PERSONAL NEWS: Rivercats Baseball Game AAR (28 June 2007)

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Hi All,

Well, I made it to my first professional baseball game eve last Thursday evening (28 June 2007) and what a game it was! It went SIXTEEN innings! From my understanding, they normally only go nine. I would have posted this on Friday, but I was sick and didn't do much but sleep off whatever I had on Friday.

Here's my friend Debbie's description of the game. She actually knows something about baseball unlike me.

A hit by Jason Perry, one of the Rivercats payers.

Last night was a very exciting game. We had multiple home runs and at the end of the 9th inning, we were tied with the Fresno Grizzlies 7-7. So into overtime we went. Inning by inning it went on, we went through multiple closing pitchers and finally at 10:30 p.m. my husband & I left for home, but we listened to the game on the radio all the way home and then turned it on in the house and I listened on to the end! The game went to SIXTEEN (16) innings, the longest game in River Cat's history! Unfortunately we lost 8-7 in the 16th at about 11:55 p.m., but I do believe we got our money's worth! Many of our group were shown on the huge TV set out in center field. Susan K. won the raffle prize of a seat cushion and I screamed myself horse watching. Except for the loss, it was a great game! For those who saw it I hope you enjoyed yourself and will come again, and for those who didn't come, you might want to consider going with us next year or sometime during the rest of this season.

Here are my "outsider observations" from the game:

- Baseball can be a pretty boring game to watch at times. I'm glad I came with a group. It made the boring parts easier because we could chat.

- Many fans didn't seem to be watching the game either. Socializing and eating seemed to be the order of the day. Yelling for the home team and actually watching the game were also important, but it seemed like they were less important than socializing.
- My favorite guy to watch was J.J. Furmaniak, who seemed to hit doubles and homers all game. He also had the coolest theme song "She's a maniac," which helped the clueless like me know who was coming to bat.
- The "Peanuts & Crackerjacks" song is fun to sing.
- Baseball has an incredible number of cheers from classic rock songs to the Rebel "charge" we yelled every couple plays or so.
- The game itself was like a three-ring circus with kids singing, adults singing in a contest, hot dogs getting shot out of a machine at us, Frisbees thrown into the audience, baseballs getting tossed to the audience, mascots mock-fighting, and a whole bunch of things that certainly weren't the baseball game itself.
- One-Dollar hot dog and ice cream night was cool. I ate several hot dogs with lots of relish and onions. the other concessions were incredibly high! I didn't touch any of the really expensive vittles and stuck to the one-Dollar deals.

- One should always bring a baseball cap and/or a mitt to a game to catch fly balls with. If you get hit with a baseball tipped off of a bat, you can get a pretty good walloping... even serious injury. I saw a few people get hit... the game is almost gladiatorial in that respect. I could imagine Roman spectators getting thrown to the lions... or, in this case, getting clocked by errant high-speed baseballs.
- It really sucks when a game goes SIXTEEN innings and you have to get up the next morning (...or stay home sick as I did).
- Overall, the game was a good experience although I'm not sure if I'd go again. SIXTEEN innings was a long time to be at a baseball game though!

A special thanks to Patty and JoAnne for giving me a ride over and sharing their garlic fries to me.

And a very special thanks for my friend John G., his wife, and his kids who patiently explained to me what was going on and shared their peanuts with me. They also teased me mercilessly, but it felt good since I was being included. John's wife is a sweetheart.

And, lastly, many thanks to Debbie who organized this whole outing! Thanks, Deb!

Go Rivercats!

For a full write-up of the game, please see this link:
http://www.rivercats.com/news/index.html?article_id=731

For more information about the Rivercats, please see this link:
http://www.rivercats.com/home/

Have a great Monday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

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