Some of my fonder memories growing up are of the times my dad took me and li’l bro to see a baseball game, first at Comiskey and then at new Comiskey, otherwise known as “YourNameHereStadium”. I remember how my dad actually used to keep score in those little boxes on page 73 of the program, and no matter how many times he’d explain what he was doing, I could never understand the little symbols.
I had my first taste of beer at a baseball game... a White Sox game, circa 1987 (?). I asked my dad for a sip of whatever it was he was drinking, and he said “sure, but only a taste.” I tasted, and oh, BITTERBITTERBITTER UGH. I still remember how he laughed and said “Doesn’t taste like pop, eh?” (Yeah, we’re Midwesterners. Wanna fight about it?) Then, he turned to my friend Ari Zimmerman's dad and said “Brewed through a horse.” It was several days before I got that one.
Our tickets at these games, and other major league games I’ve been to, were for the most part up in the nosebleed area, where you didn’t want to lean too far forward for fear you’d go tumbling down, down, down, and land right in the nachos of some drunk shirtless guy in section 117.
That’s what made where we went on Saturday night so darn cool. There’s a perk that comes with my job... and that perk is free tickets to see the Round Rock Express minor league baseball team once a year. It’s through a company with whom we do a lot of business.
So, on Saturday, we packed up our hats and our sunscreen and braved the 96 degree heat to go see the Express take on the Omaha Royals. We had great seats, right on the third base line, in the shade the whole time. We were 15 rows back from the dugout.
This is a really nice stadium, built in 2000 with Dell money, before the dotcom bubble went splat. It’s a really nice place to get a beer and see a game. And, if we wanted to buy the tickets, they’d only be $10. Beat that, Cubbies!
We had a great time. Had two $6 beers apiece, and stayed through the end. Saw some truly horrendous pitching, which meant like 5 home runs (it seemed), and watched the Express get their patooties handed to them, 12-5. What a great time.
GirliePants
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