MACJOURNAL 2.3

"Fair is foul and foul is fair." MacB, Act I, Scene i

Well, okay. The witches in MacB aren't talking about baseball. But I am...!

Tonight, while many of my fine peers enjoyed a fabulous Gala to celebrate the opening of the Hanna Theatre, my buddies and I took the opportunity to see a Cleveland Indians baseball game. It was the second-to-last game of the season and my last chance to take in Cleveland's home team as they engaged in a classic rivalry game against the Detroit Tigers.

Cleveland Indians games are played at Progressive Field, affectionately known as "The Jake" due to it's earlier, non-corporate monicker "Jacobs Field" (after former team owners Richard and David Jacobs). We arrived sometime around 6pm to see a bit of the warmup. Our seats were in the left field bleachers, beneath the Diamond Screen Scoreboard. It was "Rally Hat" night, so we all achieved free inside-out hats. As we wandered in and acquired our prerequisite beers and hotdogs, some reps from Time Warner gave us all orange t-shirts. We found our seats, three rows up from the field railing, right near the Home Run Porch. One of my buds got some peanuts. Cracker Jacks would come later.

I chose to buy myself an item I have desired for a long time: a large foam-rubber finger. I don't know why, but I have wanted one of these things for, like, fifteen years.

A cameraman and interviewer came into our section early in the game and he and his lovely assistants gave us all copies of "The Best of the Doors" 2-CD compilation. And yes... we appeared, larger than life, on the Diamond Screen - foam finger and all...! This proved to be a great night for a ballgame and an even better night for shwag. My other friend was remarking on his intention to buy a game shirt. And, errily enough, he WON a game shirt (signed by infielder Ryan Garko) simply for having the winning ticketed seat...!

While my friend ventured into the depths of the stadium to claim his mighty prize, I had my picture taken with a giant hot dog with onions.

Herein I will list the garbage I ate: 1) hotdog with onions and 'ballpark mustard'; 2) draft beer; 3) peanuts; 4) canned beer poured into plastic cup; 5) Cracker Jacks; 6) draft beer; 7) soft pretzel and nacho cheese; 8) polish sausage hotdog with peppers and onions and 'ballpark mustard'; 9) chili cheese fries. We shared the peanuts, Cracker Jacks, and chili cheese fries. The three of us were roundly defeated by the fries.

It's worth noting that, before tonight, I had never been to an American League ballgame. I saw two New York Mets games (National League) about twenty years ago. I was amazed at home much of the game I had forgotten. And at how quickly I picked it all up again. It was truly a magical night. The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3.

Go Tribe...!