I don’t think there’s been a better, more beautiful day this year. The sky is a perfect blue when I get to the park – very early, in order to secure today’s gate giveaway. Often before a day game, the sky is overcast or uncertain, and the clouds part at 1.04, just before the first pitch; today, though, it’s not even pretending. Eric arrives very shortly after I do. It’s been a while since I saw him – he was scheduled to come to a game a few weeks ago, but had an emergency that has kept him away from the park for a distressingly long time. I’ve been worried. He has been, too, as it turns out, but we are both very happy that he made it out today. It’s a welcome reunion, and the day just keeps getting better.
An early Rockies run is briefly worrisome, but things settle down and we end up with a 5-3 win (5-2, according to a guy on the street later who has apparently appointed himself the unofficial scorer; speaking as a person who decided he was the Mayor of section 152, I can only appreciate his gumption). Aside from game stuff, of which there is a lot to like, it’s Hello Kitty Day. I have absolutely no connection with, nor love of, Hello Kitty for its own sake, but I have to confess that I dearly love having Giants gear with Hello Kitty stuff on it. I can’t really explain why, except to say that I get very much the same satisfaction from wearing it as I did in the times when I showed up in a different onesie every Christmas morning to confound my nieces, back when i could still confound them. It makes me feel surprising. People don’t expect baseball and Hello Kitty at the same time.
Eric is good enough to turn over his Hello Kitty shirt so I can give it to a friend at the ballpark who does me favors sometimes; it’s a sacrifice, because his girlfriend would dearly love it, as she loved – if I remember correctly – the Hello Kitty bucket hat last year. I would dearly love her to love this one, but I have debts to pay, nd miles to go before I sleep.
Another place I get to go before I sleep is Field Club 121; my friend Julie (faithful readers will remember her from the 16th of May, when the balk was the Opposite of Pornography) lucked into some tickets down where the rich people sit, and she invites us to come join her for a couple of innings. I’ve been here twice before, once when Kevin Mark offered me Larry Baer’s seats for a day. Baer is there today, in the seats that I felt were too close to the field and too temptingly close to the dugout. There are lots of good reasons for Larry Baer to be able to lean over the dugout wall and pester Bruce Bochy, but none of them applied to me. I like being close to the plate as a change, and these seats are great, but the truth is I still think my seats are perfect and wouldn’t trade them. Also, I’ve invested a lot in being the Mayor of 152, and I don’t really want to have to start over.
One of my favorite games to play is imagining what the players’ expressions in their official photographs, as displayed on the scoreboard. would be saying if they were candid snaps. Wilmer Flores, for instance, has looked for the last four years like a fifteen-year-old boy who can’t sleep because his grandfather’s ghost won’t let him; Lamonte Wade Jr. looks like a man who was not told that the party was clothing-optional, and Brett Wisely looks like a grown-up Harry Potter who is a little drunk, an assessment that the two women sitting in front of us in FC121 heartily agree with.
What Did You Think of the Day, Eric?
“Spending time together with you on a glorious, sunny July afternoon brightened my spirits. From indulging in garlic fries to visiting with Julie, I viewed different perspectives… not only the sightlines of multiple sections, but also, my life’s perspective was enhanced and optimism was increased. In addition, I enjoyed learning facts about Hello Kitty that were displayed on the videoboard in between innings. For someone who didn’t grow up with Hello Kitty, it is always amazing to observe the diehard HK fans of every age.“
81 Dates 