Take me out to the ball game

On this past Sunday Renea and I drove up to Pittsburgh to take in a Sunday afternoon game.

The weather was wonderful, sunny and 85 degrees.

We got there about an hour early so that we could first, get our tickets, second, walk by and check out my Brick (if you are ever at PNC park my brick is 8 down from the Willie Stargell statue’s left foot) and third, walk around the ballpark and pick something to eat for lunch. I went with a grilled Italian sausage and Renea went with cheesy fries, knowing that it could spoil her appetite for Bucco Nachos, but she took the risk. We added two Yueglinges to the mix and we were ready to watch a ball game.

So when I get to go to a Pirates game it’s always nice when they win, but for me it’s the experience of being in the park that is the real pleasure. But when they are on a roll and playing well, I want them to win, especially today and especially with against the Braves.

Little side note: the Bucs were playing the Braves and I am old enough to remember when the Braves were awful, I mean god awful and you couldn’t find a Braves fan anywhere, even if you looked on every Peachtree Street in Atlanta. I hate bandwagoners, especially Braves bandwagoners. I remember sitting in my dorm room when the Pirates lost to the Braves in the 1992 National League Championship on the last play of the game and I could hear so-called Braves fans screaming throughout the dorm with delight as they won. Where were you in 1989? Bastards. Same Braves fans were in Pittsburgh on Sunday screaming their little bandwagoner heads off for Chipper Jones. God, I hate the Braves.

We had great seats down the first base line, just barely in the sun for the first 2 innings but it slowly dipped behind the stands and we were in shade by the middle of the third.

I finished my sausage, and Renea couldn’t finish her cheesy fries, and they were good cheesy fries, so I had to step in and be the closer. Bad idea. The cheesy sat in my stomach for the entire game. They had the same effect on Renea as she regretted her decision as we had to pass on the Bucco Nachos.

The Pirates won 5-2 and played well, we had a great time just soaking in the atmosphere, and watching a good game in a beautiful park. It was a fun time, plus we learned to not experiment with our regular ballpark foods and to stay away from the cheesy fries and go straight for the all-time favorite nachos.

I have to tell you, as much as I hate the economics of baseball and the idea that I may never see the Pirates win another World Series in my lifetime, for those few hours on Sunday sitting in the sun, eating, drinking “ice cold beer” and taking in a ball game with Renea all was right with the game of baseball. It was a nice escape that was made that much nicer because we won. Stupid Braves.