My parents took me and my brother to the Dodger game last night. It was awesome. Especially when Beltre tried to hot-dog a pop-up in foul territory, and ended up dropping the ball about ten feet in front of us. Our entire section stood up and yelled at him, “Use two hands!”
When he came up to bat in the bottom of the inning, most of the stadium started chanting “MVP! MVP!” But not our section. We chanted “USE TWO HANDS! USE TWO HANDS!”
Maybe you had to be there, but it was really funny.
Then there was the old Chinese guy sitting one section above us, who was totally Dancing Homer. They put him on the Dodgervision screen so many times, I wonder if they’re going to hire him in Capital City.
I’ve been going to Dodger Stadium as since I was a little kid. I will always remember sitting in the family seats, two rows above the Dodger dugout, during the World Series in 1977, when I had such a bad ear infection that my dad had to hold me in his lap whenever the crowd cheered too loudly, or during the playoffs in 1978 when I got to go to a game with my dad because my mom had to stay home with my recently-born sister. I will never forget holding Nolan up so he could watch Mike Piazza hit one completely out of the ballpark, and high-fiving Ryan a few years ago when we watched a successful suicide squeeze play unfold right in front of us.
I love baseball, but I love Dodger baseball, at Dodger Stadium, more than anything. My family has had season seats there since the stadium opened (there’s a really cool story about how my dad’s family is connected to the Dodgers, but that’s another story for another time), and last night was the last game of the year that the family tickets were available to my mom and dad.
Oh crap, it’s 8:45 and I have to get out of here. I have an audition at 9:40, then I get to go to Las Vegas for a Meeting-with-a-capital-M tomorrow morning, so I’m looking forward to a nice drive across the desert, some poker tonight, and a (hopefully) cool trip report when I get back. There’s a chance I’ll moblog and audblog from the trip, so check in if you’re so inclined.
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amen on the dodgers! you know i already bleed dodger blue! my whole day revolves around them. you know that, we have had this conversation. whats really sad though, i snow that they are going to the post season, those of us who have sat through winning and losing seasons. cant spend a million dollars for play off tickets, while the band wagon jerk offs (the same with the laker flags, and all the new angel fans etc.) are going to be there, saying “oh yeah i love the dodgers”. what a shame. go look on ebay for dodger playoff tickets if you dont believe me. $6 nose bleeders are going for $150 sad sad sad. -thanks for hearing me rant. a true dodger fan
Wil you just have to know when to hold’em and know when to fold’em, know when to walk away and know when to run 🙂
Good luck with the audition and drive safe please. Keep us posted on how everything is going. You are truly a Dodger fan and traditions never die. Isn’t it nice you’ll be passing the traditions to Nolan and Ryan? Have fun and keep your chin up. We
I;m not really a big fan of the game. But I have been to a few Marlins games down here in humid South Florida. I have to say it’s a blast being at a live game, drinking a Bud Light, BSing with friends, and spending way too much money on junk food. I guess we (my son and I) should do it more often.
BTW: I thought the Dodgers were in Brooklyn???
hey wil,
have a safe trip to vegas…hope all goes well!
can’t wait to hear the report when you get back.
good luck for everything,
take care
rach
oh wil… the dodgers of 76-79. i remember making the drive from the bay area to LA just to see the world series games. i had to be there. tommy john was playing and i was a teenaged girl that couldn’t begin to describe why TJ was my favorite but he was.
thanks for bringing back those memories!
Have fun Wil,
That drive sounds amazing. I’d like to go to the desert one day. Have a wonderful time in Vegas. My friend Sheilagh will be there….I’ll tell her to keep her eyes pealed for you. LOL! As if thousands of people don’t go there everyday.
I’m not into baseball but I’d better learn the rules soon. Or at least learn them for t-ball. I’m more of a football kind of girl…I got this in a newsletter I get daily and thought you’d enjoy it (not like you haven’t read something like this before):
Does the world still need “Star Trek”? Since I am neither Trekkie nor Trekker, I’m surprised the question crossed my mind. But it did as I read about a Los Angeles fan convention to honor James Doohan – the actor who will always be Scotty, engineer on the Starship Enterprise.
Even the die-hards wondered what might become of Klingons, Vulcan death grips and the Prime Directive.
Pictures showed the 84-year-old Doohan, honored to get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, surrounded and applauded by his surviving “Trek” cast mates.
