National Pastime

Ah, how I enjoy the national pastime. Well, that's not entirely true. I like watching the Mariners (mostly when they are winning) and going to SafeCo Field for games. Part of the whole baseball experience is the ballpark, the grass, the beer. The beauty of Seattle baseball is the accepted pretentiousness of it all. Honestly, the menu items of the park are exceptional. Red Hook and Fat Tire, the bratwurst, garlic fries... lecker (thats German for tasty). Add to that a roof that closes to keep the bad weather out, marvelous.

One thing that I do miss about the Mariners is sweet sweet Lou Pinella. He was at the game today. Perhaps my favorite Lou Pinella moment happened one evening when the home plate umpire wasn't calling balls and strikes to Lou's satisfaction. After the straw that broke the camel's back, Lou stormed out of the dugout, argued with the ump, and the proceeded to get on his hands and knees and cover up home plate with dirt, as the umpire obviously wasn't using the plate to call the game anyway. This moment goes beyond Lou falling on his way out of the dugout, picking up and throwing a base, and kicking his hat (not necessarily on the same night).

Today was a good day.