Home Opener and Dirkulence

So another Home Opening Day has come and gone.

Jeff Blair summed it up nicely.

The highlight of the day for me was seeing Dirk Hayhurst at Chapters on John St. My associate and I came from out of town, so we decided to make a day of it. I was worried that it would be packed, but we were surprised when we did our 2:00 reconnaissance and it was deserted.

The eloquent pitcher-slash-author read the 'Grandma' chapter of the book, answered some questions, and, of course, garfoosed the books. There was chocolate cake, autographs, and goofy photos for all.

Sadly, Hayhurst sounded pessimistic about the progress of his shoulder rehab. "It's not encouraging when the surgeon says, 'hmmm, that's not supposed to happen,'" to paraphrase.

Hayhurst states via Twitter that he hit several bookstores today randomly signing books, so if you don't have a copy already, go on a wild garfoose chase and find yourself a signed copy.

The game itself was... what it was. Highlights? My chin just about hit the floor at Buck's 400-level dinger. My heart was warm and fuzzy at the lack of booing Wells. Rios? I was rather indifferent.

Lowlights? I wasn't even that disappointed at Frasor's blown save, since we had no choice but to leave by then anyway to catch our bus. The definite lowlights were the usual Opening Day retardedness of the non-fans. I am really leaning toward the DJF's preference to just stay away. I'm sure by next February, I'll be saying to myself, "but... but... IT'S THE OPENER." But it really does feel more frustrating than fun when you're continually distracted by the non-fans. I pay to see a baseball game, not a frat party, not the whorey Bud Girls posing with dudes at the bottom of the section, completely blocking the view of the game. (Yeah, not even waiting until between innings.) I rarely go to bars, and ball games are pretty much my "party time", so I strongly resent said party time being spoiled by a giant frat party preventing me from getting a god damned beer.

It wasn't just the alcohol; it was the same for concessions. My associate and I arrived at the gates before they opened. We were down at the 100 level York Market well before 6:00, and even though it wasn't crowded, it took everyone forever to get their food. The staff were running around with clipboards and no one was getting served. Blue Jays, you should have paid them an extra hour or half hour to get that crap done before the gates opened.

There has to be a way of making the experience better for "real" fans and/or casual fans over the age of... first beer retard. A rebuilding team that doesn't pack the house every night can't afford to turn off fans. A penny for Jeff's thoughts on the issue. Ideas from this uneducated fan include: a section reserved for season ticket and flex pack holders, available prior to individual game sale dates, where there are no group sales (unless they're not students) and have priority concession service. Perhaps a 30+ section (hard to enforce, but...) Perhaps access to the HSBC lounge, which I'm going to assume was only available to sponsors and/or People With Connections, who probably don't even give a shit about the game.

Until then, maybe we'd all rather just join the DJFs at Opera Bobs.

It's the Most Wonderful Tiiiiiiiiime of the Year!

I'm just going to keep the curtains closed today and not look at the slushy white mess out there. It's spring and baseball is back.

What a game. Miraculously, despite sitting just four rows from the roof, I seemed to be in the only section of the Rogers Centre with zero drunk retards. Goodonya, Section 527. The guy with the green horn thingy was creeping me out a little, though. (I think it was a guy...)



I do find it a little amusing and typically Canadian that a bunch of fans were being all bad-ass, causing so much trouble that they stop the game... and what was causing all the commotion? Broken beer bottles and weapons offenses? No, paper airplanes and baseballs. It reminds me of the guy who pied Jean Cretien in the face.

To the fucktards who acted like they were on a pub crawl, harassing Tigers fans and/or throwing shit onto the field... go die in a fire.

Anyhoo. I certainly hope last night's game was a preview of what we're going to see all year, especially the offense. Adam Lind and Travis Snider mashed it. "'We were having a good time in the dugout every time one of us came in after a big hit, giving each other some love,' said Snider. 'That's how me and Lindy are, man, it's a real good working relationship, a good friendship off the field and it should be exciting.'" Aw, spring brings bromance into the air!

Gooooooood Morning!!

It's pissing rain, but the birds are singing, the coffee's hot, and... oh yeah, IT'S OPENING DAY.

See ya at the game!



Tickets - check.
AM radio - check.
Camera - check.
Beer cup holder thingies (2) - check.
Sunscreen

Opening Day, and Bratinée Games

Yup, that's my Bulletin Board of Happiness. I'm going to the games on the 6th and 9th. Because I work mostly evenings and weekends, Opening Night is probably the only weekday night game I'll be going to.

Here's something obscure and trivial that rotation candidates Scott Richmond and Ricky Romero may end up having in common: it could be that they will have both seen their ML debuts on Annoying Kiddy Afternoon Games.

If Romero is the number four guy, he'd be throwing on Thursday April 9th. That's an afternoon Bratinée, complete with Teletoon school thingies being handed out to the little crotch products. Scott Richmond, likewise, saw his debut on camp brat day, July 30 '08. I was at that game, after lying like a rug tactically removing myself from work that day.

I was in luck - the kids around me were older teens from a martial arts camp who were genuinely into the game. Overall, the kids were a good, loud crowd. I'll at least give them credit for that. And at least there was no line up for beer. As long as I can blast the Fan 590 into my ears, I'm a happy camper. (Ha - see what I did there?)