Month: July 2005 (Page 2 of 2)

All-Star Game, 2005

I made it to the 8th inning in last night’s MLB All-Star game, which I believe is the latest I’ve made it in 4-5 years. See, it’s not just fatherhood that slows you down!

My man DTS posted some thoughts about the All-Star game yesterday. Perhaps it’s the difference between growing up in St. Louis and Kansas City, because I always loved the All-Star break. Maybe Cards fans were always comfortable with knowing people nationally understood what St. Louis baseball was all about, while those of us in the western half of the state saw George Brett, Amos Otis, and Frank White’s annual trips to the game as a chance to share with the world how great baseball was in Kansas City at the time. Or maybe DTS and I are just different.

Regardless, I loved the pageantry of the game. All-Star week always felt a little like a family picnic to me. There were Yankees and Royals and Red Sox and Orioles and A’s all joining forces for a day. The players seemed to find the perfect measure of taking the game seriously, yet understanding it was an opportunity to relax a bit. (Witness the players who came onto the field in white shoes back in the day. I always wanted to see someone from the A’s or Astros come out in black shoes.) The game was perfectly timed so players, fans, and analysts could take a breath and reflect on what had happened so far in the season. Who were the rookie sensations, the teams playing over their heads, the disappointments? How were the pennant races lining up? What trends had sustained themselves over the first three months of the season?

My first sports bet ever (at least that I remember) was over an All-Star game. I bet my uncle a nickel that the AL would win in 1979. Man did I hate Dave Parker for launching those missiles from deep right field that kept me from winning!

The league I spent most of my playing years in did not have an All-Star game. When I finally hopped over to one that did, it was a huge deal for me when I made the All-Star team my second year (summer after 8th grade). I was usually a pretty calm guy on the field, but when I went out to warm up my buddy who was the starting pitcher, I could feel the extra eyes on me, the buzz in the crowd, and the subtle acknowledgment from parents and coaches in the crowd, “That kid who’s catching can really hit.” (I was 1-2 with a stolen base that day. No errors in my chances at first base.)
I did fall out of love with the MLB All-Star game in the 90s, but then again, I was falling out of love with baseball at the same time, too. The home run derby seemed more important and exciting. Despite being a loyal American League fan, their dominance over the NL became boring. I had better things to do. Then, of course, came the disaster three years ago. As I’ve rediscovered my love for baseball over the past couple years, so too have I found the joys of the All-Star game. It’s not the same as when I was a kid, but what generation doesn’t say that? It is fun and interesting to me again, though.
It was weird watching Mike Piazza bat last night. He looked old, slow, and clearly on the downward spiral of his career. He had one of the most vicious swings I’ve ever seen. Now much of the violence in it is gone. It’s funny how your own age determines how you view others. When I was a kid, seeing older players like Yaz and Pops play in the All-Star game, they didn’t seem any less athletic than the young guys. They had an aura about them that maintained their greatness.
Can we please get rid of the idiotic slogan “This One Counts!”? It clearly doesn’t, since Eric Gagne’s blown save two years ago didn’t interrupt his saves record, and Kenny Rogers’ suspension did not cover last night’s game. And don’t get me started on the whole home field thing. I wrote plenty about that last year.
I watched last night’s game on the couch, using my brother-in-law’s PowerBook to tap out another draft for my grad school personal statement while S. read a book on the loveseat. Last year, we were out for our anniversary dinner then put our infant carseats in our two vehicles when we got home. Two years ago? In St. Lucia on our honeymoon, passed out from sun and wine by the third inning. Three years ago? In Colorado Springs on a business trip. I had a 6:00 AM flight back to KC the next day, so went to bed long before a tie was declared. Idiots.

“A Systematic Destruction of The Field.”

“An infernal, murderous pace.”
“Vinokourov is about to pop.”
“What we’re seeing is a man destroying all of his competitors.”
“Lance Armstrong is an angry, angry man.”

I don’t know what I enjoy more about watching OLN’s coverage of the Tour de France. Lance Armstrong’s sublime performance or the pitch-perfect comments the announcers use to describe what is happening. Today was the second snapshot moment for Lance in this year’s tour. The first came in the opening time trial, when he caught Jan Ullrich and gave him a look over the shoulder as he passed him. Ullrich was utterly done for the Tour at that moment. Today, in a classic mountain performance, Lance left nearly everyone of significance behind. It’s become a cliche over the past seven years, but there is little in sports like watching Lance’s effort when climbing a mountain compared to his competitors. You can literally see the will and energy seep from their bodies as they attempt to match his energy. He peddles as if he’s on a Sunday ride and everyone else struggles to keep upright. I’m going to miss Lance very much.

