Friday, March 11, 2011

Off to hear the crack of the bat....


I could sit here and wax eloquent about one of my favorite subjects….baseball.  But I would not be able to do it as well as the many people who sat and did that before me so I won’t talk about the boys of summer or the emerald diamond right now.  I’ll just let you know that baseball is one of my favorite things.

To me, Opening Day is the real New Year.  Greg and I had our first date at a Yankees/Indians double header years ago when they were still playing real double headers.  Since we’ve been married, we have been “collecting” ball parks the way some folks collect Hummel figurines and have 25 or 26 down on our life lists.  It must be in our genes.  I grew up a Cincinnati Reds fan in southwestern Ohio and Greg grew up listening to the Cardinals on the radio.  These days, we are Red Sox fans because New England is our home.  We are immigrants to Red Sox Nation. 

Wanting to give our son Evan a nice warm weather break from his studies at Syracuse U (Syracuse being the winner of the Golden Snowball award most years), we asked him if he wanted to go to a Mexican beach for some R & R or to Arizona for spring training.  Why did we bother?!  It’s off to spring training we go.  The apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.

I don’t have the proper lenses or the real desire to be a sports photographer, but I think I will leave you with some of my shots from in and around Fenway Park, the self-acclaimed “America’s Favorite Ball Park.”  Well, it is the oldest ballpark in current use in the MLB with the venerable Wrigley Field close behind.  Someday I will probably have to wax eloquent about ballparks in general but in the meantime…

As I’m writing this, I can’t help but think of the people of Japan who have been devastated by that tremendous earthquake.   It puts into sharp relief how fortunate we are to be able to take this trip.  My heart goes out to them.

See you in a few days.

The Monstah!


Becoming one with the game....
 
Heading home...

8 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

So true. We are so lucky each day we live in peace and without peril.

Enjoy your trip! Sounds like it's definitely a FAMILY thing!

magda said...

Barbara, hi
I'm sad like all our immense destruction suffered by the Japanese people.
The thought of all of us are with them ..
Your photos are beautiful and your foreword, dominates the sporting spirit!
Have a wonderful weekend
Greetings

barbara l. hale said...

Yes. My daughter tolerates baseball but doesn't have the passion for it that the others of us do. We should have a good time. Looks like the weather is going to be great.

barbara l. hale said...

Thanks, Magda!

Stratoz said...

I have been to 8 parks with several missed opportunities

barbara l. hale said...

We seem to like ballpark architecture almost as much as the game itself. My very favorite is PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Wish they could put together a better team. I'm also a big fan of Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. One of our best vacations ever was a car trip to Denver with ballpark stops along the way. We have to do that again one of these days.

Jodi said...

I should connect you with my father next time he visits (although since he's a Yankees fan, maybe that's not such a good idea). He has now been to all but one of the newest stadiums.

barbara l. hale said...

Let's draw up a contract. We can agree not to trash talk the Yankees if he can agree to be kind to the Red Sox... Then we can talk about what's really the most important thing, which is where can you get the best hot dog.