Even I, as self-proclaimed "greatest Rangers fan of all-time" had no idea what postseason baseball can do to one's emotional inner-being. It all happened so fast and all I can remember was the ups and downs and the knots in my stomach, the dizziness and uncontrollable laughter, and then the sudden hault. It was a roller-coaster...and I want back in line. I was so very blessed to attend not one, but two World Series games thanks to old high school friends. My friend Todd and I had previously talked about a plan if the Rangers got to the World Series and he was able to purchase tickets first, so he reserved two tickets for me and my Mom. And when the Rangers clinched the American League with that marvelous emotional moment with AROD at the plate, I knew at that moment that I was going to the World Series!!!!!!!
Game 3 was incredible. Todd had printed the tickets from his house and gave me my two tickets that were on a normal sheet of paper. I took them home and scanned them into the computer so that I could laminate them and then have the original tickets on paper as backup incase I had problems with them letting me in with my laminated tickets. I took Mahlon to FedEx and perfectly had my tickets laminated before the game. My Mom and I rode down with some other hometown Rangers fanatics and it was great to talk baseball all the way down there. When we got in line I handed my Mom her laminated ticket and her paper ticket just incase the laminated one didn't work with the barcode. I reached for my paper ticket and at that moment, my heart dropped. It wasn't in the folder...I had left it in the scanner. Now all I had was my laminated ticket and I wasn't sure it would even scan. I was FREAKING OUT!!!!!
.PNG)
Mom went first in the ticket line because we were going to see if her laminated ticket would work. She had a backup paper ticket just in case. She was so nervous...far more than me. She was acting like she had fake tickets and was trying to sneak in. I had to tell her once, that there is nothing wrong with the ticket. It's real. Don't freak out...because that would freak me out. In the long run, hers scanned fine and she was even complimented by the ticket taker what a great idea it was to laminate it. I then, with my chest stuck out, proudly scanned my ticket and we were at that moment, in baseball heaven. I can imagine when my time comes and I meet St. Peter at the gates...it'll be a similar experience. Those gates may be ballpark green in stead of gold...but this was as close as it gets for me.
I really had to tell myself over and over that this was actually the World Series. I've been to the Ballpark in Arlington hundreds of times and was there for the first game ever, and the All-Star game, the ALDS, ALCS and so many great moments...but never such an event like this one. It was kind of similar to the notion of being a kid and having President Reagan give the State of the Union from Bearcat Stadium in Sherman. Can this be real?
.JPG)
.JPG)
I dressed in my all red Rangers gear as I always do. We took lots of pictures and I could see the big smile on my Mom's face as this was a dream of hers too. What a moment it was just to soak it in. Seeing the words "Welcome to the World Series" on our diamond vision above the right field home run porch was just surreal. Our seats were down the right field line in section 41, row 43, seats 7 and 8. I was in 7...Mom was in 8. The game is well documented so I won't go in to great detail about how Colby Lewis was tremendous and the Mississippi kid Mitch Moreland made us all go nuts. His home run made for possibly the most deafening moment in that Ballpark's history. It was like nothing I've ever experienced. Laughter overtook me as if I were on a roller-coaster ride. The type of home run was very similar to the very first home run hit in that Ballpark back in '94 that I got to witness. Dave Nilsson for Milwaukee hit a low line drive shot that landed in the lower home run porch and very similar to this one. It's like everything had come full-circle. I had just witnessed the first ever World Series home run at The Ballpark. And it was WAY more exciting than Dave Nilsson's.
Neftali Feliz slammed the door on the Giants and we left that place ecstatic. Before leaving, the concourse was filled with "Lets Go Rangers" chants well after the game. There was a buzz in the air that I've never heard at the Temple before. It was so loud out there. It was amazing to see that many thousands and thousands of people in sheer joy and giddiness. I was on cloud nine all the way home and was so thankful that our friends had been kind enough to drive us because I was so wound up, I'm not sure driving would have been a great thing.
That was Game 3. Game 4 I watched on TV. After the game, I was told by an old high school friend Jon Norwood that he had an extra standing room only ticket for Game 5 that he'd let go for $100. I was ALL OVER IT!!!! Game 5 was the last game at The Ballpark no matter what happened. It was a baseball fan's dream. It was their stud pitcher vs. our stud pitcher. It was them trying to achieve the pinnacle of success and us trying to fight and CLAW just one more day. Cliff Lee vs. Tim Lincecum. It just doesn't get any better than that.
