I traveled this weekend to Pittsburgh to see a baseball game. I am a huge Dodgers fan, as indicated by my previous post about the happiest moment of my life. Traveling with me was my girlfriend’s 11-year-old son, who is a huge Pirates fan. (He is also a huge Yankee fan, thereby ensuring himself at least some happiness in life.)
On Saturday, the first-place Dodgers played the last-place Pirates. At stake for the Dodgers was a chance to clinch a spot in the playoffs for the third time in four years. At stake for the Pirates? Not much, actually, since earlier this year they set an all-time record for the most consecutive losing seasons. (Seventeen, I believe, but who’s counting?)
We bought our tickets several months ago, so the fact that this was a game of any significance for either team was sheer luck. But I am a big believer in luck — in signs and omens from the gods — and so I was feeling rather lucky when it appeared, about a week ago, as though the Dodgers might have a chance to clinch on Saturday. When they lost to the Pirates on Friday — keeping their “magic number” at one — I was feeling positively flush with luck.
After all, it’s hard to live on the East Coast and be a Dodgers fan. They hardly ever play on TV around here and all of their home games start after 10:00 p.m. my time. Could the stars possibly align to allow me to see them clinch in person?
As we drove to Pittsburgh it became clear that the only thing standing between me and my dream was Mother Nature. It rained for most of the five-hour trip. It was raining when we checked into our hotel and it was raining when we sat down to dinner at Atria’s (try the pot roast nachos), right outside of the absolutely gorgeous PNC Park. It was raining when we first went up to the gate.
“We’re not letting anybody in right now,” the guy at the gate said. “We’ll be making the call soon.”
Holy shit, I thought to myself, all the while smiling optimistically at my young companion. They’re going to cancel the game. We drove 300 miles to be here, my team can clinch a spot in the playoffs, I’m with an 11-year-old dressed in a Pirates jersey and a Steelers cap, and they’re going to CANCEL THE GAME. What kind of omen would THAT be?
A few minutes later, the gates opened and in we went. Thank you, Jesus. (Best billboard on the trip: “Jesus died for sinners. That means you.”)
Our seats were ridiculously good. We were five rows behind the Dodgers dugout — close enough to hear the players talking to each other. It was still raining a bit — the usher had to wipe our seats off with a ShamWow — but it wasn’t awful and the game started at 7:05 p.m., right on schedule.
Sitting directly behind us was actor Jake Gyllenhaal of ”Brokeback Mountain” fame, along with some other Hollywood types, including director Edward Zwick. (I later learned that Gyllenhall is filming a movie in Pittsburgh with Anne Hathaway, who, sadly, was not in attendance.)
I am not a starfucker by any stretch of the imagination, but it was hard not to eavesdrop on some of the dialogue unfolding behind us. At one point, one of the guys in Gyllenhall’s entourage noted that the Pirates have the least errors of any team in the National League but are still mired in last place.
“That’s just like life,” Gyllenhall replied. “If you aren’t willing to make mistakes, you’re never going to get anywhere.”
I can’t quit you, Jake!
Anyway, it was a fine game, with the Dodgers taking the early lead, the Pirates rallying in the seventh to pull ahead, and the Dodgers storming back in the eight to put it away and secure themselves a spot in the post-season. We saw two home runs and an unbelievable diving catch. My girlfriend’s son was on the Jumbotron twice and also caught a hot dog launched about 100 feet into the air by the Pirate Parrot. (No foul balls came our way, but that was OK by me after watching a women behind the Pirates dugout get absolutely murdered by a line drive. The usher held up a yellow card over her head, as though she had just tripped the midfielder or something.)
It started raining again shortly after we left the park and it poured the next day all the way home. I must be living right.
Tags: atria's, los angeles dodgers, pittsburgh, pittsburgh pirates
October 12, 2009 at 1:18 pm |
Love it and congrats on the sweep!!!