Sunday Baseball
Summer in Maryland can be historically oppressive. The days drip with humidity. The breeze goes on vacation. You can't walk outside without taking a bath in your own sweat. Sounds enjoyable right? I look forward to each summer with glee.
As you can imagine, any patch of reasonable summer weather is coveted. We have been having a patch of this weather. The day's high hovers around 78 degrees. A few small clouds drift through the beautiful blue sky. All I want to do is spend the day in the great outdoors.
On Sunday, I was emailing (booo), and I realized another perfect day was brewing. I check the Orioles schedule, and they were at home to the Angels. It was only noon so, I had plenty of time to take action. I honestly believe, I should go to more home games. I try and pay attention to their progress through the season, but they always disappoint. At least for the last ten years, they have been disappointing. Anyway, the day was too nice to pass up an afternoon at the Yard.
Teresa isn't feeling well so, I walked down to see if Ryan or James wanted to catch the game. James was too tired, but Ryan jumped at the idea. We decided to walk over a little before game time. I went back to my house to prepare some sandwiches and water.
On the walk over, I was slightly worried about tickets. I have no idea why, but I figured we weren't the only people that decided to take in the game. It's much more enjoyable to sit in the stands when you aren't dripping. As we approached the box office at the end of the Warehouse, I saw the empty upper deck. Who was I kidding. The O's are something like 14 games out of first. We grabbed two $9 tickets in completely different locations and walked onto Eutaw Street.
It was already the second inning, and the Orioles were up 2 nothing. Last week, they did take 2 out of 3 from the Yankees. I guess I can't be complaining too much. Anyway, we grabbed some beers and walked the steps to the upper deck.
I have great memories of Sunday afternoon games in the 90s. When I was in High School, my Dad and I had Sunday Series tickets. We went to almost every O's Sunday afternoon game. They even had a few summers of great baseball. Near our old seats, Ryan and I found almost a completely empty section.
As we ate peanuts and sunflower seeds, the amazing day slowly passed. The game was entertaining. The Angel's took back the lead in the middle innings. The O's should have gone back ahead, but the 3rd base coach was too conservative. Both starters lasted into the 8th, but O's mounted a comeback. Alas, they ended up just a bit short in the 9th. Again, the third base coach made a lousy call. Men were on 2nd and 3rd. A fly ball was hit into shallow right. The 3rd base runner tagged and bolted for home. The right fielder's throw beat the base runner by 10 feet. The catcher stood his ground, and the game was over. That is a microcosm of the O's.
We really couldn't complain. The afternoon was a ton of fun, and the weather was beyond perfect. A win would have been ideal, but I was happy to attend a game. As we walked back through Otterbein to Federal Hill, I thought about stopping by Metropolitan for a beer. Ryan had never been so, he was up for the idea. The Metropolitan probably has the best beer selection in Federal Hill. Soon after we sat down, Andy and Liz came strolling down the street. They were returning from the game and joined out table. We complained a bit about the O's, but it didn't really matter. I was so enjoying the wonderful afternoon. You have to relish these perfect weather days for all their worth. I finished up my Clipper City Loose Cannon and called it a day.
