Listing Through Life

We made arrangements to meet friends this evening in Little Rock for supper and an Arkansas Travelers Texas League game. (Slogan — The Greatest Show on Dirt.) It rained the entire time we were eating and didn’t let up until we were entering Ray Winder Field. When the tarp was removed, there were puddles all over the infield. We were each given bingo cards, and as the grounds crew sloooowly fixed up the field, the crowd played a couple of rousing games. The MC got a lot of kicks out of insulting fans who made mistakes on their cards. See those guys holding the tarp? Stare at them for 10 minutes. That’s how fast they were moving in real life. The game started at 8:36, an hour and six minutes late.

Shortly after the game began, they called off a bunch of lucky numbers from the back of the program. I won!!! I got a coupon to a Mexican restaurant in Little Rock, a Campbell’s Soup windshield screen, and a coupon for a free autographed photograph of Bob Gibson at an upcoming baseball card show in Little Rock.

Here are some action shots. In this one, taken in the top of the second, the runner is #23, Jose Mota of the Wichita Wranglers. He’s about to be thrown out trying to steal second.

In the panoramic shot, taken in the bottom of the second, Travelers’ #3 Mike Robertson is approaching second base on a double to left. Ray Stephens (#33) is just touching third and Julian Martinez (#8) has just scored.

Later in the game we saw a classic baseball moment. A foul ball hit one of the lights above the third-base grandstands. The shards of glass cascaded in slow-motion down onto the roof, then bounced down to the ground, glowing the entire time in the light from the other bulbs. The Travelers won 4-3. Two guys played for the Travelers who would make it to the Cardinals — Bernard Gilkey and Ray Lankford.

My wife and I went to this game with another couple. We arrived early and wandered around inside the park. We happened upon the Lemonhead Photo Booth where fans could get the pictures taken with White Sox players. The line by Richard Dotson was pretty long but the line by the other player wasn’t. I didn’t recognize the guy, but just for fun I stepped up. We had to hang around afterwards until we saw the players’ uniform number so we could find out who it was. It turned out to be Russ Morman, who started at first base and drove in the winning run in this game. He was released later in the year.

Our seats were about 10 rows from where he played at first. We had fun, although the game wasn’t that exciting. We also stayed for the fireworks show afterwards. The White Sox won 2-1.

My wife and two of my brothers-in-law went to this game. When we arrived, we discovered it was half-price night. Our seats were about 15 rows up from the field half-way between first base and the right-field foul-pole. The game was exciting after the Sox got rid of their starting pitcher in the first inning. The first two Boston batters scored, but that was it. The White Sox won 8-2.

I went to this game with my family. We got to the park an hour before the game started and voted on where to sit. We decided on the upper deck. We walked up six miles of ramps to the nose-bleed section. Our seats were just down the first base line from home plate, and the view was great. But it was cold. Very cold. Very, very cold. I don’t think I’ve ever been colder in my life. A damp wind was coming off Lake Michigan and blowing right in our faces. Before the game ended, there were snow flurries. The park ran out of hot chocolate in the fourth inning. By then, I had given up on trying to get warm. I just enjoyed the game as best I could and consoled myself with the thought that someday, somewhere, I would be warm again.

Naturally, the game went 10 innings before the Brewers won it 1-0.

I was absolutely numb when the game ended and in actual pain as I took the long, long walk down the ramps and across the parking lot to the car. During the entire ride back home, I was tingling as my circulation returned.

This was my first official night game at Wrigley Field. A friend and I drove down and parked at DeVry Institute. We walked the two miles or so to the park. We sat way down the left field line, about six seats from the back outfield fence. The chairs were narrow, so I moved over a seat.

We picked this game because it was the 75th anniversary of the park. A band played a few songs, four old Cubs were introduced, one of them threw out the first pitch and … that was it. We should have stayed home.

Just as the game got started, a group of 40 or so U of I students showed up. They were next to us, behind us, and in front of us. They swore, drank beer, threw peanuts, hit each other over the head with their free Wrigley Field posters, drank beer, cut back and forth in front of us, stood up in front of us, swore, drank beer, yelled, screamed, made out, drank beer, and swore. In short, they did everything except watch the game.

We endured for three innings, then moved down to the box seats 12 rows up front the field. The silence was an awesome relief. Half an inning later, five slime-balls sat in front of us. Their sole activity was to stand up and yell for the beer vendor.

We moved a section closer to home plate. An inning later, an older couple came and sat next to us. They were nice and quiet, but since there was room, we moved over a few more seats. I may have set the record for most seats sat-in during a nine-inning game.

After the game, we wandered around looking for the shuttle bus to DeVry. After getting caught in a human traffic-jam for 15 minutes, we finally found it. We were dropped off at the car an hour after the game ended. And the game? It was boring. The Cubs lost 4-0.