Back To Baseball One More Time

How many times have I done this? I have no clue but it always has the same sensation.

Like sleeping on a bed with brand new sheets.

Like tasting cold water after a long walk.

Like a great hot meal on a cold winter's night.

Comforting. Reaffirming. Relaxing.

That's what happens every baseball season when I go to my first game of the year. Just as I did yesterday at Dodger Stadium.

New York baseball in 2009 will be brand spanking different. Sparkling new ball parks. Citi Field awaits me next week with its seemingly endless food courts, dunk tanks, and tons of reasons to avoid watching the game.

At Chavez Ravine yesterday, there was nothing new. The loge level still needs some promised remodeling. The bathroom lines, crowded with businessmen who go to just one game per year, stretched all the way to Pasadena. The park was still spotless, but no different that it was when I left it during Game 5 of last year's playoff against the Phillies.

And the consistency and sameness was just fine with me.

The season ticket holders around my section were all in their usual places. Except for a moustache that he promised me he would shave off before my next game, Richard the usher was just where he always was. And most of the Dodgers from last year's division winning season were on the field. Seamless. A good book that I simply picked back up, removing the ticket stub I had used as a placeholder.

I was back for another year as a baseball fan.

The pre-game ceremonies embraced LA Dodger history one more time. The rosters were introduced in numerical order, which was an odd switch. But explained perfectly once everybody realized that #99, Manny Ramirez, would be the last one to be revealed to the crowd. The Dodgers entered the game not from the dugout but via the field level seats, highfiving fans on their way to the contest.

Celebrating his 60th year behind the Dodger mike, Vin Scully (entering in the picture above) threw the first ball to catcher Joe Torre and he got more on the one pitch than Giant starter Randy Johnson would be able to muster an hour later. Some in the crowd, notably me, wondered whether Vin would end his career at this round number. Especially since we all learned just minutes before that the voice of the Phillies, Harry Kalas, had dropped dead in the press box of Nationals Stadium an hour ago. If anything might propel Vin Scully to retirement, this could be it.

But, after flyovers, doves, fireworks, and an American flag stretched from foul pole to foul pole, the baseball game at hand took center stage.And the newest Dodger, Orlando Hudson, provided a tour de force performance hitting for the cycle---a feat I have never seen in person. Indeed, the only other LA Dodger to do this was Wes Parker in May of 1970---probaby right after he tutored Barry Williams on an episode of The Brady Bunch. On a day where I was appreciating sameness, I got something from beyond the realm.

But, that's what is so glorious about baseball. Like life itself, there are always surprises. Pleasant and otherwise. That's why people keep coming back.

That's why I keep coming back.

Dinner last night: Antipasto salad.