Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical. ~ Yogi Berra

Happy Day

Today was a really wonderful day, as my time on leave is winding down, trying to do a few last things to enjoy my remaining time off. So today, a couple of us went to the Giants and Pirates game in San Francisco. Checking off a minor bucket list item, seats in row one, right on the field.

Being a Pirate fan is a tough gig these days, I’ve been a Pirate fan since I saw Roberto Clemente steal a home run away from the Mets at Shea Stadium in 1971. But it’s been over forty years since the Pirates have been back to the world series and most years they have a losing record. Currently, they are 17 games under .500. So I didn’t have a lot of hope they would win today and in particular because over the last 20 years I’ve caught live Pirate games seven or eight times. Every single time, including when I’ve flown to Pittsburgh for the game, they have lost.

But going to a major league game is not so much about winning or losing. It’s about a nice day in the sun, hanging out with good people and eating stadium food. So today, we had pretty much perfect weather, a really close game and all the standards, hot dogs, popcorn, cokes, etc….

There was even a cute little two year-old dude who came and sat next to us for a bit, it was his first game. It was awesome, he was chanting for his favorite player when he came to bat and even got to see him close up when he ran down the first baseline, he was crazy excited. Finally, the ball dude (what he was actually called) gave him a ball. Heck of a first game and I’m betting a lifetime Giants fan in the making.

The game went into extra innings and the Pirates actually won! A Pirate coach from the bay area came up into the stands to see some family after the game and we had a quick chat, super nice guy, even got half a selfie with him.

After the game one of the guys sprung for dinner at Hillstones and I had a really wonderful piece of Salmon, finally, ended the day with a lovely bowl of ice cream. Just overall a really nice day, good company, great conversation, the game and good food. Hope you had a happy day as well my friends. ~ Rev Kane