Bobble

It's time for confession.

I've picked up a bit of a bobblehead addiction.

It started out innocently.

When I was a child, my oldest brother had a half-dozen or so of the old fashioned bobbleheads in his room.  My memory says that he had a Detroit Tigers player and a Cleveland Indian mascot, among others.  I loved to go in there and make their heads bobble and see which one would go the longest.

I was exposed to these vices again as an adult.  I caught one as a promo at an Os game a few years back and liked seeing it on my desk.  The heads of the new one didn't bobble in the same fun way as my brother's bobblers did, but it was still pretty neat.

For a couple of years, I tried to catch a bobblehead promo at Camden Yards and ended up with four of them:  Matt Wieters, Chris Davis, Adam Jones, and Melvin Mora.  Going to the bobblehead giveaway game became a bit like a floating holiday.

Then came last year.

I was in Kansas City on bobblehead night and caught the game.  A few weeks later, I had the chance to go to a game in Philadelphia.  I debated going but, when I saw it was bobblehead day, I went and got one.

From there it became a bit of a game.  I already had an Orioles bobblehead game on my calendar and had wanted to catch a Nationals game, so I found the date for one of their bobblehead nights and found my way to DC.

I started to check out bobble nights at other stadiums within striking distance.  Yankees tickets are expensive so I didn't have much hope.  But on a whim I checked and found a cheap nosebleed seat on the bobble head night, snagged a bus ticket, and headed for the big apple.

I had so much fun on that trip that I checked out the Mets schedule and, BINGO!  Back on the bus I went later that summer.

So with six bobbleheads in one summer, the addiction set in.

This year I put every bobblehead game, MLB and MILB, within shot of where I live or anyplace I might happen to be between now and October on my Google calendar.  Clearly, I won't get to all of them.

But I can try, can't I?

Fightins

I decided this year to try out some MiLB action.  We have several teams in Maryland an a few just across the boarder in other states so, why not?

Of course, my first adventure into MiLB was a bit further away.  The family and I were on a day trip into Pennsylvania so we decided to catch a game in Reading that night.

It was a bobblehead night so that made things all the better.  (More about that in another post.)

Though I hadn't been to an MiLB game before, I had been to plenty of ballgames outside of a major league stadium.  My teenage daughter, however, had not.  The nosebleed section was shockingly (for her) close to the field and she got to see how the lower deck people live.

The antics between innings were fun, if not a bit bizarre.  The hot dog throw and the chair races a bit over the top but otherwise provided some entertainment not present in the more formal setting of the majors.

The catch of the night happened in the stands.  The batter hit a popup that went into the stand behind home plate toward the third base side.  The ball landed in the ice bucked carried on the head of a vendor standing in the aisle.  Give that man a prize!

I cannot close the post without noting the national anthem.  Rather than being sung, it was played by a 13 year old girl on the violin.  The solo was outstanding -- perhaps the best rendition of the song I have ever heard.

Overall, a good time at the ballpark.  Onward to other MiLB teams.

Opener

I made it to my first game of the season.


Too many empty seats and too many in pinstripes for this ballpark.  A bit chilly.


But, hey!

Ow bout dem Os, Hon!

Coming from behind again this season and making it 4 and 0.  No complaints there, my friend.

Winning and Extra Innings

A win on opening day for dem Os, hon!

And in extra innings!

I had some extra innings myself in celebrating opening day.  The Chick-fil-a in the shopping center where I was working today offered a free chicken sandwich for those of us wearing Orioles garb.  Of course I was and of course I did.

My extra inning came that evening when the family and I went to a different Chick-fil-a with the same deal.  The long line was cleared quickly and we enjoyed our birds while the birds won.

Royal Beginning

I have been thinking about last year's baseball adventures in anticipation of a new season.  Though I live just a few blocks from Camden Yards, my first game last year was instead in Kansas City, the previous year's World Series champions.

A long, non-baseball related story put me in the Midwest in early May.  It timed out that I was to be in Kansas City when the Royals were in town and, as a special bonus, it was bobble head day.

On a whim, I contacted Dave, a friend of mine who lives in the Pacific Northwest but a Royals fan travels to the Midwest regularly to see if he happened to be in town then and would like to catch a game.  He was and he did.

My son was going to be in Missouri with me.  He's not that into baseball but when I was ordering the tickets, I asked if he wanted to go.  I was surprised that he said yes.

Now, a little back story with Dave.  We've known each other for decades with our paths crossing in Iowa, Texas, Maryland, and other unlikely places.  My wife and I had gone with him and his family to an Os game at Camden Yards many years prior, perhaps around 2002.

At any rate, with him living a long ways from an MLB team and his frequent travels for work, I usually text or email him a pic whenever I'm at a stadium inviting him to join me.  I've gotten a similar message a time or two from him when he's been at a ballpark out West.

One time after my wife and I went to an Os game on a [Chris Davis?] bobblehead night, I sent Dave one of ours.  He didn't have a collection so he needed to start somewhere.  Dave didn't seem too into this promotion but the Ned Yost boblehead would give him something from his favorite team

So it was a real treat to be able to start the season at the K.  And Dave changed his Facebook profile pic to the Yost bobblehead for most of the rest of the season.

Play ball!