WilcoxZone

So there I was at the Portland Beavers baseball game tonight. Earlier in the game I had sent a text message to my friend Brandon and he called me back around the fourth inning. We chatted for a few minutes and suddenly a fly ball comes flying over me, hits the wall behind us and bounces back right to me. I snagged the ball right out of the air before it hit the older woman sitting right in front of me. It was pretty decent snag and I got some applause from the whole stadium. Immediately the old guy (with the old woman) yelled at me to “give it to a kid”. The problem with that is that it wasn’t like there was a kid sitting right near us. The older couple had their teenage or nearly teenage granddaughters with them and the only other kid was a 10 or 12 year old who came running up the stairs asking for it. Personally, I am kind of annoyed with the kids who run up and down the stairs (while admire their determination) because their success is based on the fact that they are faster and more aggressive than the other kids. I quickly explained I had a 5 year old at home who would be very appreciative if I took it home. I guess the older woman in front of me didn’t buy it because when I hung up the phone and started to place a quick second call to Becky, the older lady turns around asks if I can “make my phone calls somewhere else”. First, I’ll say that in general I agree that I don’t want to hear other folks conversations but it wasn’t like I was talking any louder than if someone else was sitting with me. Second, it wasn’t like I had been talking on the phone the whole game. Finally, it was obvious she was just jealous I managed to snag a ball while talking on the phone and I didn’t grant one of her granddaughters the ball. She obviously failed to realize that I possibly saved her life (or at least a bonk on the head) from the ball. So I sat there and stewed about getting scolded about my phone usage. It’s a baseball game! It was not the movies… and I wasn’t doing it to get people to watch me on TV.

And I should now take a moment to mention that this is now the second time (in two days) that some Portland-ite has been mad at me. The first day, as I attempted to walk around a closed sidewalk I spent a half a block in the bike lane so I could get around the construction. An almighty biker yelled at me on his way by, completely ignoring the fact that I couldn’t walk on the sidewalk since it was closed off and I yelled as much back to me after I realized that I was still in the right.

So back to the game. So I sat there stewing about the mean lady in front of me. I thought about giving the ball to one of her granddaughters anyway but they honestly didn’t seem terribly excited to be there. Two rows in front of us I watched a family of five. The dad was certainly a bit older… like started with the family later in life. He had a one-year-old strapped to his back. Their three-year-old boy kept crying to mom about stuff but there 5 or 6-year-old daughter sat nicely through the whole game (or at least through the 8th inning when I left). I admired that with their hands completely full, that they would attempt the game. I figured they must really love baseball to attempt it. So after some prayer and just feeling like it was right, I walked down to them, told them I admired their love of the game to come with the whole family like that, and I complimented their daughter on her good behavior as I handed her the ball. A quick “God Bless” and I was gone. In fact, I left so fast that I didn’t get to see their reaction. As I headed back up the stairs I saw the older couple and gave a little friendly salute/wave as the older lady gave me a dirty look.

Standing at the train stop outside the station, I struck up a conversation with a couple there with their 3-year-old boy. The boy’s mother realized that I was the “guy who was on the phone and caught the ball”. Clearly I had had my 15 seconds of fame. Actually, that family was nice enough that it made for a decent end to what actually had been sort of rough time at the ballpark. I guess I’m overly sensitive to people’s opinions but it really had me down.

Oh, here is the other kicker. Triple-A baseball… and the ball is made in China! What the heck? Now if you’re looking for something ruining baseball, that might be your answer right there. What happened to Haiti?

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This entry was posted Wednesday, July 26th, 2006 at 4:04 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.