Fun in the sun and moonlight, post #5

I had been looking forward to our last game most of all. Sox vs. Pirates in Bradenton. I had been hearing about Bradenton since I toted a transistor radio along on my paper route, and always dreamed of going to a game there. I also know my Dad would have loved spring training, and he never got to go. So in a sense, this was a pilgrimage on his behalf as well. After the last two days in the sun, I realized the tickets I had for this game were also in the sun, on benches with no backs or arms. So my first priority on arriving in Bradenton was to find better seats, and willing to pay something for them. The first scalper I encountered had only scattered singles and wanted $10 over face value for them, trying to convince me that better seats were not available. Fortunately, I had been online the night before to see that seats were available together from the ticket office in the shade, but stopped short of buying in advance, since I would also have to pay the dreaded "convenience fees". After checking in with a couple other scalpers, we made our way to the ticket window where there was a line. I wore Pirates' gear and Peter was in Sox gear. Quite a pair :) and made a lot of people laugh. An usher right next to the ticket window was charmed and gave Peter a batting practice ball that had just popped foul into the sidewalk in front of him. While standing in the ticket line, a scalper caught my attention and indicated he did have seats in the shade. He wanted face value for them, and was also willing to take my bleacher tickets for face value. Wow, an honest scalper! I might have been able to bargain him down, but I was pretty pleased to be able to unload the seats I didn't want for a game I knew would be close to a sellout.

In the souvenir shop, Peter fell in love with the Pirate Parrot doll and had to have one. He also wanted to buy a gift for Liam, which was a baseball that unzipped to a cute little bear inside. Imagine his joy when he saw the genuine Pirate Parrot in the stadium. He got the Parrot's attention by holding up his stuffed friend and using the friend's voice to call out to "Daddy!" (i.e. Stuffed friend was clearly Pirate Parrot's son...) Here was a little Sox fan toting around the Pirate Parrot. Well, the Parrot had his say about the mix and match when we got the picture together. Pirate Parrot happily signed the ball from the usher outside the park.

Thus far on our trip, "our" team had won every game. So who would win this one, in which we were fans of both teams? Turned out to be a slugfest with multiple home runs, two triples and a combined 29 runs scored. At the end of the ninth, it was tied at 14 apiece. So it was a perfect ending. In spring training, extra innings is typically limited to a single extra inning and if a tie remains, it goes in the record books as a tie. The Sox manufactured a run in the top of the 10th and even though the Bucs got on base in the bottom, they couldn't score a run. Thanks to entertainment from the Pirate Parrot in our seats, and a visit from Aunt Gail in the latter innings after our neighbors had left, Peter made it through his first extra inning game which lasted 4 hours and 10 minutes. Plus the extra 45 minutes in our seats ahead of first pitch. I was SOOOO proud of him, and also knew that we would not have had nearly so much fun if we were sitting in the sun. It was a picture perfect end to our baseball adventures. I know Dad would have enjoyed being there with us and watching the hilarity of his grandson and the Pirate Parrot throwing popcorn at unsuspecting fans, and would have beamed when the Parrot returned to give a game ball specifically to Peter, and would have cheered on his Bucs all the way.

Best line of the whole trip was in the car after the game: "Daddy, why didn't they play that Dirty River song after the Red Sox won?" I had to dial up the Standells on my iPod and blast it on the car radio. Twice.




I can't wait to go back to Bradenton.