sound Effects)
2. William Tell Overture (London Symphony Orchestra)
3. Willie, Mickey, and “The Duke” (Talkin’ Baseball) (Terry Cashman)
4. The Boys Are Back In Town (Thin Lizzy)
5. Glory Days (Bruce Springsteen)
6. Tessie (Dropkick Murphys)
7. Take Me Out to the Ball Game (Jimmy Buffett)
8. Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
9. All Star (Smash Mouth)
10. Catfish (Bob Dylan)
11. Centerfield (John Fogerty)
12.Right Field (Peter, Paul and Mary)
13. Enter Sandman (Metallica)
14. New York, New York (Frank Sinatra)
Two days ago, I grumbled about the MLB Extra Innings broadcast of the Yankee game going out at exactly 11 PM in the middle of the bottom of the 10th inning. I was fuming and emailed DirecTV. Today I got a response, and it was friendly and specific enough that it satisfies me.
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