Category Archives: Baseball

Why was I in class?

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

yes, I know that education is important. Certainly the US government is paying through the nose for me to entertain myself with attending classes. But really, one has to set priorities.

My choice this afternoon was being a good kid and attending my Health Law class with an alternative of going to the As game. Now, for those of you who are not in any way a baseball fan it might seem as a little to no choice. I actually made that choice last night when I turned in my Thursday afternoon ticket for a second seat on Friday evenings game. It wasn’t an easy decision but a practical one: the game starts at 1235 and class doesn’t finish till 1530. I didn’t think there was any chance that the game would still be going long enough for me to get there.

As it turned out, I wouldn’t have made even the final out but in this case absolutely the game was still going on when class ended. That means over three hours. It means that I missed a great game.

Oh, I didn’t mention that the As wiped the Angels off the diamond?

Since class didn’t start till 1310, I watched the play-by-ply on my phone for the first couple of innings. And then, the third inning started shortly after the start of the class. I couldn’t resist and kept phone running while I desperately attempted to pay attention to the class. I mean really, defending medical malpractice vs watching the As score six runs in an inning?

It got worse, or better, depending on whether or not you want to feel sorry for the LA Angels.

Finally score? 21-2.

Lasted a bit longer

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

at the ball game. It might have been because I wasn’t as cold. It might have been because the As were obviously doing a lot better than the previous evening.

In any case, had fun. We made a lot of noise. The As won (8:2).

This wasn’t a day on which I had to go to San Francisco. It wasn’t a day, as it turns out where I needed to give Daughter #2 a ride to/from work in the early hours of the morning. It was a day for reading, picking up the crop share (garlic, lots of tomatoes, melon, squash, cucumbers, grapes, apples etc) and sitting in on a class at Cal.

Without the travels, my life has become rather a blur from one day to the next with distinguishing characteristics based more on which classes I have rather than cities seen or interesting people met.

But I did get to avoid Dallas with George. There are a lot of places left in the world that I would like to visit. Dallas isn’t one of them….

Cold & wind

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

I didn’t last the whole game. It was cool. I can’t say it was cold; not when Minnesota or northern Sweden are my comparisons for what is really cold. Rather, my nose started to run, there ere way too many Yankee fans in our seating area. Once the sun went down, I was no longer blinded by the glare but the breeze came up.

All of this is either my excuse or explanation for heading home early. It explains why I missed seeing the As lose in the last couple innings.

And I survived my classes…

Interesting SPAM

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

most of the time I just delete everything that Askimet places in my SPAM folder. By and large, it is BOT produced comments that are about Canadian Pharmacies, penile enhancements, fund frauds, illiterate links and other fun stuff. I would say that it is not worth the reading.

Then there was the gem in today’s queue warning me that the Democrats are out to bring back the draft.

Oh, really? When did I miss that? Why hasn’t it been in the news?

And what is so horrible about having a draft? I should never ever vote for someone who thinks that others should serve their country like I did for, oh, let us say 33 years? Or that I might vote for someone who was not interested in cutting federal employee wages? Or that might leave my social security intact?

For the sake of not starting an argument with anyone who thinks Fox produces objective and well rounded news reporting, let me move on to reality.

The As beat the Yankees…….

Too much sports?

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Since George went with me to the baseball game last night, I owed him. Well, sort of.

Anyway, I went along to the Cal football game this afternoon. He has season tickets in Section E which turns out to be well placed as far as being out of the direct sun by the time you hit half time, but not as great since there are no backs to the seats. The couple sitting next to us were great, one of those behind ran his mouth continually until well into the third quarter. An amazing number of opinions. Can’t judge their accuracy, I just don’t care that much about American Football. I don’t dislike it terribly, not like boxing which I firmly believe needs to be outlawed completely in all education to include the military (hint – the sport in which you win by inflicting brain damage on your opponent. Yes, I am Army, but that doesn’t mean that the Navy or Air Force need their heads rung…).

From there it was on to the As game by way of BART. Unfortunately, the As didn’t manage a complete come back and lost 8-7. I made it to just about the end of the game…..

I don’t think I am going to go for two games in a day again.

Not counting an As doubleheader of which there is maybe one every few years.

Not so hot

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Or rather too hot.

My life this past week has fallen into the “not too terribly organized” which is not the way I really appreciate living. I like knowing “where my stuff is.” Which might just explain why I am so anal when traveling about placing everything in an exact place, not having anything cluttering up desks and counters and getting crabby about sharing space as I get older. Right now I am drifting between our house and that of the Eldest as she recovers from surgery. I am willing to leave her alone for a couple of hours, but not for an extensive time period. It doesn’t help that school is starting this week nor that the As are in the middle of a home stand.

Telling myself excuses much?

