Play Ball!!!!

Last night my father and I went to a Baseball Game at Ameriquest Field (it was just renamed Friday, before that it was called the Ballpark in Arlington, sponsorships….. oy). Originally all 4 of us were going to go, but then Mom (who was the one who bought the tickets in the first place) ended up deciding to go to Vegas with my Grandma and my Aunt for Mother's Day so she was out of town, we also found out that yesterday was David's Senior Prom so he didn't go either. So a week or two ago Dad gave the other 2 tickets to a friend of his from work.

The tickets included a meal catered by Spring Creek Barbecue. I didn't care for the pulled pork sandwich but I enjoyed the sides, which included baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, and a cookie. We showed up at about 4:30 which was when the meal time was. When we left the area of the parking lot where the meal was and started walking back to the Stadium (still 2 hours early for the game) it was starting to sprinkle lightly. It continued to be only light sprinkling until we reached the final corner, cross one more street and we would get to the stadium, then it started to pour down rain instantly, and I don't mean “It was raining”, I mean, the winds were howling and the water was coming down like a solid wall of water. We were soaked to the bone. Fortunately, the rain completely stopped about an hour before game time and the game went on as scheduled, and a very interesting game it was too.

The first inning had no score, but in the second inning the Rangers took the lead as the Tigers scored 2 runs but the Rangers scored 4. In the 3rd and 4th innings however the Tigers scored another 4 runs and the Rangers hadn't scored any, so as they entered the top of the 5th the Rangers were down by 2 runs. The fifth inning was quite impressive however, In the top of the 5th the Tigers scored 8 runs, so the Rangers were now down by 10, and many of us were beginning to think this was not a good night to be at Ranger Stadium. Dad even commented something like “Man the Rangers are really off tonight”. The Rangers changed pitchers like 3 times in the inning but still the Tigers were scoring away….

Before going into the bottom of the 5th it was announced that it was Taco Bueno Taco Time and if the Rangers score a run in the inning everybody in the stadium would get a coupon for a free Taco at Taco Bueno.

The Rangers didn't disappoint in getting us all tacos, in fact, it's too bad that it wasn't a free taco for each run made, because in the bottom of the 5th the Rangers scored not once, but 10 times, tieing up the game. The 5th inning altogether lasted an hour and 8 minutes, which is more then a quarter of the total length of the game (3 hours 59 minutes) and set a new record for most number of runs in the 5th inning of a MLB game, but the 18 runs was just one shy of setting the MLB record for most runs in a single inning overall. They tied another record in that inning in that between the 2 teams they used a total of 7 pitchers in the inning pitching a total of 100 pitches in the inning.

So after that odd inning the game was tied 14/14. The Tigers were able to get one up in the 6th inning but the Rangers tied it up again in the bottom of the 7th. There were no scores in the 8th or 9th innings but in the 9th inning Alfonso Soriano set a Rangers record by going 6-for-6 and having most hits in a game for Ranger's History. In the extra inning a single drove in someone who was on base and the Rangers won 16 to 15, it was great.

I think this was the 4th game I've been to at that stadium but it's the first of all 4 of them that the Rangers actually won, so it was great to cheer the team on to victory.

Following the game was a Motown themed fireworks display. It was quite impressive and I really liked some of the interesting fireworks, some of which I had never seen the likes of before. During “Can't Hurry Love” there were several beautiful heart shaped fireworks, during “My Girl” there were cool smiley faces, and during several songs there were these very cool white fireworks that had a double explosion so that each of the flashes that shot out from the center exploded in a smaller explosion pattern to make a very pretty effect that I had not seen before. My description really doesn't do it justice as it sounds like other fireworks, but trust me, this was cool.

There were also fireworks that jetted out all around the stadium at certain points (Such as when the word “stop” was stated during “Stop in the name of Love” and in large sparkling fountains in “Rolling on the River”). In any case, it was a great fireworks display and a great way to cap the evening.

In other news for yesterday and today, yesterday I got up early to go to the Team Leader Huddle at church, which I wasn't exactly sure why I was invited, as I was unaware that I was a team leader, but it was interesting just the same. This morning I woke up late however (still tired from last night and the fact that I've had little sleep over the last 3 days) and I missed church. I'm a little disappointed that I missed church but it being Mother's Day and all they were sure to have long segments to spotlight Mother's Day and since my own Mother wasn't going to be there (as I said before she's in Vegas with her mother), I don't think I missed much.

Also yesterday JMac said he got the template for Lori just about done so it should be going live on her site in the next couple days, he showed me the development page for it, it looks really nice.

Tonight ABC is going to show an expanded version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with deleted scenes and a 10 minute preview of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which I'm of course looking forward to, so I think I'll be watching that this evening.

That's all for now, TTFN.