I've always believed that new experiences are good for the heart and soul and I couldn't contain my excitement when Janet and Eamonn booked tickets for us to go and watch a 'proper' baseball game! Their local team is The Okotoks Dawgs and we were going to see an end of season crunch match against local (ish) rivals, The Lethbridge Bulls. The 'Bulls' are in black shirts and The 'Dawgs' in white.
We arrived at the $8M Seaman Stadium on a gorgeous sunny evening for a 19:05 'kick off' and as we drove in among the plethora of huge 4x4s, the crowd of 2500 were buzzing enough to have made one think that there were 10 times that amount of people watching. All of the legendary images were there... Great big trays stuffed with bucket-sized sodas, barrow-sized bags of 'chips' and nachos and corn 'Dawgs'. We settled for a cold 'Canadian' beer and took our seats.
I knew absolutely nothing about baseball when we arrived and I quickly realised that I had no idea what was going on. Why did they never seem to hit any of the balls that were thrown? Why did the 'Pitcher' make funny stretching movements before he threw the ball as if he was about to run and do the high jump? Why did the 'Batter' run to the next base, even if he hadn't managed to hit a single ball thrown at him? What the heck is a 'foul' ball? What or where exactly is 'Left Field'? Why is there a great big fat old guy stood in the middle shouting at everyone? Why do they continually scratch their privates, and spit so much? Why on earth do all these people pay good money to come and watch a baseball game and then do anything but that? They sit and chat, they go to the shop, they read books and papers, they eat, drink, eat, play cards, eat, in fact anything except watch the action on the field! Oh.. and one last question that's been bugging me ever since I watched 'Rain Man''; Who IS on first base?
Anyway... it amazed me just how quickly I did get the point of the game and soon I not only got into the flow of it, but I was into the scoreline and sharing the anticipation and the angst of the Dawgs fans (those that were watching) as 'We'... were losing!
The 'Canadian' went down VERY well and so did the sun and as the floodlights came on whoever had flicked the big switch, had also flicked another one because all of a sudden, the crowd became interested.... VERY interested!
Janet spotted her boss Linda accross the other side of the ground and she later came over to say 'hi' to us all and was telling us about her up-coming trip to Scotland. She's a very nice lady and it was lovely to meet her. But wait... now WE were the ones not watching! ;-)
As the game progressed the scoreline didn't get any better, however.... I now fully understood what was going on and I couldn't have been any more passionate about it if the game was being played at Goodison Park by Blue shirts. All of a sudden, we were stood a lot closer to the game and there was a lot less chatter... we were concentrating! There was a palpable change in the mood as the possibility of a draw... or even... no.. surely not?
The Dawgs were coming back... The crowd were getting right behind the action... The sky was black and the diamond was lit up like a runway. The scoreboard was suddenly brighter and the pace of the game seemed to increase. The Bulls were huddling in the middle as though they were having a crisis meeting and the crowd started to get, well... almost... rowdy!
Spencer (below) used to work in Janet and Eamonn's bank in Okotoks, now here he was stomping around the ground, whipping up the crowd into a frenzy. He shouted "Dawgs Dawgs Dawgs!!" and the crowd chanted back "Wooff Wooff Woofff!!!!". This was brilliant!
Another classic theme about the game was that they constantly played the really cheezy 'labour club style' organ music every time an element of the game happened, a strike, a miss, a hit, a run, a huddle, and stuff. It was just like it had always been portrayed in the 'Goofy' cartoons!
As the game neared its end the crowd, including me, Eam, Katie and Sarah were going mad! The players couldn't bear to watch... All 'We' needed was one home run and we'd win!
The Pitcher did his best but the Dawgs batter hit the swing of his life and with a beautiful 'thwack', he sent the ball to the back of the ground. He started to run as if his bum was on fire... the fat old guy in the blue shirt started to smile and shout and at one point, he even moved a bit... the crowd were on their feet and by the time that the batter had reached within 10 yards of the last base, it was all over.
The Dawgs had come from right behind and won the game! The players hugged each other, the crowd high-fived and hugged each other, the sky changed from black to blue and a voice from above told me that I was a Canadian and that that's why I had tears in my eyes and, ahem.. sorry... ok, Ok got a bit carried away. What the voice actually said, had there been one, was that I had far too much 'Canadian' !
Then best bit of all... the high point of the entire event.... Diggity Dawg came out as all the kids from the crowd ran on to the field and they all completed 2 home runs in celebration.
What a fabulous evening out! Really! I'd so love to go again :-)
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