Today’s game was against the Astros. We had done decently to well in the last couple of games. The team, unlike one of the NYC teams, is not high on arrogance. But sometimes they just don’t completely have it together. The fan numbers were good but not great inspire of the front office providing discounts for students and encouraging large numbers of groups to attend the game. Our group was high energy with drum count at six and cowbells at least double that. Jose now has an As jersey that says “More Cowbells” in the name location and 149 for the player number.

The game started well, then the pitcher seemed to lose it. For that matter, it had been chilly in Richmond. It wasn’t in Oakland, but I wasn’t exactly dressed for the warmth. After six innings the As were down and I was significantly overheated. Since it didn’t seem like either of us had an alternative, I headed first home to pick up what I needed for tomorrow’s assignment and then back to Richmond.

Oh, and a stop at Safeway for ice cream… Best way to cool off….

Quilts and a side of As

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Ok, you have managed to avoid having to listen to me discussing baseball for, oh let us say at least a day. So first I will mention that the As are doing fine – in spite of a couple of the relief pitchers. Essentially they rock. A goodly number of my fellow Right Field Die Hards are in Anaheim this weekend expressly for the purpose of watching the As walk all over the Angels. Well? 2 out of 3 ain’t bad as the old country song goes.

Otherwise, I have put a bit of time into quilts that different daughters were making for friends babies.

To be clear – my daughters are not having children, but have several friends that are doing same.

The Eldest finished all but the machine quilting and just wasn’t up to it at the moment so

top

and I took it over to her today.

Meanwhile, the quilt and bibs that Daughter #2 sent off in the mail have arrived –

the model, quilt, bib towel

and just to make sure

A not quite full day

Holly Doyne Posted on by 2

Day 2 of the orientation didn’t include me till early afternoon. It meant that I didn’t have to roll out of bed at the crack of dawn or battle huge crowds on BART. On the other hand, most of the morning didn’t feel like it was really mine to do with what I will since I had an afternoon hanging over my head.

So there I was, hanging around Hastings waiting for our library tour which was followed by a trip to the main lecture building for a discussion of expectations, Bar exams, and all the differences between the study of law in the US and other countries.

Since I am in a Master’s program and not a “law”student, a lot of it really doesn’t apply to me. Yes, I am tak8ng some of the same courses but am not being graded on the same curve. In any case, my attitude now is the same as when I was a med student and when I did my MPH. I am in this for knowledge, not for grades. As long as I get credit for a class, grades do not matter to me. pass is the same as an Excellent as far as I am concerned.

Going from class, I headed straight over to the ballpark. The Dodgers are about the toughest team we have faced in a while and our starting pitcher never really had it. End result, we lost 4:2. Headed home before the 9th, cold, tired and the writing was on the scoreboard.

One game, three loads of laundry

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Not sure which is of the higher positivity – managing to arrive at the stadium and slide into our seats less than five minutes before the opening pitch – or doing three loads of laundry after we got home.

The As won.

Now that is out of the way… no wait. We had a rep from Foxx News-Detroit in the stands with us for about four innings. Apparently some Tigers fan got upset yesterday and Tweeted (!) about the drum noise. Unlike some of those who use social media without checking their facts, this particular individual, suit and all, decided to stop in. End result? He seemed to have a good time and asked questions about the group origin, rationale behind the various beats and the general upbeat nature of the group. Decided that one reply on the previous day “they can’t be controlled but can be contained” was probably correct.

Then there was laundry.

But the most fun (ack) of the day was finishing the machine quilting for a project of the Eldest.

at least I don’t have to do the binding….

The weight of law

Holly Doyne Posted on by 2

Often we have heard various descriptions of law as heavy, weighty. I had always thought of it as perhaps relating to the seriousness of what it meant both to society and the individual. Or perhaps to affects on in dividuals or even the density of words since we all know that it takes lawyers 150 words to be precise where the rest of us might use a simple sentence that starts with either “yes” or “no.”

It isn’t that most of the breed are trying to be obscure, rather they are trying to be totally and completely clear in their obscure way to make sure that there is no question of the exact meaning of anything that they say. Obviously it takes a lot of words to be that precise. In fact there are so many words in many of their documents that loop holes and exceptions wind up occurring. Disagreements as to happenstance, events, opinions keep the rest of them completely occupied in settling disagreements and the court dockets full.

I think that all of us can agree that some rules and regulations are necessary when a population gets above a certain size. The law then becomes that set of rules which we agree govern us. Or, if we don’t agree – still have an effect on what we are allowed to do in public, with our things and to/with others. I can’t be an anarchist since I firmly believe that a civilized society has the responsibility to protect those individuals who, for reasons of health, ability, finance, position, have the ability to protect themselves.

