Wednesday, Apr. 20, 2005
Baseball games and Federal Hill, posted at 11:01 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Another long day today, but a good one. My life seems really full this time of year, in 90% a good way. I say 90% because today while walking to Camden Yards, I looked at Thirsty Dog Pub and Cross Street Market, plus that weird bar with the red in it that seems to have the clearest TVs I've ever seen, and thought about how nice it would be if I was just stopping there to watch the game, relaxing with a cold beer at an uncrowded bar rather than enjoying the game in a crowded stadium with a bunch of asshole Red Sox fans.Still, the game was fun. Nearly my entire English department went, plus the British department head of Math (his first baseball game ever). It was the first public appearance of a baby born to a colleague around St. Patrick's Day, so that was cool. We sat in sectio 85, just under the balcony in the lower level of left field. The seats were only $15, and the weather was beautiful. Too bad the Orioles lost 8-0.
I don't think Orioles will ever win with Lee Mazzilli as manager. I've had a lot of problems with his tenure, and tonight was another demonstration of his lack of forward thinking.
The game was 8-0 when we left in the 9th, but it actually was a pitcher's duel until the 6th inning. The Red Sox didn't get their first hit until the 4th, and Bruce Chen was pitching a great game. Then, a run scored on a balk and later a three-run homer put the game at 4-0. Despite the fact that Chen was nearing 110 pitches and had struggled in the last two innings, Mazzilli sends him back out in the 7th. He of course promptly gives up runs. Then, the O's came in and Benjamin Gil, the O's backup catcher and weakest hitter, was up after a Luis Matos single. Why not pinch hit for him right then? Bigbie and Newhan are both on the bench. Yeah, Lopez is in the game at DH, but this might have been the game, and you can always deal with losing the DH with pinch-hitters; the O's bullpen is deep (plus, I think Surhoff is available to catch on an emergency basis). Gil promptly struck out and any hopes of a rally were over. If Newhan is up and gets a single, we have runners on first and third for Brian Roberts, the hottest hitter in baseball. It didn't happen.
After that point, the O's could get nothing going, and it promptly became a blowout. Steve Reed, one of my favorite pitchers for a decade or so, is looking terrible so far this year. He might be done. With Surhoff, Palmeiro, and Reed on the team, the O's sure are carrying a lot of very old, ineffective (at least at the moment, but I wouldn't bet on any of them to be useful this year) player.
Baseball practice with the varsity team today lasted just until a little after 5. Sometimes I get in the habit of these marathon practices that last until 7. I don't mean to, it just sort of happens. Part of it is a function of having a huge team, and part of it is a general lack of organization to my practices this year. This has been the result of teaching 7th period instead of having it off. I used to type out practice plans and I just can't anymore. Plus, I have team captains that just aren't very good. They're all good kids, but one is late nearly every day, and it's gotten to the point where I should have remained more insistent on it earlier because it might be too late to do anything now. All three are generally quiet types as well.
The other reason practices are long is that the kids really seem to be having fun. Like, today, I wanted to leave at 5pm, but kids kept begging me to keep on going, and we stayed until the absolute last moment I could, until around 5:20. Then I hightailed it home to get my wallet, then to pick up colleagues to carpool down to Federal Hill to park for the O's game. We made it in at 6:52.
Federal Hill is a really great place to hang out when it's not a weekend night. I love those Cross Street bars when there is seating and the vibe is relaxed. Once it hits 8 o'clock on a weekend night, though, there's no parking and the bars aren't that fun for an old fogey like me. I need to get back there quick after school on a Friday, but that isn't going to happen until the end of baseball season, which isn't for another three weeks. I can't believe the season has gone so quickly.
Tomorrow the kids have a doubleheader at a school on the west side. A doubleheader means kids are dismissed at 1 o'clock to bus over there by 1:30. The game starts at 2 o'clock. This strikes me as a little ridiculous, but it's what happens. I have to get a colleague to cover not only the last part of 7th period, but the whole thing... plus part of period 5/6.