We Love Baseball

Sorry if you already know this story and are clicking old “WLL” because it’s a vital part of your day, but I have to write this for posterity. I’m getting old and might not remember the details.

September 13th, 2011. We buy plane tickets for St. Louis. Jen and I are going back to the “Lou” to scout out some possible places to live. That’s a whole other story. I think the Cardinals are about 5 games back in the Wild card race. As soon as I got confirmation of the flight I decided, on a whim, to see what baseball game was being played on that date. Game 6 of the World Series. Wouldn’t that be fun? I text my brother to get some tickets as a joke.

The next couple of weeks roll by and the Cardinals are rolling too. I could drag it out little by little, but I found myself in bed, hunched over the computer with Jen, pricing World Series tickets sometime early in the NLCS. We found them for $350’ish a piece. Too much. I told her to let it go and if it was meant to be then God would take care of it.

Game 1 of the World Series came and went and this was starting to become interesting. Jen was watching me get more and more antsy through Game 1 and once it wrapped up she turned her computer screen to me. 1 ticket for $150.00 – face value from the Cardinals web site. What? Really? She said “I’m buying it.” A couple of clicks and I had one lonely ticket. What kind of fun is that? 15 minutes later she said to me…”What was the Section/Row of that ticket we bought?” “Oh…here’s the one right next to it on StubHub.” Ok God…very funny. Trying to sneak into my world by using baseball as a backdoor. Of course at this point we are in for the “weirdly coincidental where the hell did that come from ticket”.

Back on planet earth we arrive in St. Louis as planned, but just as Larry was loading up his rain coat, winter coat and mittens, Game 6 gets postponed. Turns out the next day will be perfect weather, who knew?

I don’t have to tell you about the game. Click here if you really don’t know. Are you kidding me?

I got to spend an evening at one of the best World Series games ever….with my Dad. We high fived our way out of that stadium until I thought Larry’s arm would fall off. There. It is written.

Sorry Larry. I love you, but I love Jen for looking for tickets. I love Mom for taking the sting off of the “weirdly coincidental where the hell did that come from” ticket. I love baseball. God – whoever you are? Thanks for providing the once in a lifetime day with Larry.

“I like you Betty”

Today I have completed the translating and deciphering of what I like to call “The wave”. Runners and bike riders are likely best familiar with the wave. It’s that brief social period when you cross paths with another bike rider or runner. Each of you feel somewhat compelled to recognize the fact that you are existing in close proximity to one another…some people feel compelled NOT to recognize this interaction which has it’s own meaning. After years of these encounters and studying them in most of my spare time I have reduced them to only a few meanings. I’ve included pictures so agoraphobic people can know what I’m talking about also.

Let’s get the most disconcerting one out of the way. The “No reaction whatsoever”

This is the most awkward interaction there is. Likely you have tried to read the scenario and have prepared what you think is the best greeting for the occasion. I like to go with the simple finger flex. Since I’m riding my bike I can simply extend my fingers off of the handle into a half hearted “I see you, but I don’t know you” acknowledgement. If you get snubbed with the “NRW” it’s best to curse them under your breath and not turn and insist on a better greeting. I’ve learned this one first hand. This is why I can only offer the finger flex with my right hand.

I’ve determined that the reason people use this approach is three possibilities. One – They feel that they are athletically superior to you by comparing shoes or attire and cannot be bothered to interrupt their quest for Olympic fame to offer you the increased wind resistance of a wave. Two – They were contemplating their greeting and missed the window of opportunity. Sometimes you can catch them responding well after the fact in some sort of weird Doppler reaction. Three – They don’t give a shit.

The next greeting is probably worse than receiving nothing at all. The “Overzealous”.

I’ve only determined two possible reasons for the “OZ”.  They are politicians or I seemed so compelling as I approached them that they chose the “OZ” in hopes that I will stop and became their friend. I’ve never stopped after receiving the “OZ” because I don’t want Rick Scott to get his hopes up that I’ll vote for him and anyone who needs friends bad enough to flag them down on the street is not someone I want to be friends with. Here is an example of the “OZ”

Here’s a version of my greeting.

The third greeting is the hardest of all. The “audible”. Football fans might recognize the term, but it has a completely different meaning here. The problem with the audible is that you have to have the proper response. Too often I’ve responded to “Watch out asshole” with a “Good morning”. This is another point at which you cannot turn around and undo your mistake. These are the ones I take note of and hope that I see them again. The problem with this is that I don’t have a very good memory for faces and have insulted more people in cases of mistaken identity. It has gotten to the point that I have to change my route about every 3 months as this is about how long it takes to form a posse.

The last greeting that I will recognize is the combo wave and audible. This is an extreme case of over zealousness and can only mean one thing. These people are cruising the roads for anonymous sex partners. Once again these are also likely to be politicians and you should never stop.