Don’t get me wrong. I love taking people who don’t know baseball to games. Aside from the opportunity to talk, I love being able to show someone who maybe doesn’t care about sports what the fuss is, or at least what my angle on the fuss is. I love telling people weird little facts and quirky stories and explaining why that guy is standing there or why that guy didn’t run till then or how to figure out where the ball is going; I mean, you know how I love top talk. But there is also something great about sitting with someone who knows what’s happening and doesn’t need to hear why that run didn’t count or why that pitch wasn’t a strike but the last one was, even though the exact same thing happened.
Mark is another of my perennials; he is my first choice for Opening Day, but almost never makes it, because he has a family and a job and spring is a busy time for people with responsibilities. Still we almost always make time for a game at some point during the season; this year it is very late, because he is not on any of the social media sites I use to get people to go with me and I have been lax about being in touch with my offline friends. Still, we made it happen, almost at the last minute. A lot is going on for Mark – he and his family have moved twice since we last saw each other (so have I), and he and his two kids just got their Austrian dual citizenships (mine, Irish, is on the way). The Giants., then, have not excelled, but things are moving along for the two of us.
Today’s game is unremarkable except that it’s the third win in a row and the final game of a sweep. I won’t recapitulate my frustrations right now, but it is, in a tactical sense, nice to see yet another win, even if it was against a team that would surely be relegated at the end of the season if we had relegation. Speaking of relegation, I asked Mark what sport he would take up watching if he had to move to Austria; he said soccer (he means, of course, Fußball), and I had ot think about what sport I would watch if I had to move to Ireland. I guess I would still watch baseball, just in the middle of the night. I haven’t had a lot of experience watching soccer (I mean, of course, peil), but I don’t think I could take more than a couple of matches a year, although it’s possible that watching it with a pub full of dedicated fans would change my mind.
Today’s gate giveaway is the much-coveted but nearly useless Alaska Airlines BOGO companion fare voucher, which I can never use because I never fly anywhere with anyone or plan ahead enough to know where I’m going. It’s only good for buying a ticket for someone to go with you, you have to make your reservations within about 48 hours of getting the voucher, and the blackout dates and eligible times are Byzantine. I always take mine anyway, with the same kind of sure-I’ll-get-to-it hubris that I access when I’m buying two gallons of milk at Costco, or pirating the complete works of Vangelis. Last year, I gave it to Eric, who used it to buy his parents a 50th anniversary trip to Hawaii. I gave him this year’s voucher as well.
The other aspect of today’s Alaska Airlines sponsorship is the least exciting flyby I’ve ever seen: during the national anthem we get a pass over the park by an Alaska Air 737. It’s a weird choice, especially since the pilot can’t really come in low enough to make it thrilling in the same way that the Memorial Day fighter jets or the helicopter’s steep bank, circling practically inside the stadium, were. It’s also a really weird choice this close to 9/11. I can’t help but wonder if Alaska Airlines cut out a special 737 just for this, or if they just diverted a regular flight out of Oakland and had the aircrew tell the passengers they were part of a special ceremony at Oracle Park.
I asked Mark if he had any commentary on last night’s question, about how we maintain our devotion to teams and players that have no obligation to return it, but he doesn’t really have anything to add. Maybe being a fan is one of those things that you can always talk about in terms of tribalism and a need to belong but never really encompass.
Go Giants.
What Did You Think of the Evening, Mark?
“The only thing better than the super nachos was the company. It’s always great to catch a game with Justin, my only regret is that it took so long this year to finally connect. Just to be safe, I’ll book PTO for the first 2 weeks of next year’s baseball season, just to guarantee I can attend opening day. (Assuming Shohei Ohtani signs with the Giants, that is.)“
81 Dates 