great fun
at a game of
the traverse city pit spitters vs. the wisconsin woodchucks.
nice field
light attendance
good seats
cheap food and drinks
dinos, mascot, lively fans, crazy promos,
singing, dancing, kids on the grass,
nice weather, music, good company
all that
and a baseball game too
a very pleasant way to experience an evening.
—
“baseball is drama with an endless run and an ever-changing cast.”
-joe garagiola
—
traverse city, michigan, u.s.a. – summer 2019
so fun
to watch grandie j
and his team
just at the beginning
of learning skills and strategies
but they all try really hard
accept each other just as they are
and have such a light-hearted team spirit.
—
“with an enthusiastic team you can achieve almost anything.”
-tahir shah
while watching the little league game
i caught a glimmer of shiny blue movement
out of the corner of my eye
and suddenly there appeared
a shimmery mermaid
all scales and tails
coming from far away
skipping onto the field
staying safe in the background
to see just what
this other world was all about
and in an instant
she was skipping off again
returning to the safe world she knew
in the great bathtub sea. 
“it’s fun to peek into other people’s worlds
and see how they go about doing things.”
-norah jones
sitting in comerica park
at the detroit tigers game
surrounded by these kids from canada
here with their team
thirty two strong
for a big night out at the ballpark
so excited for everything
good seats, cotton candy, no rain, family, friends, coaches
calling out to the pro players they recognized
dancing, cheering, singing
their own faces on the big screen
mitts ready
and
especially, especially, especially, especially
for the four foul balls they ended up with
they simply could not believe their luck
overflowing with happiness
at times sharing seats and laps to get an even better look
they could barely contain themselves
with smiles from here to there
and this guy
who made it his personal mission
to come over and tell them
to sit down and stop having so much fun
every chance he had
yet
in the end
the tigers
(and especially, especially that guy)
both lost
it was not even close
the kids had clearly won it all.
—
“baseball was made for kids, and grown-ups only screw it up.”
-bob lemon
in honor of our home opening
detroit tigers baseball day
the unexpected snow
and
the expected condiments.
—
credits: the intelligent optimist, rk photo, detroit tigers
spent the afternoon at
the rogers centre
in canada
where the
baseball opened with
the official roof report –
‘the roof is open’
the game began
and we
watched our detroit tigers
get mowed over
by the toronto blue jays
such a game (15-1)
where
our outfielder even
lost track of
how many outs there were
and forgot to throw the ball back
toronto fans threw out hats
when their player hit 3 home runs
all in the same game
and
hockey and baseball
blurred lines
in the old hockey tradition
of the hat trick
then
every opposing starter
got at least on base
giving us the chance
to see their entire roster
all in one game
but the staff and the local fans
were very friendly
except for the guy
who impounded
our piñata head mascot
kind of a chicken
who was meant to be a tiger
(a chi-ger)
upon entering the stadium
lest i possibly wear it
and conceal my identity
but we decided to shake it all off
and
embrace the huge loss of this game
by enjoying the town
with fans from both sides
and
our pinata
came right along with us
as we met
a rickshaw driver
a man with a chicken hat
( a kindred spirit who grew up in my hometown)
a street singer with a bag on his head
a sweaty spiderman
a bachelorette party
and a band
playing american and canadian covers
so we danced a lot
and passed the piñata on to the band
but upon returning to our hotel
i couldn’t exactly remember
my hotel room number
except for the last two digits
which caused a bit of a logistical issue
so i visited a few floors
on the elevator that only moved
in response to an electronic key swipe
(who knew?)
saw a lot of our beautiful hotel
made friends with the front desk
who made a few phone calls
to my fellow travelers
who mostly had their phones shut off
in this
faraway and friendly foreign land
and
finally got back into my room
where i soon after
got locked in the glass shower
for a while
then
relaxed and drifted off to sleep
in my pillowy bed
until there was
a 3am fire alarm (false)
but it was one great day
leading into the next
and
there certainly was a lot of laughter
i’d say there were
at least
3 major bouts of laughter
all in the same day.
and
that’s a hat trick.