I would like to believe that we have come a significant distance from those Homo sapiens rolling out of Africa and into first what is now Europe and Asia and happily slaughtering Homo neanderthal and the other hominid species on their way to taking over the world. * (If you haven’t read Yuval Harari’s – Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind – it is an excellent book. Check your public library. I was introduced to this book through Coursera).

All of the above doesn’t explain why I am considering the weight of law.

This is why I am concerned

The two hardbacks (rented, not bought) weigh about 1.5 kg each. The paperback slightly under a kilo. Law is just heavy and those that write the textbooks don’t say anything in five words if a paragraph will do. See comments above. I am waiting on the last book to arrive from Amazon. As much as I would prefer to support UC Hastings Student Bookstore, there is no way I am interested in carrying these tomes anywhere other than upstairs to my desk. They are certainly not going back and forth from home to class on McAllistar Ave in San Francisco. Orientation starts on Monday. I am hoping not to have to revise my opinion on book hauling.

Wearing my As Fan Hat –

Fireworks Night

Apparently Chevron and the powers that be assume that Harry Potter is the right cultural reference for a Witches and Wizards Fireworks evening. I have no clue where the “witches” come in since the wizard’s school didn’t seem to discriminate or change nomenclature based on gender. I didn’t get the shiny gold baseball with wings in the center. Duh – as someone mentioned to me – this is baseball’s interpretation of the Snitch from Quidditch.

Who new? Or cared?

A’s won 2:1 in the normal amount of innings.

How many are there?

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

There seems to be a general opinion that my life currently seems to be all about baseball. Not exactly true, but since I am really not traveling anywhere in particular, it is something that is going on regularly in my life. Further helped, of course, by the fact that the As are actually playing decent ball a year or more ahead of what everyone predicted. They entered this season stating that this would be a year of rebuilding; surprising everyone but their dedicated fans on their play. Especially repeated success in coming back from a deficit in the 7th or later innings to pull off a win.

And then there was tonight’s game which turned out to be a battle of the bullpens which left most of us wondering how many relief pitchers were going to be activated by the time the game finished. Not counting the fact that Anderson pitched for seven innings you would predict 1-2 relief pitchers.

Did I mention that this bit of insanity lasted 13 full innings? With NO score till the bottom of the 13th? There were a couple of times when each team managed to get a runner on base, but then, between pitching and excellent fielding that last out was accomplished.

By the end of the 11th, I was completely wiped and it was barely 2200. Then I got a txt from George saying he was at North Berkeley to pick me up. Why? Oh, I read that you were on BART, but that was yesterday wasn’t it? Yep. Do you want me to head home? He went off to fuel the car and head home. I considered the game and superstition kicked in.

Every time I leave, the As win. If I stay? 50/50. I headed to BART and watched the rest of the game on my phone on the way home. Six to seven pitchers for each side, The new kid on the team, just called up from Nashville came through in the bottom of the 13th. His single brought in the first (and last) run of the game.

And we will do this again tomorrow, and Sunday, and Monday and ….

you get the idea.

The 4th

Holly Doyne Posted on by

I am long past the point where I am interested in fireworks or large crowded holiday celebrations. So why in the world, you wonder, am I at the ballpark with thousands of others on a sunny Wednesday afternoon? It might be because I actually enjoy watching baseball live. It might be because I really enjoy the griup with whom I sit.

It also could just be that I really didn’t want to clean and organize house, stufio, or garage.

Or more than one if the above. Don’tyou just love multiple guess?

Today’s score biard

The As won, pulling off their – come back in later innings game.

But really. I came to see what André was wearing.

In celebration of the 4th

Loosing big time

Holly Doyne Posted on by

It all came crashing down today. The As “winning and doing well” streak came to an abrupt end. I won’t even call it foreshadowing even though Cleveland promptly scored in the first inning. It was the 8th inning that really punched the going down hard button. Eight runs. One can’t blame just the starting pitcher, every reliever added to the mess as did more than one fielding stupidity.

On the positive side – it was one of the nicest day imaginable. The sky was slightly overcast, the temperature was decent and there was a mild breeze.

Dave Stewart Day

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

For those of you who know as little about US baseball as I do – Dave Stewart is an Oakland California native, who played from 1978-1995 as a key member of several championship teams, World Series Victories and all around incredible human being. Since retiring from baseball he has tirelessly worked with youth and sports organizations in the Oakland community.

The Friday Night Placard

As part of the 50th Anniversary year celebration, today’s give away was an Action figure. It was also in commemoration of the perfect game that he pitched.

action figure

Not only did he throw out the first pitch, he received a standing ovation from the crowd. To top it off, the As managed to win the game.

Bark in the Park

Holly Doyne Posted on by

As it turns out, Oakland was the first location for Bark in the Park.

