Well last night's game was certainly a great one for the Marlins. Dontrelle upped his record to 6 - 0 and didn't give up any runs.
Possibly better than the outcome though was that the weather was great. It was perfect baseball weather. Not too hot, not too cold - one of those nights actually where it seems like there's an absence of temperature. Come June, July, and August we'll look back at these pleasant nites fondly.
I intended to take some pictures to share, but once it got dark, I didn't do so well. I'm not sure what I did wrong with the flash, but only the pictures I took during BP came out at all. And before you write to complain, yes, these pictures are like most of all the others you've ever seen from me. As in, I'm not in any of them and neither is anyone else. They're pretty much "scenery" pictures, except that there are some random ballplayers in them (also, I linked to the pictures instead of posting them here so as to not screw up the page).
Here's the first one - it's the view from "my seats". If you're watching on television and I'm at the game you can look for me. My seats are in the front row of the Fish Tank, just over the 2 and the first 0 in the 2003 portion of the World Series Champions banner in right-centerfield. I'm an older version of the dorky looking kid in yesterday's open thread (the birthmark on my lower lip has either receded or I've just gotten bigger - I'm really not sure).
Granted, they're far from the best seats in the ballpark, but it's an interesting perspective. It's a little like playing the outfield again - but this time with a beer. Oh yeah, and they're disgustingly cheap.
During the Rockies' batting practice, Byung-Hyun Kim threw against the outfield wall (he's the dude facing the fence and at the awkward angle he's at when he releases the ball). Apparently his teammates don't like to play catch with him. Poor guy.
I mananged to get up to the park in time to see Todd Helton take BP. It wasn't the show I was hoping for. Helton did give a few balls a good ride, but there wasn't the power I expected. He did work the ball around the field and he seemed to have a purpose with each turn in the cage (go the other way, pull the ball, etc). That was nice to see.
Here are two Rockies' pitchers shagging balls in the outfield during BP. I'm honestly not sure who they are. They were smart enough to not wear their BP jerseys out, which would have revealed their names (or at least their numbers). What's not shown here are the kids who are lining the outfield wall. Everytime - like always - that a ball comes close they scream to the players to throw them the ball (whether they know the guys names or not is another issue). One girl in particular, who was very near us, was pretty interesting. As long as the Rockies guy had the ball, she was very nice and polite in her requests for a ball (which she never received). She even called out to the guys in English and Spanish (to the same guy for the same ball, since you can never be sure what language(s) some of these guys speak). Once the guys threw the ball back in to the Rockies' ball kid though, she turned into someone completely different. Despite being only 10 or 11, she turned into a foul mouthed little brat that only a trucker could love. I think I learned a new curse word or two from her.
Later in the game, and I wish I had a picture of this, Juan Pierre threw a ball into my section and my row before the start of an inning. I let the kid (teenager) next to me catch it (it was closer to him anyway). I could have reached out and taken it before it got to the kid, but I didn't need the whole section riding me all night.
Oh well. I didn't get all the pictures I wanted tonight, but there will be more over the course of the season. I hope you enjoyed them.