Land of Lime

Around 8:48 PM last night, I complained to Sepoy: our paisa wasn’t vasool! Freddy Garcia had pitched seven strong Innings and the White Sox were leading 4-1. We had seen a great defensive play by Crede and of course, then he hit that monster grand slam in the sixth Inning. But it looked like the game would be over within fifteen minutes and we would not have been in the ballpark for even two hours.

On a perfect Spring night for baseball, when rain gods had cooperated and stayed away from Chicago, I hankered for more baseball. We had waited for the weather to warm up to make our first trip to watch the World Series Champions. Left-center field bleachers offered a nice enough view of the game. Cold beer and hot dogs tasted good. Our large gang needed to spend a bit more time in the ballpark, or so I felt.

Then we got our money’s worth. And then some. Mariners roared back, scored four more runs and took the lead before the 8th inning was over. Brain Anderson made a spectacular diving catch in the Center field. Two women who were sitting in front of us got thrown out. Bobbt Jenks came out to pitch. In the bottom of the 9th, with two outs and Seattle still leading, we got up to leave. Then pinch hitter Pablo Ozuna dramatically hit the first pitch he saw out of the left field to send the game into extra innings. More drama, as more people got thrown out, for some random reason. Ozuna too wasn’t done. He came back in the bottom of the 11th to hustle a two out single into a double and then score on a Uribe blooper to the center field.

It was a superb game to watch even on TV but being in the ballpark was way better. There is something about Baseball that tugs the heart of even this cricket fanatic. On a spectacular evening like yesterday, one couldn’t ask for a more relaxed evening than to be with friends in a ballpark. I am thinking it is time to aim for season tickets and next season, Oakland A’s aren’t a bad team to watch. Being a southsider, I am destined to root for the Whitesox, regardless of where I move. As weather warms up, more trips to the ballpark are on the horizon. Just being there, even for an hour on a day like yesterday, would guarantee paisa vasool.