A Night at the Ballpark

My friend Angela surprised me with four tickets to the Houston Astros game. It had been over ten years since I had been to an Astros game, and I hadn't even been to Minute Maid Park. These were good seats too, so this was kind of a first. I grew up in a poor family. When we would go see the Astros, we'd sit in the nosebleed section of the Astrodome. It didn't bother me. I like sports and being poor and all meant that I was easily pleased, so nosebleed seats always worked for me.

My husband, son and I were lucky enough to find a parking lot that was only $7 which is pretty good since all the other lots were charging $20+. We were one of the first 10,000 fans to arrive, so we received fleece Astros blankets. After we found our really good seats, that turned out to be by third base, my husband bought us all some refreshments. They were decent, not worth the $20 they cost but decent nonetheless. Forty minutes before the game started, they opened the roof. That concerned me a little because eventhough the current season is spring, in Houston it felt like an okay summer day. Luckily, there wasn't too much humidity, and I stayed relatively cool through the entire game thanks to the help of my trusted hair clip.

Ten minutes before the game started, my baseball neighbors arrived. Baseball neighbors are the people who sit next to you during baseball games. I know, it's pretty self explanatory, but you never can be too sure. My neighbors were an interesting mold of people. One was a bald guy in his 30s who had brought his son who looked to be about five. Next to him was an older man with gray hair who was accompanied by his teenage son. The teenage son was wearing a John Lennon T-shirt and old 80s Raybans.

The game started at 7:05. The bald guy and his son decided to get somethiing to drink at 7:15. My family and I had aisle seats, so we politely stood up and let them by. A few minutes later they returned, and we did the polite thing again.

In the 2nd inning, the score was still 0-0. It was a little bit boring, but I think that's because I'm more of a football fan. I guess the bald guy was bored too or maybe he just had to go to the bathroom because it was time for us to stand up again to politely let him by.

During the 4th inning, the bald guy came back. I'm guessing it was because the Astros finally scored a run, and he decided he actually wanted to watch the game, and his kid was still seated too. Before the 4th inning could end, Raybans and his dad vacated their seats, and we did the polite thing again. They came back during the 5th inning and made a remark to my husband, "We promise we'll stay seated for at least 15 minutes." We politely laughed, but silently, I was hoping he was telling the truth.

At the top of the 6th inning, the bald guy and his son and Raybans and his dad decide to go get another beer. By this time, I had the polite stand-up-and-let-them-by gesture down to an art form. I did notice that the people sitting behind me weren't too thrilled with my politeness. I shrugged. There wasn't much I could do about that. It's not like I was able to enjoy the game either. At the bottom of the 6th inning, the bald guy and his son returned. Raybans and his dad must have been long gone because they didn't return the entire game.

The 7th inning had a lot of action. The Pirates scored three runs. After the third run, the bald guy and his son got up again and went wherever. They returned during the 7th inning stretch. My husband and son stood and sang "Take Me Out to Baseball". I didn't bother standing. I had considered all my previous politeness my stretch. When the Astros went up to bat, they scored three runs of their own making the score Astros 4 Pirates 3.

The 8th inning started off much like the rest of the game. The bald guy and his son got up and went to do whatever they had been doing. Fortunately, this time they didn't come back. The game ended with the Astros winning. My husband and son were happy for the Astros. I was happy to leave. I never had to stand up and let someone by so much when I sat in the nosebleed section, so I think I'll stick to my nosebleed seats.