—
‘that’s the beauty of sport.
sometimes you laugh,
sometimes you cry.’
– joseph gradual
and the results are in – mark and i have guest posted on each other’s sites, as the end of our friendly wager –
the final tally in the biggest bloggers baseball wager ever is syracuse chiefs 5 games won, toledo mud hens 3 games won.
after a two-week stretch fraught with tight nerves, generous volleys of good-humored trash-talking and on-field triple-a baseball that went down to game eight before a 9-3 chiefs victory in toledo’s fifth third field clinched the title, i have learned a bit.
my last bit of gloat shall come in the accompanying photo. It was taken during my dear wife karen and i’s trip to watch game two of the series at the chief’s nbt bank stadium. truth be told, i came with two other signs: one in case the mud hens won the series, and one in case of a 4-4 deadlock.
I had fun following the results, posting jokes, parrying with beth, and our regular readers and friends who comment on both of our blogs.
so what did i take away from this foray into inter-blogal diamond doings?
triple-a baseball is fun, inexpensive, good for its communities, and played at a high level of talent. oh, i knew that going in, but the reminder is always nice.
i actually like the toledo mud hens, particularly pitcher kyle lobstein, third baseman mike hessman and mascot jim flealand.
i was correct in suggesting this little experiment to beth. when i saw her post about attending the outdoor hockey game and love of the detroit red wings, and comments about the tigers and the teams of her alma mater michigan, i knew i had found a kindred sports fan as well as somebody who appreciates aiming an eye at the vagaries and curiosities of life in general. indeed.
and so i typed this in beth style, sans capital letters, in homage to e.e. cummings i do believe, but perhaps because she has a balky shift key on her main typing keyboard.
i heartily invite you regular readers of i didn’t have my glasses on to hop over to markbialczak.com to check out what beth cross-posted on my blog today about this little escapade. if you happen to spot a headline that interests you on my sidebar, please do click and read. follow, if you wish. come back daily. i’d love to talk.
speaking of the future … my alma mater, maryland, joins the big ten come fall. my terps will be playing beth’s wolverines. there may be some more trash-talking ahead.
Have you ever made a friendly wager and then felt a little bad about settling up? Are you a comfortable trash-talker? Do you despise me even a little bit for the sign I’m holding in the picture?
thanks jamie farr, for supporting our mud hens
as they pulled it off in the ninth inning last night.
tonight we can tie up this epic series in the final game,
and show writer/rival mark
who’s who in this minor league showdown in toledo.
and i’ll be there to cheer them on.
http://markbialczak.com/2014/05/01/chiefs-vs-mud-hens-and-theres-going-to-be-some-sort-of-sign/
and my toledo mudhens got wet yesterday and we lost the game,
but there is always today and always tomorrow.
and i will be there to cheer them on in person tomorrow night.
and i will be there to settle a friendly bet with blog writer friend, mark.
he is crowing all over the place about his believed chiefs from syracuse,
but we shall see, we shall see….
http://markbialczak.com/2014/05/01/chiefs-vs-mud-hens-and-theres-going-to-be-some-sort-of-sign/
If you cannot catch a bird of paradise, better take a wet hen.
Nikita Khrushchev
as some of you know, new york blogger/friend/sports/movie/life stories writer, mark (http://markbialczak.com) and i are engaged in a major friendly minor league baseball battle. his beloved syracuse chiefs have played my toledo mud hens for 4 games in his town, (with mixed results and home field advantage). and luckily they’ve made their way back and hens have come home to roost for a 4-game home stand. see the results of yesterday’s game one below! the hens and chiefs will take to the field again this morning and we shall see who indeed rules the farm in the end)
http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140513&content_id=75360256&fext=.jsp&vkey=recap&sid=t512
GO HENS!
I didn't have my glasses on.... 