Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Take me out to the Royals game as long as it's free


(Picture of Paul Konerko seconds before he takes the Royals yard.)

A few weeks ago I won tickets to a Royals game at trivia. Typically this is equivalent to winning a jar filled of pennies as a prize. Sure you know that it technically has some value but the amount of work that you have to perform (as well as the sheer embarrassment of it) makes you wonder if it is even worth the effort. But I was lucky in that the tickets were for the Royals playing my beloved White Sox so I was actually looking forward to the game.

(And yes, Lindsay is not my only beloved. Though Lindsay in a White Sox jersey….excuse me, I need to step away from the laptop for a moment.)

Anyway, I decided to not be a completely obnoxious White Sox fan and show up in my Konerko jersey, especially given that I was sitting in box seats behind home plate. Instead I went with the more subdued 2005 World Series Champions t-shirt just to remind people what a world series trophy looks like. Got there a few minutes before game time and it was salute to the Negro Leagues day with the teams wearing throwback jerseys and several former players being honored before the game including Minnie Minoso throwing out the first pitch. Yes, my first Royals game of the year and I got to see Minnie f’n Minoso. Super cool.

(If I remember correctly, the first Sox game I ever attended was one in which they were honoring Minnie. He was a classic Sox player in that he was incredibly talented but would a) choke in big series and b) be good for one concussion a year due to running into the outfield wall. In Chicago, this results in you becoming a folk hero.)

Now people can get on me for cheering the Sox at a Royals game but I’m sorry that is where my loyalties lie. I’ve been cheering the Sox since birth while I grew up viewing the Royals as the team in the powder blue uniforms who for some reason had fountains in their outfield where any logical human being would have put bleachers. Plus, I don’t feel bad about cheering Konerko and Thome who are legitimately good guys. The fact that I cheer A. J. Perszynski is probably an indication that at my core I am pure evil though.

However, while I was able to cheer my Sox to a 3-1 victory it may have been one of the most boring games that I have ever seen. It took three and a half hours with minimal excitement. It seemed like every count went to 3-1 or 3-2 and no one could seem to drive runners in. Also, one of my favorite players, Scott Podensik, pulled a rib muscle in the first inning and was out for the rest of the game. (Crede was out as well, which sucked and explains the horrible season.) It was interesting being that close to the field as I haven’t been that close to home plate in ages. What really struck me was the sound of a broken bat, which was just this massive crack ripping through the air that made you instinctively want to duck. Otherwise it was a fun day out of the apartment that had me out in the fresh air for a full afternoon. Sadly, that just means I am now suffering from sunburn. Maybe we can just replace the sun with a fluorescent light bulb.

(Oh, and relish won the hot dog race. What the hell is up with that? Only morons pick relish. And I’m sickened by the fact that they even allow ketchup to run in the hot dog race. That is an affront to all that is good and true about this great nation of ours. Ketchup on a hot dog. You know who puts ketchup on hot dogs? Commies, that’s who.)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

2 comments about ketchup on a hot dog on consecutive days. I find nothing wrong with ketchup on a hot dog. LB