Now Playing: <strong>Buena</strong> by <a href=”http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Morphine%22″>Morphine</a>

 

Post Vacation Blahs

There’s nothing like the feeling of coming home after a vacation. You get to sleep in your own bed, control the food in the refrigerator, don’t have to be polite to people anymore. Yet there’s also the sense of malaise that kicks in. After all, you’ve probably been looking forward to the trip for several months and now it has come and gone.

I must say, our daughter did phenomenally well on the trip. She survived an extra hour tacked onto the trip to KC with only a slight meltdown. Hell, I was ready to get out of the car by that point too. Curiously, she averaged about an extra hour of sleep each day. Couldn’t have anything to do with the sun coming up later there, now could it? I was also a little surprised at how well she did when forced to interact with lots of strangers. She’s met many people in her 11+ months, but rarely has she had to go through as many large social gatherings as she did last weekend. Kudos to M. for holding it together and generally being quite friendly with people.
As always, going back to KC is a bit weird for me. Lots of nostalgia. This time, I spent a lot of time thinking about how our lives would be if we had not moved to Indy. Where would we eat? Where would we buy groceries? Where would we take our dry cleaning? If we spent most of our time with friends A, B, and C two years ago, would we still be spending a proportional amount of time with the same friends? Or would it now be A, D, and K? (Please note, these letters have no significance, so don’t try to figure out if we’re snubbing anyone.) I mean, our lives did change dramatically when S. ended her residency and began practicing. If we were still in KC, would the only thing that was different now be that we owned a home rather than rented two apartments? And, as we shared with a few of you, we thought it interesting that since we’re leaning towards the Catholic school route for our kids, while we might have enjoyed 3-6 years living with 75% of our friends within walking distance, at the end of the time frame many of you would be moving to the suburbs as your kids started school. Sometimes it feels like not that much changes in our lives, since I think I stay in reasonably good contact with many of you. Then when we see each other, I realize that we’ve all changed a lot. And in very good ways.
S. did express some frustration that each time she tried to tell someone a story, she got this response. “Yeah, I read about that on the blog.” So I’m simultaneously proving how effective I’ve been at accomplishing my biggest goal in blogging and undermining my wife’s story-telling opportunities. Not sure if that’s good or bad in total.
Big thanks to everyone who hosted us at any event last weekend. It made it much easier to see the majority of our friends in a fairly brief visit. As several of us noted, however, with kids to look after and lots of adults to mingle with, at times it was difficult to truly catch-up with each other. My apologies to anyone I didn’t spend quality time with. It was not intentional, I assure you.
On the agenda for this week is finally completing my grad school application and getting that fired off to Bloomington by the end of the week. Cleaning off my desk. Sorting through some boxes of books and other things I brought back from my step-dad’s house. And hopefully some interesting topics to blog about.

Now Playing: <strong>The Stone Roses – I Am The Resurrection</strong>

Customer Service

The only good thing about having another sewer line backup is the fact the plumber who was scheduled to pay us a visit between 5-7 got bogged down on his early job. When the emergency replacement finally showed up at 8:30, we had earned a $300 credit on our bill. For those of you who aren’t homeowners and have never had to pay for a plumber to do more than fix a leaky faucet, yes, we still dropped some money even after the credit. And joy of joys, it appears we’ll be dropping a rather significant amount of money down the drain (errrrrrr) in order to prevent this from happening again.

And is it just me, or aren’t plumbers generally really nice people? We’ve generally had good luck with the electricians, painters, handymen, etc. we’ve employed over the past two years. But both plumbers we’ve delt with, I could happily grab a beer with. After they washed their hands, of course.

Anyway, the water is flowing, the toilets are flushing, and the washing machine is spinning. For now. I’m sure you’re all greatly relieved at that news. I won’t tell you about what happened to our towel supply as I struggled to cope with today’s disaster.

OK, I’m done, I’m off to bed soon, and we’re off to Kansas City tomorrow. Talk to you next week.

 

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