Friday night I attended a baseball game here in Houston. The first-place Milwaukee Brewers were in town to play the last-place Astros.
At 37-74, the Astros are the worst team in baseball. Since I last saw the Astros, at the beginning of the summer, they traded away their SS, CF, and RF, they dumped their 2B, and they sent both their 3B and 1B back to the minors due to poor play. That's pretty much the entire team gone. The new folks aren't any better, mind you. And since they have very little minor-league talent, he Astros are going to be bad for many years to come. And yet, there I was, willingly shelling out 16 dollars to sit in the cheap seats and watch along with a half-empty stadium as the Astros lost yet again.
The final score was 8-1, but it wasn't that close. The Astros pitcher (who was himself sent to the minors after the game) gave up three runs in the first inning, and three more in the third. The Brewers at this point basically stopped trying very hard, and the Houston players all looked like they would rather be anywhere else but where they were. In short, it was a pretty lackluster affair all the way around.
And yet, I had a great time. I love going to ballgames. Others have discussed the joy of the ball-field much more eloquently than I ever could, so let me just confirm their reports. There is almost nowhere I would rather be than sitting with a beer in my hand watching a game. If the game involves a team and/or players I root for or against, great. If the game is exciting, back-and-forth, well-played baseball, fantastic. But if the game is like Friday night--two teams I don't really care about, a game over before it really began . . . well, that's OK too. Because there is always something in a baseball game to enjoy.
Sometimes it's not just what happens on the field, of course. Spending time with friends at the ballpark is always more fun than just sitting in a bar. Friday night it was the quest for an Astros cap. My friend needed a new cap, you see, and not just any old cap would do. So we went into store after store, never settling, until finally finding the perfect cap. Now, some people might have been annoyed by such a shopping trip, and if I had been at mall, maybe I would have been too. But quests seem appropriate for the ballfield.
On the field, two particular events stood out at this non-eventful game. An Astros rookie came into the game in the fifth inning, after the score was already 6-1 and everyone knew the game was over. JB Shuck (what a great baseball name) had just been called up that day. This was his first major league game, and I was there to cheer him on. He singled in his first plate appearance, and I stood and applauded along with the rest of the crowd--it was as excited as the crowd had been all game. He then stole second base, and the crowd roared even louder. Mr. Shuck will always remember this game, as will I. I attended a game at Shea Stadium in NYC many years ago (Sept 2 1998 to be precise) where I saw a Braves rookie named Marty Malloy play his first game and get his first hit, a home run. It was the only home run he would ever hit in the big leagues. He only played 35 games in all--the proverbial cup of coffee. I doubt there are very many die-hard Braves fans, let alone baseball fans, who remember Marty Malloy. But I will never forget sharing his greatest baseball memory. Perhaps Mr. Shuck will go on to have many great baseball memories himself. Or perhaps, like Mr. Malloy, his first game will also be his greatest. Either way, it was a privilege to share in the moment.
There was another moment late in the game that I am happy to have seen. In the ninth inning the Brewers sent up Craig Counsell to pinch-hit. Mr. Counsell had been featured in many places the past few days--including a mention on the Colbert Report--for a very dubious reason. If he were to make one more out, he would tie the record for most consecutive at-bats without a hit. This was a record that had stood for over a century, a record that no one would want their name next to. Mr Counsell is no Hall-of-Famer--not even close. He never made an All-Star team, was never considered anything more than a scrappy second baseman with a very weird batting stance. But he played important roles for two World Series teams, and was the MVP of the 2001 NLCS. In 1997 he scored the winning run in the 7th game of the World Series. Now in his 16th season, he is very close to the end of his playing days. But he has had a pretty great career, with lots of happy memories. Would it all be overshadowed by this record streak of futility? Thankfully, we will never know. Mr. Counsell got a hit on Friday night. The crowd applauded, which I found touching. Mr. Counsell had a grin that I could see from the cheap seats.
Two important things happened at this uneventful game (three if you count the quest for the perfect cap). One will make the records book, and one will not. One was a beginning, one an end. Together they represent baseball.
