One of the things I will miss greatly when we move back to Sioux Center is our proximity to Target Field. While we could jump on the 3 bus and be there in about a half an hour... we tend to buzz down Hennepin Ave. - we're there in less than 15 minutes. It's a great ride in... through the hip part of the NE Minneapolis St. Anthony neighborhood... past the Gay 90's... past the strip clubs... and we're there. Baseball heaven. More than once we've grabbed some pizza at Pizza Luces before or after the game... and my kids enjoy the street entertainers - this last time we saw a guy with an amplified flute playing the Twins fight song. They were mesmerized.
Since we've been living up here I've spent time scouring Craigslist for cheaper tickets. I must admit the sucky start to the season was a God-send for us. Ticket prices plummeted (Minnesotans are finicky like that... the only losers they embrace are the Vikings.) So this past Monday I found some cheap bleacher seats - front row right field. It was a makeup game from April 22... Earth Day... so the Twins were wearing these strange green caps. Lets just say "global warming" made an appearance. It was hot. Like 115 degree heat index hot. And we were sitting on these metal bleachers literally cooking our asses off. No matter - we had a great time. The kids ate (and spilled) their nachos while guzzling a souvenir soda. We watched some baseball (the Twins lost), the kids laughed at the between innings shenanigans, and we visited the gift shop to look at overpriced stuff my kids begged me to buy. We moved around - looking for shade - finally ending up in the upper deck where some kids in front of us mercifully shot us with their water guns. We ate some peanuts... watched more baseball... and went home.
I know baseball isn't for everyone - especially in the era of ADD and fast paced gizmos. I realize that football and basketball have a different appeal - faster paced with more scoring. (And I know some people think all sports are pointless...) What baseball has, however, is a different sense of time. It's not dictated by a clock... there's an all together different pace to it. Baseball, by its very nature, includes a lot of wasted time. Batters stepping out... pitchers throwing over to first... speed spiting, crotch grabbing... all taking place between the "action." But this is what I like about it... its a chance to go sit around with my kids - wasting time - watching these spontaneously choreographed parts of the game unfold. It provides the opportunity for weird conversations - my son asked me one time while we were watching a game if a bird has ever been hit by a baseball. (There were some birds diving in and out of the 3rd baseline.) So I told him about Randy Johnson obliterating a bird with a fastball. Let's just say he obsessed about it - all the way to the 5th inning... asking question after question... his 7 year old brain piecing things together. The next morning I showed him a clip of it... he hasn't brought it up since.
What's my point? In an age where everything and everyone seems to be running at breakneck speed - a baseball game provides an opportunity for "wasting" a beautiful afternoon or evening at the ball park. Target Field... we're gonna miss you.
No comments:
Post a Comment