Keeping a safe distance from Lou Seal
Prior to this season, Rocket had only been to one Giants game, and it was in the bleachers, to boot, because I was prepared to leave early. A year later, we took him to Coors Field to see the Rockies, so I could have played it off as if we were only taking him to one game at every stadium, but that didn't explain why Clover went to at least one Giants game every year.
We're lucky that my cousin has really great season tickets and even luckier that he's generous about giving them away. His seats are row 14, near the ball dude on the third base line. The only problem is that he only has two seats, so we never go as a family. The Giants have gotten smarter about pricing their tickets based on demand, lowering the cost of tickets for less interesting games, which is great because they've been charging a small fortune for tickets and if you want to go as a family of four (or more), it's a lot of money. (The Rockies, on the other hand, we felt were incredibly family friendly.) Now if the Giants can start selling kid's meals at concession stands around the park and not only in one spot behind centerfield...Back to my cousin...his tickets are great and had spoiled us until last week when we lucked into truly amazing (and free) tickets that made it possible for all four of us to go to the game. Even if it was only an exhibition game, short of the Giants winning the World Series, this will be the highlight of the season for us. We were in Row A, which is technically the fourth row, but we were still so close, sitting right next to the dugout in our own private row. The camera guy gave Clover bubble gum, Lou Seal hammed it up with Rocket, beer was brought to us at our seats, our seats had a private entrance into the stadium, and of course, the Giants won. Clover wore a Pablo Sandoval-inspired panda t-shirt and at one point, she turned to me, all giddy, and said, "The Panda looked at me!" He did. We were right there. On the way home, Clover said "I think the Panda is my second favorite baseball player, next to the tall, really good pitcher." At least she didn't say stoner. (I am not judging. Keep winning and you can smoke anything you want...so put that in your pipe and smoke it.)
Typepad hates my iPhone. It's Cain and Molina. Trust me.
The next morning I took the kids to an Easter egg hunt, then to buy skateboards. On the way home, Clover said it was one of the best days of her life. Um, remember last night? Best Giants seats ever? Cotton candy? The Panda looked at you? The egg hunt-skateboard combo still won, according to Clover. These kids are jaded.
Clover and I will be at opening day too, but sitting in my cousin's seats. I told her we won't be sitting in the amazing seats from the other night and she said, "Are we going to be up higher?" "No," I said, "Closer..." and before I could add "than that," she jumped in with "Oh good! Closer!" Yes, closer than the fourth row. I've raised the bar so high she has to be the bat girl in order to be happy. When I explained we're in the fourteenth row, but between third and left, she was a little saddened, so to cheer her up, I added, "But Nonnie and Papa Bob will be in the SnowPack!" (Inside joke for Giants fans. All others: think top row.) The thought of my parents in the cheap seats made us both laugh.
