Tag Archives: baseball

A Night Of Baseball (or Enjoying The Enthusiasm)

Posted on April 5, 2023 | 1 comment

I haven’t been going out every night, but I feel like I’ve been getting out more and more and I’m feeling less anxious about it. There are still some things that make me a bit hesitant or that I don’t know if I’m fully comfortable with, but I’ve been lucky that I’ve been able to find things that have been fun and feel safe. And last week, I had another adventure that really was awesome.

I was supposed to go on a date to an outdoor rooftop movie thing, but the day before the venue emailed saying they had to cancel the event. They didn’t say why, but it wasn’t a weather thing. But the guy I was supposed to go out with and I still wanted to meet up so we tried to think of something fun to go do. We both thought about it during the day and we said we’d have a phone call after work to figure out our plan. And while I was trying to be inspired and think of fun ideas, I saw something online about how that day was the opening day for the Dodgers, and the next day there would be another game. I looked online at the tickets, and there were quite a few seats left and they weren’t horribly priced. So I added that to my list to discuss when we had our call. And we decided that going to the game would be something fun and since it was outside it would feel a bit safer than being inside with a lot of people.

I haven’t been to too many professional baseball games and it had been several years since the last time I went to see the Dodgers, but I always have fun when I go to the games. As I explain to people who ask me if I like to watch sports, I don’t really care about sports but I love enthusiasm. I think it’s a similar feeling to going to a musical with experiencing something with a group of people who are really excited to be there. And of all sports, I think baseball is probably the one I enjoy watching in person the most. At least I seem to understand the game the most.

When we looked at the ticket options online that evening, I was showing him the options for cheap seats. But he wanted to spend a little more so we could sit a bit closer to the game. I didn’t mind spending a bit more, and the tickets weren’t too expensive. And it ended up not mattering much because he bought the tickets and then didn’t let me pay him back.

The game was an evening game after work, and we got there a little after the game started due to traffic. We got a pretty good parking spot and were in the stadium quickly. We decided to get food before going to our seats but wanted to make sure we knew where our seats were first. And I guess I didn’t quite understand the seating chart because we were much closer to the field than I thought! I thought we were one level higher, but we were so close to the game and really could see the action!

I kept saying how I was so surprised at how close we were because it was just amazing to not be sitting far away. I usually am sitting in the outfield or much higher up. This felt like such a change from how I’ve experienced baseball games in the past.

The game was really fast, partially because of the new pitch clock and partially because there were no runs until almost the end of the game. There was one home run by the Dodgers and the energy of the crowd was truly electric. It was a moment that made me so grateful to be in that crowd that night and reminded me how much I love experiencing events like this.

Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost the game that night. But it was still fun to watch. And most games have some special thing happening, such as a giveaway or fireworks. And after this game, there was a drone show. I’ve seen drone shows on tv before, but never in person. And it was really neat seeing all the different formations they made in the sky above the stadium.

I know I’ve said this before, but I need to be better about doing things like this. Not just for dates that I go on, but with my friends as well. It would be pretty easy to organize going to a game with a friend or two and I think I’ll try to do that sometime this season. It doesn’t have to be too expensive to go if we sit up high and it can be a really nice way to spend an afternoon or evening. And even if we aren’t paying a lot of attention to the game, the energy there is great to be a part of and really helped me feel more connected to my city and others again.

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Let’s Go Dodgers (or A Night Out At The Game)

Posted on September 13, 2017 | Comments Off on Let’s Go Dodgers (or A Night Out At The Game)

I didn’t really grow up in a sports family. I did play sports as a kid (I did soccer, softball, gymnastics, and swim team at various times in my childhood), but we really didn’t watch sports. Part of that was because my dad hates watching tv, but we rarely went to live sports. I think for a couple of years we maybe did one baseball game a year. I went to maybe one or two hockey games. The first professional basketball game I went to was not that long ago. And I’ve never been to a professional football game.

Since moving to LA I’ve gone to a couple of baseball games. I went to a Dodgers game once for my birthday and once for a friend’s birthday. And maybe 10 years ago my roommate at the time won VIP tickets for an Angels game and I took my brother. But I rarely go to a game just because I don’t usually think about going. So when a friend of mine asked me if I want to go with her to a Dodgers game this past weekend, I jumped at the chance to go!

