Opening Day Recap

It's Saturday and I've just finished up my working Saturday stint at the office. My trip to the Jake was fun and a huge success, despite the weather. If you happen to follow the weather in northeast Ohio, you would have known that it was raining buckets here early yesterday. I'm about an hour south of Cleveland so when we left to go to the Jake at 1 p.m., it was sunny and warm, around 65. Hopes were high that those sunny skies would meet us in Cleveland.

Ehhhrgh. Wrong.

As we got closer, the skies got cloudier, grayer and we were welcomed with a fine rainy mist. Despite the colder temperatures and the fog, the game couldn't have been more perfect. We were able to park in Eastgate and with our shmancy parking and Terrace Club passes, we were treated like royalty as we had to walk all of 100 feet to the entrance. No lines, no hoards of people, easy parking and easy entry. Our seats were spectacular. Field box seats, 20 rows up right off of first base. The rain held off and it was interesting to watch the fog roll in off of Lake Erie. Terminal Tower was right on the other side of the Jake and you couldn't even see it, the fog was so thick. At one point, I could barely see the left fielder through the fog. But no rain. It was chilly and the wind picked up mid-way through the game, but it was tolerable.

Part of the reason I love going to Tribe games is because I enjoy listening to the conversations around me. Our seats were in an area that you could tell were season ticket holders - corporate season ticket holders. There were tons of corporate type men around me. Lots of beer drinking. Lots of funny conversations. Here are some of my favorite quotes of the day.

Background: Grady Sizemore, young, handsome, talented, single. Youngest player on the team and playing extremely well. Women love him. Men envy him, but like and respect him. Grady catches a fly ball off the wall in center field. Comments:

"Oh, he's going to be popular with the ladies tonight."
"Man, he'd be popular if he tripped over his shoe, crashed into the wall, and missed it completely."

Background: Casey Blake, the bottom of the order batter, goes up to bat with bases loaded. Comments:

"I guarantee you he's going to choke and not get a hit."
Literally 3 seconds later, CRACK! First pitch grand slam.

I had to say something. I turned around and said, "So, which one of you said he'd choke?"

It was a great day and a great game. The Tribe spanked the Twins and put the wheels in motion for a great season in Cleveland.