Said event, you are not familiar with the concept,  just think of it as “Dog’s Day Out at the BallPark” complete with doggy games, costumes and prizes. Obviously it was tonight along with the Cleveland Indians being in town. (BTW – I have to admire them – along with the Chicago Blackhawks – they are keeping tradition, tacky as it is, over the current trend toward extreme political correctness).

The parade of dogs [and owners]

This was the first As game I have attended since 29 May or so given that first we were in Madagascar followed by the As leaving town for a long road trip the day we returned. George had the tackiness to remark that they seem to do better on the road where I wasn’t in attendance…

Anyway – the cameras and bid boards gave all the dog folks a lot of play between innings. It wasn’t a high scoring and there were insane moments on both sides (like the As having the bases loaded followed by Pinder’s strike out). The drum and flag group in RF 149 had a pretty good turn out.

I have included the summary pulled from YouTube if you want the 2 minute version…

You could have left the weather home

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

I mean really. It was the second day in the Mariners vs the As schedule. It was cold. It was damp. The Mariners should have felt well at home. After all, we know the reputation of Seattle weather – right?  I guess the As could blame the weather for their less than sterling performance. It seemed like the pitchers were ruling and the batters just couldn’t get on base.

Funny when a lousy evening at the Ballpark completes a day spent at the SFVA enjoying (not) being a patient again for a day of killing off lymphocytes.

 

Not at the Ballpark

Holly Doyne Posted on by  
on to the not so thought provoking or serious.
I had had the insane idea that being in the DC area would be a great opportunity to catch either a Washington or Baltimore baseball game. Well – the Orioles are out of town so that takes care of that idea.
Washington is actually playing in their field somewhere near the Navy Yards/ on the Metro Green Line. Two problems – one of which I could work around if I really, truly cared – like for instance if the As were in town. I might even consider making an effort if it were the Giants. Nah, not worth the time and effort for the orange and black. It is not Halloween.
Oh, yes the issue – maintenance on the Metro which might just include part of the route I would need to take. But then again, it might not. Too hard to really figure out.
More serious? It is raining.
I live in the East Bay. We have had maybe one game rained out in the last few years (Astros spring 17 leading to a double header in Sept). George and the NYC crew were able to experience baseball in the rain last weekend. I think they enjoyed the game but could have done so better without getting wet. I actually thought I would make the decision late since the game here didn’t start till 2005. But then, it was raining once again as I left Shady Grove. .
Game? A.C. Moore (Arts & Crafts, which just happened to be on the way home)?
not hard to guess which I picked.

 

kids day at the park

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

there were more attending today’s game than were here last night. While the attendance might not seem much to you, it is impressive for a Wednesday afternoon, especially during the school year.

Apparently it was student day. I am used to seeing buses during the summer as teams, programs and summer camps fill Wednesday afternoon’w with trip to the Oakland Coliseum. But in May?

Since I was running late to the game and actually didn’t arrive until after the first pitch, I didn’t notice the dozens of school buses in the parking lot. Since I normally come in the ADA entrance on the BART side of the stadium, there weren’t lines of young people to wade through. But what became obvious early on was that there were a LOT Of young voices yelling. And yelling interesting chants at strange times.

There must have been 16 high schools, a dozen middles schools and an equal number of elementary schools with their names prominently featured on the big boards in the 4th/5th inning breaks. Then there was the great camera work featuring, it seemed, every last group at one time or another.

Even given a 4:2 loss, the kids seemed to be happy with their outing. A cluster of them, high school age, were on my BART headed toward MacArthur. A rather harried late 20s was with them. I asked her how many she had. Only this dozen. Are they all here? I certainly hope so! But most of them ride BART regularly and they all are interested in heading home….

I left the game

Holly Doyne Posted on by 2

seriously.

I am staying at Shana’s for the next few days. Left her alone for a few hours to go the As home game. The Astros were in fine form. The As were not. After the top of the 5th the Astros were ahead 11:0 and I decided to head home. My decision was reinforced by the presence of some junior “drummers” who were having a good time but making it challenging for the rest of us. And add Josh Reddick for the Astros in Right Field happily signally our outs.

By the time my BART reached MacArthur the As had finally gotten one run. As I write this, the game is not yet over with a score of 16:1. The team is just going to have to tough out the remainder of the 9th. I almost wish them three fast outs just to end the pain.

Seems to me there really should be a mercy call by the 7th inning stretch….

Pulled out the win

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

But barely. The As squeaked out their win, thank goodness in the regular number of innings. Unlike yesterday, getting the bat to connect to the ball wasn’t the problem. It was after that connection to have that ball go anywhere useful. Like getting a hit instead of a foul or pop-up.

In any case, at least it was only nine innings.