Baseball is back!
I went to my first game of this year last night with Geoff and had a great time. We got there before the gates opened up, and as soon as we were allowed, we ran up to the 2nd deck in left field looking for any home run balls that the Padres may have hit during batting practice. Sadly there were none (go figure). We stayed up there for a few rounds of Dodgers bp, and even Manny couldn’t muster one towards us. It was great watching them run their sprints and “toss” the ball back and forth (even in just lightly throwing, they throw so fast).
We headed up to the top of the Western Metal Supply building and had a plate full of nachos and a great (albeit small and expensive) rum & coke while watching the end of bp.
The game was great. My favorite moment was when Manny turned a single into a double by just jogging to the ball really lazily. He picked up the ball and just lobbed it into 3rd base. I’m not even sure if our runner had passed 1st base yet.
Manny is a funny guy. He is arguably one of the top 10 hitters of all time, but what gets him a lot of notoriety is his crazy antics. From wearing mp3 player sunglasses while in the field, falling asleep on the bench, not running out fly balls, not hustling in the field–Manny does some boneheaded things. They say “that’s just Manny being Manny” to explain things away. They know that he is too talented to ruffle his feathers, and they know that his antics are not malicious.
Do you have someone that you work with, come across, that is like that? Where you can pass off their behavior, or people don’t ruffle their feathers and they just say “that’s just [name] being [name].”
One of my favorite Manny moments of all time is when he cut off the throw from another outfielder. I was trying to find a clip of it just now, but can’t seem to. This picture to the right is all I got for ya to demonstrate the Manny being Manny flair.
The Padres mustered a few runs and ended up defeating the Dodgers. It is probably the first time since last April that they held a .500 or better record.
I had a great time hanging out with Geoff and even more because we won!
The best thing about Heath Bell coming in to close the game (I miss you Trevor), is the video he has play right before jogging in from the bullpen (0:37-2:07 –though, they edit a little).
“This is where we hold them! This is where we fight! This is where they die! On these shields, boys! Ahuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time…
…Hold…Give them nothing, but take from them, everything!”
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il4pWqhPDxg&start=34
Two Great Classics (Goofy and Bugs Bunny)