the view from the cubby

Well, game # 2 is in the book. Things were pretty much back to the usual routine last night, with all the hoopla of opening night out of the way. I gotta say again, that hike in from the parking lot sucks. I'm going to see if I can talk my way in the back tonight. We did have one change in the routine, though. We(the grounds crew) now have charge of fire control. The new scoreboard is rigged with 6 bays of fireworks. They all work via remote control, which we keep in the cubby. They can be set off 1 bay at a time or all 6 at once.
I guess I should explain what I mean by the "cubby". The cubby is the smaller section on the end of each dugout. Traditionally, we used to hang out, during the game, in the 1st base cubby. We keep our rakes, drying agent, etc. in there in case of rain or other problems that might crop up during the game. We also store the screen drags we use at the end of the 5th inning to groom the field. Over the past few seasons, its become quite crowded with photographers, interns, you name it. So we made the decision to move to the 3rd base side. We got the place all to ourselves. Nobody really likes it over there due to the setting sun in the evening shining right in your eyes. Doesn't bother us, though. We have out tv in there to monitor the weather and we could watch the Pens/Flyers game last night. We're predominantly Pens fans, so we were happy with the outcome of last night's game. I wanted to shoot off all the fireworks when the Pens won, but got a quick thumbs-down on that. Damn it.
We never did get to shoot off any fireworks. No home runs for us, unfortunately. The game moved at a snail's pace last night. The Sens. pitcher was 1 of their top prospects, Ross Detweiler. he didn't have a good night, was lifted in the 3rd inning, losing 5-1. Jack Spradlin came on in relief, pitched well, as did the rest of the bullpen. The Sens made a late charge to come within 6-5, and Leonard Davis (I think) just missed a home run in the 8th inning with a guy aboard. With the old fence configuration, it would have been gone. It was hit right in the area where the fence angles back in right-center field. It used to be 375 feet in that area, but is closer to 400 now, and that ball hit off the fence. Oh well, progress...
The scoreboard functioned much better last night without the jittery look it had on opening night. Very impressive. Also impressive are the new on-field promotions. They're different than the same old stuff we've been seeing for the last 10 or so years, so it really is a breath of fresh air.
Can't remember if I mentioned in previous post, but the grounds crew should be fairly easy to "spot" this year. Our shirts and sweatshirts are bright orange. This is quite a departure form the navy blue, or black, or gray that we've had in past years. If you've been past the the"Spot" hot dog stand inside the ballpark this year, you'll notice their traditional orange Spot shirts. Ours are the same color.
Speaking of the Spot, it quickly became our favorite food stop. I personally found the food at the other stands, lacking. Compared to years past, the food quality is lower and the prices higher, although not rediculous. This year, though, I noticed that at the 1st base grill, where we have eaten a lot over the years, the prices took a huge spike. I'm sorry, but I'm not paying $8 for a cheeseburger or a chicken sandwich, at any ballpark. But that's just me. I will be eating Spot dogs or bringing my own.
As I said, the game really dragged last night, and to make matters worse, they did the launch-a-ball contest, and there were fireworks after the game. (so there you go Pens!!!!) I will go on record as not being a big fan of fireworks at the ballpark. At least when I'm working. Usually too much post-game clean-up, but last night there was almost none. Apparently, the fireworks guys set a few things on fire behind the fence, so that was a little exciting. We finally slogged through the rest of the post-game work, had our traditionasl post-game chat, and packed it in for the night. And made the long hike back out to the parking lot. Did I mention how much I hated that....
Back at it tonight for # 3