extra innings!

Thanks to two rain-outs this weekend, and the Sand Gnats playing only the Augusta Greenjackets this final (ever) home stand, we were afforded a double header tonight. Two games for the price of one!
Tuesday will see two more games, with good fortune in the weather.
Two games tonight meant I had a good chance of seeing a full game, even with my teaching responsibilities.
By the time my students were done with the first test of the semester, I knew I had missed most of the first game, if not all of it. I'd already heard from my co-season ticket holder Bill; he would be joining me for the second game. Okay, that gave me time to drop the tests off in my freezer and grab a munch before heading out to the stadium for the final (ever) Dollar Monday with my boys of summer.
[FYI, on Dollar Monday, entry to the game can be had for solamente un dollar, simply with a coupon from the newspaper or by flashing your Kroger loyalty card. Hotdogs, chips, small sodas, and small beers can also be had, just one buck each. Great night out on the cheap for families!]
Ordinarily, I just show the grocery card and a Washington. Not tonight. I went ahead and traded in one of the unused former game tickets. Then, I collected three hotdogs, a bag of Cheetos (a treat!), and filled my season ticket holder cup full of icy soda and hurried into the stands.
You see, that first game was still in progress. Instead of stopping at seven innings, as it should have, play continued as both sides struggled to break a score which had been tied since the third inning.
Just one run had been obtained for each team, both early on, and we were now in the ninth inning of this pitching duel.
Hooray!!! Extra baseball for me!!!
On and on the game tipped. Batters would manage to get on base, just to be stranded. The tenth inning passed with no change.
The eleventh inning looked as though it might do the same.
Vicente Lupo - out.
Patrick Biondi - out.
Then diminutive Jonathan Johnson stepped up.
omG!!! The ball is going... it's going... it's OVER THE WALL!!!
Home run! Home run! Home run!

And the Gnats jubilantly swarmed home plate to meet him!
I tell you, I almost burst into tears.
What great comraderie!
And justthatfast, the game was over, marking another win for my boys.

Afterwards, I visited with the Engler women, aka the "Sweet Caroline" mother-daughter duo. We talked about the game, of course, then about a movie they had recently seen.
Talk about love of men for each other and you really need to speak of "Straight Outta Compton". If we three older white chicks "get" the message, then you know it was done well and with great respect for the players. Ice Cube and Dr. Dre have produced an homage to the late Eazy-E, chronicling not only their escape from a gangster environment into a better life, but also their incredible influence on the music today.
(For the record, we span mid-40's to mid-60's in age.
We all remember when this movie was real life.)

By a quarter past nine this evening, the second game was underway. The crowd had thinned greatly, leaving only us diehards to cheer on the team.
No problem - I can be LOUD!
(smile!)
Honestly, I don't recall Augusta's at-bats during that second game. Bill and I were playing catch-up with our lives, talking about my wreck and poison ivy and school, talking about his impending retirement and possible move to Chico, CA, and his beloved companion Tucker.
I remember our times at home plate, because Bill and I were both shouting encouragement as each took his turn.
"Get a hit, hit, hit!"
"Bring 'im home!"
"Over the wall!"

After the 2-0 shut-out, it was almost 11:30 PM. Time to go!
Until tomorrow, sports fans!