In and Out, Part whatever is French for 3

A trend? Perhaps. Due to family obligations and summer vacation, I've had a lot of one night stands(?) at the ballpark lately. For this home stand I will only make it in for the first game of the home stand. The good news: today is the first day of my vacation, and there's no rain in the forecast. The bad news: can't think of any. Tonight's crew: Knute, Doug, Alan, and myself. Batting practice was still going as I arrived on City Island, which was looking to fill up nicely, judging by the amount of cars in the parking lots. We got through the BP tear down rather quickly and started to prep for the game. The field looked in fine condition, due to some outstanding work by Knute and the boys on the off-days. Oh, did I forget to mention, it was Star Wars night at the ballpark. And I forgot my light sabre. What a non-dork I am. After we finished up, we settled into the cubby. One thing I must mention. During the National Anthem, I was appalled by the boorish behavior by some of the Reading players. Come on guys, the anthem is not that long. Surely you can stand still, not stretch and fiddle with your socks, and keep your mouth shut for 2 minutes. I don't care if you're not an American, but your in America, and a little decorum is appropriate. The 1st topic of conversation was Knute's dog. Seems like he fell off the couch and was limping. They took him to the vet and turns out, he tore a ligament and cracked the bone in his hind leg. So a trip to the doggie orthopedic surgeon is in the future. ($$$$) Next topic was the Harrisburg Sentaors, Double A affiliate of the Washington Natinals. The scoreboard misspelled Senators, just like the Nationals did on their uniforms earlier in the season. Amusing.
The game moved right along for the first 5 innings, We even had a guest dragger tonight. Alan's fiancee, Sarah was in attendance tonight. Knute got pulled away for some problem on the concourse, so we needed an extra body for the drag. Sarah filled in admirably. After the 5th inning, the game started to get away from the boys. The bullpen was not sharp and by the 8th, they were down 10-2. And that's the way it finished. Post-game was another exercise in "How long can we drag this out.." Launch-a-ball and fireworks. It was a rather quick game sabotaged by the post game extras. Once we finished up, we retired to Club Shag (a.k.a. the back storage area) for some post game refreshment. I had, earlier in the day, purchased some adult beverages to take along on vacation. Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy and Berry Weiss, which, when mixed, produced a Pink lemonade flavor with a beer base. Very tasty on a warm humid night, which we haven't had many of this year. After a few rounds and some lively conversation, we parted company. I won't be back until July 20th. I'm heading to the shore for a week and looking forward to it. So until then, later.