It was actually her company picnic, so they had a reserved section before the game where there was food. We got there pretty close to the start time for the picnic and we got some Dodger dogs, chips, and water. It was pretty awesome to not have to spend money on food at the game even if the food isn’t too horribly expensive. Free food is always the best and it was fun getting to meet some of my friend’s co-workers before going over to our seats.

I was worried that we were going to be sitting in the sun, but when we got to our seats we were under an overhang and not facing the sun so we had lots of shade.

Being at a game is really so exciting and it’s fun to be in a crowd like that. It’s a bit overwhelming too, but fortunately our seats were the last row in that section so I didn’t feel like I was in the middle of everyone. It felt a bit more secluded and I was able to relax.

The game was fun. Unfortunately, the Dodgers weren’t playing that great but we did get to see some great plays. And to me, being at the game is more than just watching the game. It’s being around friends and just enjoying being outside. And it was much cooler that night than it had been lately so I was having fun enjoying some outside time. Plus, we had some pretty sunset clouds a little after the game started.

The game was moving pretty quickly, but my friend and I had decided to leave before the game was over. It’s so much easier to leave before everyone else tries to leave and we didn’t want to be stuck in the parking lot for a long time just trying to get out onto the road. Plus, neither of us were super invested in the game. I think if we had paid for our tickets, we would have stayed longer. But when you have free tickets, you don’t feel like you have to get the most for your money. But we did stay until the sun went down because it does look pretty cool being in the dark with the stadium all lit up.

We left after the 5th inning and when we were in the car we had the game on the radio so we could pay attention to what was happening. Nothing ended up happening in the game until I was home and put the game on my tv. There were a few more runs, but I think the most exciting moments were during the beginning of the game when we were there. And the Dodgers continued their losing streak and ended up losing this game as well.

Even though I didn’t stay for the entire game, I really did have a great time at the game. This is something that I was telling myself I needed to do again since it had been years since I was at a game. And this was the perfect chance to get to go and not have to worry about if I should be spending money on it. And it made me realize that I do want to try to get to more baseball games. I don’t know if I’ll go every summer, but maybe every other or every few summers would be fun. It’s a nice treat to do and it’s a great way to hang out with friends.

Hopefully the Dodgers will start winning again and if I get a chance to go to another game soon it will be one where they do win! I have a lot of friends who are big baseball fans and diehard Dodgers followers and I know they really want the team to do better than they are doing now.

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The World Series (or I Try Not To Be The Dumb Girl Asking Questions About Sports)

Posted on October 26, 2012 | Comments Off on The World Series (or I Try Not To Be The Dumb Girl Asking Questions About Sports)

Growing up, my family was not a big sports watching family. We didn’t follow football. My mom once met Jerry Rice in the waiting area of a car dealership and chatting with him for a bit and didn’t know who he was until someone told her. We didn’t pay attention to basketball, although my first boyfriend was a huge Stanford fan and I did got to a game with him once. We went to a few Sharks games, and my dad was even at a game when they filmed “EdTV”.

But I did go to some baseball games growing up. Being from the Bay Area, we went to both Giants and A’s games. I think I went to more A’s games, but I like both teams equally.

Now that I’m in LA, I support both the Angels and Dodgers, but I like the Dodgers more. I went to one Angels game with my brother once because my roommate had some tickets he couldn’t use. But since college, I’ve tried to go to a Dodgers game each year. And I usually end up going around my birthday.

Last year, a group of friends and I went and sat in the cheap seats.

 

And in 2007, I went with a bunch of people to celebrate my friend’s birthday (whose birthday is only 3 weeks after mine). And on that occasion, my friend wanted to sit in the all you can eat seats and have all the girls wear fake mustaches.

 

I didn’t get to enjoy the all you can eat seats, because I was on the RFO diet then. But I sure did have a great time wearing a mustache all day.

I really enjoy going to baseball games, but I rarely will watch them on tv. It’s just not the same thing. And I feel like I can get away with not knowing what’s going on when I’m at the game because there’s so many distractions. When you watch on tv, your focus is on the game and I seem to not understand as much.

But I am watching now because the Giants are in the World Series. And I really want them to win! Not only because it’s a hometown team for me, but enough people in my life are rooting for the Giants and if they don’t win, I’ll have a lot of cranky people to deal with.

So far, the Giants are kicking butt! 2 wins down, and 2 to go.

And yes, I did just have to google how many games it takes to win a World Series.

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