What A Day For A Ball Game, Let’s Play Two! (Or Not)

Yellow Ledbetter – Pearl Jam

First things first, I know not everyone reads The Sports Guy, so I’m taking it upon myself to steal a link directly from his blog and put it here: A brilliant interpretation of Pearl Jam‘s Yellow Ledbetter. Since there are no official lyrics to this song (aside from a few key lines, Eddie Vedder just improvises it during shows), this reading is as good as any.

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If you were wondering why William didn’t make a post about our last softball game (anybody?), it’s because we got rained out. It actually looked playable for most of the day, but as soon as both teams were fully assembled it started to pour. It sucked because we were finally going to play a team with a worse record than us so something had to give and we felt confident it would be them. As it stands, we have to play a double header this coming Sunday and considering how out of shape most of us are it is probably going to be both comical and tragic.

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You’re not going to believe this one.

I was at the Jays game Tuesday night and Toronto’s #1 stunna, Roy “Doc” Halladay was on the mound. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, one of the worst teams in baseball, were in town and a win seemed inevitable. Funny thing about inevitable. Doc gets knocked around for eight runs (seven earned), which is completely unheard of. The Jays look terrible, committing three errors and getting stifled by a pitcher I couldn’t pick out of a police line-up. Seriously, if this guy committed a crime and I was the only witness and they called me down to the station to ID him, he’d be getting away scot free. By the end of the seventh, the team is down by five runs and it’s pretty much over. I’m at the game with Michelle and we both have to get up early tomorrow so we agree that it would be best just to leave. End of the story.

For us, anyway.

For the Jays? Oh, not much to say there. The team just rallies back from a five-run deficit, scoring six in the ninth inning and undoubtedly sending what was left of the already sparse crowd into bedlam. And I missed it. I left a game early, which I never, ever, ever do and I missed it.

GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Afterwards, I told Michelle that I was going to blame her but really, she didn’t put a gun to my head. I left of my own accord. I had her best interests in mind, but that’s no excuse. I am consoled by the fact that our leaving may have been the reason that things turned around. She told me during the game that they always lose when she goes so perhaps by removing that element from the stadium, the team found the strength to battle back. Why did I have to leave? In all likelihood, I had been contaminated with her “loser-ness” and you can’t take your chances with these things. Also, I’m just happy that the Jays won. Things are turning around for this team, I just hope it’s not too late.

As you can see, I’m grasping at straws here. Missing that last inning is going to sting for a while. As punishment, I am going to force myself to watch the Jays play the Devil Rays again on Thursday and noone outside of the Tampa area should ever have to watch the Devil Rays live twice in one week. It is my cross to bear.

I hadn’t seen Michelle for a couple of months. Not for any particular reason, I just couldn’t find the time to call her and she’s been working so it just hasn’t been convenient. I got to Union station at about 5:30, because she said she might get there by then but I knew that she wouldn’t show up until at least 6:00. That’s her funny little way. She is someone who makes me smile just by showing up. There’s really no way to properly describe that feeling I get when I see her coming around the corner or walking down the street, but it is wonderful. There always used to be some hesitance on my part to fully embrace her company, but only because I couldn’t understand why she put up with me. All the foolish things I say and do, she laughs at and encourages. She just gets me, she really gets me and that’s the best way I can explain it. I’ve accepted that now and I love her for it.

The funny thing is that we ended up staying at Union until about 10:30 anyway because she wanted ice cream so we got some Shrek-themed McFlurrys. She later remarked, “At least we got to spend some time together talking. We wouldn’t have said much if we had stayed to watch that comeback.” True. I countered by reminding her that we spent that time talking about our hatred of public washrooms and farts, but I get where she was coming from.

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I hesitate to put up CD reviews here because I’m no music expert and really, my opinion isn’t making or breaking anybody’s listening habits so why bother? But I have to comment on this new CD by Blonde Redhead, 23. It’s fascinating because there are these beautiful melodies and catchy hooks on the album, but everything is submerged under a steady stream of feedback and distortion. I do not exaggerate when I say that the vocals are at times completely inaudible. And on a bad CD player, like the one sitting on my dresser, the CD sounds like garbage. That said, I’m listening to it non-stop. I have no idea why I’m sharing all this with you.

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For once, I’m looking forward to getting up in the morning and it’s because I can’t wait to talk to Lesley. This is not good.

I don’t know why they suntan nails