TheBanyanTree: The Beginning of the End

[Monique Colver]

I love baseball in the summer. We went to a game last week, the Mariners vs
the Twins. I found good seats on the first base side from a season ticket
holder who didn't want to go to that particular game. Sometimes they ask for
less than the seats normally cost, and so it was in this case. Good cheap
seats, a nice summer evening, and no need to close the roof this time.
Recently we went to a game and even though rain had been predicted it hadn't
started fifteen minutes before game time, so they rolled the roof back. 

Then it started raining, drizzly drops that started slowly but which would
soon become a torrent. And the game started. And the roof began its slow
descent back across the field. Fifteen, twenty minutes is about how long it
takes for the roof to close all the way, so soon we were all assured of
staying dry.

But this last week, there was no need for the roof. The sky was blue and
clear, and it was one of those Seattle evenings that we suspect are only a
myth, until they show up and surprise us. They've been surprising us a lot
this year. 

It was a good game. Some of our players have been in a slump, sometimes we
disappoint ourselves, but we cheer just as enthusiastically anyway. The
score was tied by the 9th inning, 3 to 3. That's when they bring out JJ to
pitch, JJ the closer. No runs by the Twins in the top of the 9th, because JJ
was pitching. Bottom of the 9th, the Twins position themselves, planning, no
doubt, to prevent any runs in this inning so they can have another chance. 

Richie Sexson is first to bat. He's had a rough year. He's been off.
(Recently a friend of his tried to sell us a house in Vancouver, and used,
as leverage, his association with Richie. We didn't buy the house, but
that's not because Richie has been in a slump.) Richie stepped up to the
bat, and the crowd waited, hoping he wouldn't let us down again. 

First pitch. Richie swung, and the ball went sailing into left field, then
over left field, and fell into the stands, off the field, a walk off home
run, and the crowd . . . well, the crowd went wild. We were ecstatic. We'd
jumped to our feet when the ball was in the air, and some of us danced. High
fives were thrown about left and right. I had to duck to avoid being struck
by a badly timed one. The Twins walked off the field in defeat, the Mariners
crowded around Richie, congratulating him, and themselves. 

It was a great game.

The Mariners lost the next two against the Twins, but that one game . . .
that's why we suffer through the losses.


Monique