Since the game was on a Monday and I now had tickets, I had to scour around and look at how many vacation days I had left. I just so happened to have two days left. So on Monday morning, right out of the chute, I turned in an emergency half day vacation for that day. Once cleared with my group, I was once again on cloud nine. I was going to the World Series AGAIN!!!
I got there fairly early and met Jon at the first base gate and gave him the money for my ticket and we walked in. He went to the gift shop and it cost him two hours of waiting in line to get two remarkably awesome Cliff Lee official jerseys. I was highly impressed with his new game attire. While he was in line, I roamed the Ballpark looking for good SRO (standing room only) "seats". I parked myself on a picnic table for a few minutes and thought about staying out there for the whole game. And then I thought I'd look elsewhere and chance it. I found myself behind section 9 (down the left field line near the foul pole) behind all of the seats. There were picnic tables out there, but all of the places had been reserved by blankets and bags and such. So I moved along. I went over and stood behind section 11 which is a little closer to the action and stood there for the rest of the time until gametime. I was the first one there and had a pretty good view of the action. Jon later met me over there and we took turns saving our spots while the other went for refreshments. When the game started, the entire row of seats in front of us were not being used, so I looked back at the guys standing behind me and said, "Here's the deal. Me and my buddy here are going to move in front to these seats and you can stand right where we're standing. But if we get kicked out of these seats, we want our spot back. Is that a deal?" They said heck yeah, and we moved up and actually got to sit for a tiny bit when everyone else sat down. But for the most part, the house was rocking and we were on our feet most of the game anyway.
The matchup turned out to be exactly as advertised this time around. It was a very quick pitchers duel with both of them going toe-to-toe. It was a baseball purist's dream for a game. I told everyone around me at least 5 times, "the first one to one wins." Another old friend from high school Michelle Smith Fabacher had found us and came and visited for a little bit. She was there when all hell broke loose and I somehow came down with a disease I'd never heard of before called "Rentaria." I seriously remember thinking, "walk him." No such luck. BOOM! I had a great view of David Murphy going back and back and back. It seemed like it was in slow motion. In my mind, "he's going to catch it. Oh no! No, he'll get it. Crap!, Here comes a Greer like wall-banger! Dang that ball is carrying.........." silence...mouth wide open....eyebrows lifted. In my head, "OMG...they were the first one to one."
Nellie Cruz made it interesting with a bomb of his own that rocked the Temple, but it wasn't enough. The beards were to be feared afterall. I watched as they ran out of the dugout and jumped on each other. My initial thoughts were about our fans. I thought to myself, "Please don't start booing! Please!." And with that thought, I started clapping. I clapped for the Giants as they were a tremendous team with a tremendous story of misfits banding together to make something special. But I also was clapping, hoping our fans would follow suit. To my amazement, I wasn't the only one that had that same idea. Everyone around me busted out clapping. I realized that there is good in this world. This earth may not blow up afterall. There are good people all around. And then, Rangers fans started chanting, "Lets Go Rangers" very very very loudly. It may have been louder than at any point during the game. We were all so proud of what our little team from the prairie had accomplished.
.JPG)
I left the Ballpark that night, I stopped to take a picture of the banner that said World Series hanging from the beautiful entrance of the first base gate. I then got choked up. I was fighting back tears of mixed emotions. They weren't tears of losing, they weren't tears of joy...they were tears of how just dang awesome this summer of '10 was...and it was over. That's what made me tear up. And then I thought of my little 4-year old boy and how I want so badly for him to be with me to experience this with him, when he's 10 or 11 or 48. And at that moment, I realized how my mom must have felt two days before. I never thought about that until I looked at it that way. That's what makes this so special. Baseball, in its purest form is a bonding mechanism. It's not about 13th century warrior combat and blood and guts and people with A.D.D. It's about family. It's about time...quality time. It's to be savored, not gulped. There's time to discuss everything between pitches or between innings. Say this much for big league baseball - it is beyond question the greatest conversation piece ever invented in America. .PNG)
The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love. ~Bryant Gumbel, 1981
This game is not for everyone. It's intricate, it's a riddle, it's simplistic, it's beautiful, and it's addictive. It's fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, and yes, moms and sons.
I thank GOD for the Summer of '10. I'm no longer sad that it's over. I'm happy that it happened.
.JPG) |
| The Summer of '10 - I'll never forget you! |
.jpg)
