Opening Day at AT&T Park
Not literally. I’ve been on sort of a hiatus these past few months and now itching for spring training, opening day, first pitch, the crack of the bat and baseball season in general. But to be perfectly honest I feel like I’ve been cheating a little here.
I live in the Bay Area and right now there’s something going on that’s taken hold of me and thousands of other non-assuming, “never-wanted-to-be fans-in-the-first-place” fans who’ve been taken off guard, no pun intended. It’s called Warrior Mania and it’s not just about the phenom Steph Curry. Never in a hundred years would I have thought I could sit through an entire pro basketball game. High school, yes, because I was a mom and I had to. But the Pro’s? Forget it. Run up court, shoot, make it. Run down court, shoot make it, and on and on. Boring.
But my grandson Jake, who recently completed his tour of duty in the USMC, is a huge Trailblazer fan. Our commonality has always been sports, mostly college football, some baseball, but sports in general. We took a 10 day baseball trip with Diamond Baseball Tours back in 2004. What a fantastic experience. I’d recommend it to anyone. But I digress.
A few months ago I was surfing channels, looking for the Trailblazer game on the telly so I could carry on a decent conversation with Jake. Didn’t find it, but instead happened upon the last 3 minutes of a Golden State Warrior game. The Warriors were behind by 12 or so, but this short little pip squeak (that’s what he looked like compared to all the big guys) scored two 3 pointers and a few more and they ended up winning the game…….it was shocking this huge rush of adrenaline I experienced! It was exciting and all of a sudden I understood what 
basketball fans have always known. There’s life after baseball. Not exactly the same. But I’ll tell you this. Friday night when Steph Curry took that 50 foot shot from half-court with 1 second left on the clock before halftime and the ball didn’t even touch the top of the net but instead swished through that little piece of net on the bottom, I was baptized into the world of professional basketball. Hallelujah!
I let out a spontaneous holler that scared the hell out of my little dog. I’ve only had him for five months so I may have to put him on Benadryl when baseball season starts. Or put a sock in my mouth.
So I’m back. I’ve missed writing. I’ve been reading a lot about the National League DH issue and can’t wait to get my hands dirty again!
Garlicfriesandbaseball's Blog 