sunday matinee at the ballpark to celebrate jackie robinson day!
the fact that everyone was wearing robinson's 42 and no last name made scoring the game a bit more difficult then usual. in fact, on more then one occasion the announcer made mistakes on pinch hitters due to the confusion. but that did not take away from a great game which featured two marlins long balls (psychedelic statue and all!), extra innings and a couple fun double plays.
the crew got together late and stuffed our faces with german breakfast at the nook before heading down to miami. subbed out my dad (april 15 and a hockey game that evening, he spent the day requested extensions from the irs) and invited not-quite-cousin elliot along for his first visit to the ballpark.
traffic started at nearly the same spot as last time, and continued to almost the exact same turn west towards the stadium. pretty sure i got a handle on the approach by now, and as long as you're not trying to get in right as the game starts you should be good to go.
pulled into the garage, had a beer or two and headed in. lost the crew on the way (i'll admit that i was inpatient, but they were still damn slow) so i started trekking up the ramp solo. let me tell you, it is a hike up to the top of the stadium. i think next time i'm going to go find the stairs that we utilized to get out of there.
quick stop in the rest room conveniently located right outside my section before heading up to my seats to fill out my scorebook. i thought it was kind of odd that both starting pitchers were wearing number 42 (i missed the pregame ceremonies and had forget the importance of april 15), and then i looked at the field and noticed that everyone was wearing jackie's number.
a children's choir led the national anthem, which was a straight-forward traditional approach and a rather pretty version. as far as i am concerned the only patriotic song i need to hear during a baseball game is "the star spangled banner", though when they play "god bless america" during the 7th inning stretch i have a chance to grab a beer and a pee before the last few frames. i still only want to "hear take me out to the ballgame" in between the top and the bottom of the 7th.
anyhow, on to the game. anibal came out looking good. infante led off the second by putting one out, becoming the first marlin to hit a regular season home run in marlins park, and as such, the first to set off the sculpture. it was a wonderful spectacle, and though cheesy, it is totally fitting for miami.
its a rainbow full of sound, it's fireworks, calliopes and clowns!
local broward county boy j.d. martinez (note press, he may have been born in miami but he lived in pembroke pines and played high school ball at flanagan high school there) tied it up with a double in the top of the 3rd, and some classic small ball nets them two more in the 4th. a couple of slow innings before hanley sends one out and brings home emilio, evening the game up at four each. it stayed that way until the bottom of the 11th, when brett hayes singled to lead off the inning and was moved over by a chris couglin sacrifice bunt. a few batters later hanley slapped one into right field, and the team, and the stadium, celebrated the first walk-off in the new stadium. no pies in the face, no injuries.
hanley celebrates his walk-off single in the 11th
i guess that i was overly optimistic when i assumed that i would make it home and out to the bank atlantic center by puck drop for game two of the panthers/devils first round playoff, but the 4:08 baseball game time made it impossible. luckily, my pops found someone to go with at the last minute, and the freakin' won to tie the series up. we're in jersey tonight, and i'll be flipping between some hockey and j.j.'s hopeful redemption on the mound against the cubbies.
visiting team (houston astros) scorecard - 4/15/12
home team (miami marlins) scorecard - 4/15/12
my scoring is getting a bit better. i made the decision to swap the pitching so that (for example) the astros pitchers are on the same page as the marlins batters. unfortunately, i think i screwed up by putting the home teams batters on the first page, but as i said earlier, this is a learning exercise and i'm improving all the time.
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