The wife had to work last night, so last night was daddy-daughter night as soon as I got home from work. I had mentioned to the wife earlier in the day that, if things went well (and even if they didn’t) I might make a trip to the TCBY for, well, TCBY (the country’s best yogurt).
A sidebar here. Does anyone remember that this acronym used to stand for This Can’t Be Yogurt?? It seems that we were right. It can’t be yogurt. 99.9% of it is ice cream. Anyway…
I walked in from work and Lauren ran up to me and yelled “EYE KEE!!! EYE KEE!!!” The wife then said “I may have mentioned a trip for some ice cream.” The trouble with telling Lauren beforehand is that she takes one bite of dinner and pronounces that “I all done.”
The wife went to work, we ate dinner (and this time, a lot of it), and played football with my nephews and brother in law until it was time to go. We rode together with the windows down and Lauren sqealed all the way there. That’s what she does when she gets her way and we ride with the windows down.
Long story short, she got cotton candy ice cream and I got my usual: The small oreo milkshake. Only this time, Lauren didn’t want her junior-mini-small whatever nasty cotton candy ice cream. She wanted my shake…and most of it.
I am not a good sharer most of the time. Ask my wife. Hell, ask anyone that knows me. But this night, I shared my ice cream and my daughter said “Thanks daddy. I love you,” which made sharing my milkshake totally worthwhile.
Sorry for the sidebar. After I put Lauren to bed, I was checking ESPN.com for news when I saw the Twins losing to the Yankees in the seventh 5-3. I blew it off and started a Bristol race on C4TC 2005 (EA Sports Chase for the Cup 2005 for those who don’t know). I looked up during my pitstop and noticed that it was now 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth. What to do…what to do?
I finished my race quickly and went in, looked blankly at the remote for a moment, then turned on the tv and flipped to ESPN.
I didn’t mention it, but I am from Minnesota. So when it’s not the Braves or the Red Sox, I do root for the Twins.).
The wife came home and saw me watching baseball, but said nothing. She knows of my boycott and my hatred for Bud Selig and what he’s done to what was my favorite game. While I was getting ready for bed, she even flipped on “Field of Dreams” and looked at me, waiting for some sort of reaction. (Usually, it’s to make fun of me for letting that damned movie make me cry every time I see it. Not all the way thru it, but just at certain parts. See, that’s what happens when you open up to someone).
I switched back to the game, and in the top of the tenth, Torii Hunter yanks a 400 plus foot homer into left field and I think to myself “How about that? The Yanks are about to lose two straight at home and be out before the playoffs really even start.”
That is until Gardenhire decided to leave Joe Nathan in to pitch his third inning of the night.
Nathan got the first guy out, then threw nine straight balls, and I was shaking my head and muttering “no no no no” after the fifth one.
A-rod then hit a ground rule double to center, and I shut it off, cursing. The last thing I saw as I shut off the tv was the Twins intentionally walking the bases loaded. They were done, and I knew it.
At the same time this was going on, the Red Sox - Angels game had started at 10pm, so I was quick flipping pitch by pitch between the two. This game saw Pedro starting against Bartolo Colon who, in my opinion, has doubled in size since his days with the Indians. He looked 300 pounds and his hat looked like a size five on a size eight head with that Cindy Brady curly do he has going on, similar to Manny Ramirez and Pedro. At the least the Sox all-hair guys got hats that fit.
Anywhoo, the Sox had two on in the first with no one out and Manny came to the plate. This was gonna be the blowout. I knew it. Then, Manny struck out on a great pitch, David Ortiz walked to load them for Trot Nixon, who flew out to left, and Kevin Millar grounded out to end the inning. No damage, but Colon had already thrown 24 pitches in one inning. Good for the Sox.
Boston’s first in the field saw groundout, groundout, walk, K.
Second inning, Sox struck out looking, flew out to center, then they loaded the bases again. This time, for Manny. Manny laid off the exact pitch he K’d on in the first to walk and drive in the first run of the game, and first of many I was sure.
Then Ortiz came up with the bases loaded and promptly hit a towering shot down the right side that slid foul by a foot or so, just missing a grand slam. On the next pitch, Mark Bellhorn was caught sleeping at second base and picked off to end the ending. And that’s when it hit me that this could be their 2003 Grady leaving Pedro in moment where all of the momentum they built went away, and I nearly threw up in my mouth. This was when I switched back and saw the Twins loading the bases and I shut off the tv.
Goddamned baseball.
(a note here: The Twins DID lose, the Sox won going away anyway, in a game that was up in the air until the 9th. Trailing 4-3, the Angels gave up four runs in the top of the ninth and lost 8-3, and I feel confident the series will be finished in game three. The Braves were trounced by a white hot Astros team as well, but considering I thought they’d finish third in their division this year, that doesn’t bother me too much. This season’s all about the Sox).
What say you?