Knowing that a young Doohan was injured while leading Canadian troops into the D-Day assault lent a grace note of poignancy to his recognition. Was that something a young Scotty would do?
Seeing him sitting proudly in the company of real-life astronaut Neil Armstrong, while struggling with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other illnesses, I thought: “Beam me up.”
The “Star Trek” universe’s admirable qualities always shone through the corn.
I never dressed up as a starship captain for an office Halloween party, as a dedicated colleague once did. Now, I’m sorry I kidded her about it as I realized how many “Star Trek” lessons I learned by osmosis.
“Star Trek” tales, often with subtlety and sophistication, used the future to tackle modern social issues. Its late creator, Gene Roddenberry, really was on to something.
Everything from youthful rebellion to corporate greed to prejudice made its way onto the bridge of the Enterprise, light years removed but still relevant.
As a crew of different races and species struggled toward answers, viewers got to figure out the present-day equivalent (and how William Shatner interacted so effectively with an eyeball floating in a fishbowl).
In “Deep Space Nine,” former rebels joined rulers in an awkward peace, a situation with 2004 familiarity.
New “Trek” projects, however, don’t generate heat, except from the faithful.
The last two “Star Trek” movies – competing with “the next generation” of science fiction and special effects – haven’t done much at the box office. (Data’s makeup alone doesn’t translate to the big screen.)
“Star Trek: Enterprise,” the latest television installment, was barely renewed for this season.
Though recent developments don’t look good, all generations of the “Star Trek” family – from Leonard “Spock” Nimoy on down – sentimentally rooted for the franchise in a New York Times story on the convention.
LeVar Burton of “The Next Generation,” who will direct an episode this season, said: “They need to shut the whole thing down, wait five years, create an interest, an excitement, a hunger for it again.”
Convention regular Walter “Ensign Chekov” Koenig said: “In a society with so much violence and stupidity, the conventions are an oasis where you can find some genuinely good people who believe in humanity and respect the rights of others.”
The world may not need “Star Trek,” but it’s quaintly reassuring to know it’s around.
—
Mary C. Curtis is Executive Features Editor/Columnist at The Charlotte Observer. Readers can write to her at The Observer, P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230-0308, or send e-mail to [email protected].
Wil:
I just listened to the audblog post about the American flag doormat. Um… yeah. You went OFF! Jeesh.
But, I like that. It’s wackazoidal. Coffee is funny.
Have you read “Last Call” by Tim Powers? It’s a magical-realist novel dealing with cards (both more familiar & tarot) & card (primarily poker) players. Lots of driving back & forth from California (er, LA? forgive my vagueness) and Las Vegas.
Just started the book the other day; it’s from ’92, and I regret wasting 12 years of not having read it.
Your impending (well, post, now) drive recalled it…
My favorite baseball memories are not from the stadium. They’re dusky evenings, tossing the ball around with my dad and my brother while we listened to the Twins on the radio. I never memorized stats or calculated batting averages, but I loved the supple leather of my glove and the way it had conformed to the shape of my hand over time. I loved the crisp sound as Pop hit fly balls while Andrew and I fell over ourselves in the hayfield to catch them. The soft thud of the ball as it landed in the webbing, the sting when Pop sent a fast one my direction, speed rounds where the ball was a mere blur as it flew between us. That’s baseball to me. Different from your version, but every bit as precious.
Hey Wil,
You’re a pretty swell guy, other than that you’re a Dudger fan! You watch, my Padres’ll take 3 out of 4 from ya. On our way to the Wild Card, where we’ll see you in the playoffs 🙂
I didn’t read the other 63 comments and I can fully appreciate the love of a hometown team. That said – have you ever been to Fenway? Boy, you haven’t been to a game until you’ve done Fenway. 😉
One of my favorite baseball chants “BAL-CO” for Barry Bonds. How do you get a whole park to go that obscure in reference to performance enhancing drugs?
Good Luck on the Audition!
My brother and I grew up Cardinals fans in St. Louis, where baseball is celebrated like religion. He got to see the Dodgers-Cards game on Sunday 9/12 at Dodger Stadium, and sent me a bunch a pics. Dodger Stadium looks great, even better than on TV. Makes me want to see some baseball there. I posted the pics here. Mostly Cardinals players, but some nice shots nonetheless.
3 out 4 Baby!.. 😀 Go Padres!
3 out of 4 Baby!.. 😀 Go Padres!