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DAY 51
Monday May 21st
Houston Tx to Arlington Tx.
I have a cold; not a full blown thing, but one of those irritating ones that dries up your throat, makes your brain feel too big, and tires you out. If I was at home, I would just take it easy, and consume warm rum, but my schedule puts both of those options out of bounds. So I buy some tablets and lots of orange juice, and keep going. The tablets, so it says, are non-drowsy, but the cold isn't, so I need a few more stops than usual.
Arlington is just west of Dallas, and turns out to be a designer built entertainment complex, containing two theme parks as well as the ballpark. When I check in I am given a voucher, and informed that the trolleybus will stop at the back of the hotel and take us to the game.
So at the appointed hour I mount said trolleybus, even though I could probably have walked in twenty minutes. |
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The park is another of the modern redbrick constructions, and is very attractive, with lots of grass and open space. There is also an excellent Legends Museum, with the usual collection of memorabilia, but two particularly notable sections. Around the walls are various quotes – and one thing in which baseball players have the edge over other sportspeople is being quotable. There is also a room dedicated to the 25 greatest plays of all time, with video footage of many of them.
I try to travel light to ballgames - a small shoulder bag and my scorepad – so there inevitably comes a moment when I run out of hands. This usually arrives about 20 minutes before first pitch, when I go to my seat, pad under arm, bag over shoulder, snack in one hand, drink in other hand, needing to put things down, lower my seat – I'm sure you've all been there.
Last night, my buttock had literally just touched the seat, when the first drops of rain fell. So I picked everything up and retired to the tunnel, along with a few other sensible people. The sport then became seeing how long other people would sit and get rained on before admitting that us early movers had done the sensible thing after all. There were some very wet people on show.
The ballpark staff immediately went into appropriate action. The infield was covered before I was. When the rain stopped, and it had been pretty hard, there was an announcement that the game would start at 7.30, 25 minutes late. Stewards appeared with huge rolls of absorbent paper, which was doled out to us as we returned to our seats. The game, as promised, started at 7.30.
The game featured the Texas Rangers, whose previous owners include George W. Bush, against the Minnesota Twins. Both teams began hitting well, and after four innings Texas led 4-2. In the bottom of the fifth, Texas scored two more, and the pitcher was substituted. His replacement was a disaster, and we were treated to one of the most exciting sights in the game – a grand slam. This means that the batting team has a runner on each of the bases when the batter hits a home run. It scores 4 runs, the most that can be scored with a single hit.
Each home run, and there were three in all, is greeted by fireworks, so it turns out to be quite a spectacular evening. Texas go on to win 14-4, and the crowd is ecstatic. That's the biggest major league score I've witnessed to date, but this is Texas. |
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