Baseball Night

Barry cancelled a trip to Marco Island, and as consolation to his boys he bought 4 Club seats to watch the Marlins play the Mets. Even though Barry is wary of Dave overload (we'll be spending next weekend together on a Gainesville trip), he invited me along.

It was a glorious night! Barry still loves the Mets, since he grew up in Flushing, in the shadow of Shea Stadium. They were my boyhood team, too, but I move on, and have adopted the Marlins. Scott, Barry's almost 12 year old, is a Marlins fan. Josh, nearly 11, shows solidarity with his Dad and favors the Mets.

It was a breezy night, as the outer bands from Hurricane Gustav swept through. The game was a good one, with a bench clearing brawl for added excitement. The MArlins won in the bottom of the 9th, on a bases loaded walk! I explained to the boys that you rarely see a walk in run in the Major League.

We chatted, and laughed, and Josh asked a million questions about everything from the game to JAckie Robinson to why plastic bags were floating down from the upper deck. He is such a sweet young man, though, and never annoying like some curious kids. His brother is much more taciturn, but a bigger baseball fan, who LOVED both having his team win and jabbing his father about the Met's loss.

After the game, there was a fireworks display, and we oohed and aahed at the explosions. I took a mental snapshot of the lovely summer evening, to remember when these boys graduate high school, and get married.

There was also a post game concert --a Puerto Rican singer named Olga Tanon. She danced energetically, and sang well, but all in Spanish, except for a comical "Goooood eeeeeevening my Eeeeeeeeenglish friends." We listened to a few songs and watched the Latina girls dance to the music. I explained to the boys that American girls don't dance that way. I think they understood.

Meanwhile, Gustav is taking aim on New Orleans. It's funny -- we enjoyed a delightful Labor Day Saturday night, and those poor bastards were running for their lives. Such is the unfairness of things in life.