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| View from Section 312 |
Our friend Al Linderman came by because he decided to go down to Washington DC with us to see the Nationals play the Chicago Cubs.
Once I got what I needed to get done, the King came home shortly thereafter. He came into the house fast to drop off his stuff and off we went towards DC.
On the way down we stopped off fast at Wawa's in Elkton, Maryland which is about 90 miles from DC. I got a made to order Chicken Cheesesteak Hoagie which served as my dinner. Before we left home, I got the King a sandwich so he had that as he continued driving to our Nation's Capitol after our brief pit stop. As for Al, eating isn't a priority for him. Unlike most of us, he thinks food is poison. To each is own.
The King managed to dodge some pockets of traffic on the way down. When we finally got by the ballpark he let Al and I out so we could go to the box office to get $5.00 tickets while he went to park the car. The guy at the window wouldn't sell us three of them because he said the other person needs to be present. Al and I get tickets for us and we went inside. I called the King and I told him to go to the box office and get one for himself. Shortly after we got inside the ballpark, he did.
We barely made the first pitch at 7:08PM. We wound up giving ourselves a royal upgrade as we sat in section 312 which is right behind home plate under the press box. It's a great view of the action.
Speaking of action, we had plenty on and off the field. On the field, the Nationals had their hitting shoes on early and often as they beat up Cubs' starting pitcher Chris Rusin. He lasted into the second inning but he didn't record an out before Cubs' manager Dale Sveum pulled him from the game. The Nationals lead 5-0 after two innings. They extended their to 8-1 after four. The Cubs made a slight comeback as Alfonso Soriano hit a two run triple and a solo home run to slice into the Nationals lead. The Nats turned up the power again as they tacked on some insurance runs to beat the Cubs, 11-5. In the process, they hit six home runs including two by Adam LaRoche. As for Bryce Harper, he didn't start this game. However he came in later and he doubled in his only plate appearance. Needless to say, the Nationals will be a team to be reckoned with in October. I hope it's their year.
I'm pulling for the Nationals for plenty of reasons. First and foremost, my boy Gio Gonzalez is at the head of that list. Secondly, I've been very fortunate to have been in contact with some great people who I've met and got to meet on this night who are from the DC area.
With that being said, the King and I got to see Nancy Broderick who we met by accident on August 18th when the Nationals played the Mets. That night she was at her 56th game. On this night, we saw her again. In fact, this game was number 66 for her. Like she told us the first time, she's enjoying her recent retirement by going to baseball games. We were an added inspiration to her life after work. It was nice to see her again.
In addition, I got a visit from a guy named David who I follow on Twitter. He's originally from England. The way he spoke to the King and I about the game of baseball it sounded like he grew up here in the United States. We were impressed with his extensive baseball knowledge. He's married and his wife is originally from Long Island and she's a Met fan. She obviously has been a very big influence on him. They have a few kids as well. He said his daughter is a huge Red Sox fan. His son is autistic. He said that they're planning to have a Miracle Field in Alexandria which will open in October. He hopes that Gio Gonzalez can make an appearance there. I want to personally thank him for coming up to visit us. It was a thrill to meet and greet him. I hope to see him again down the road. If you are on Twitter and you want to follow him please feel free to do so. His handle is @dcinwashington.
Furthermore, shortly after he left I got to meet up with Ben Fallon, a ballpark chaser who was with his friend Lee Galloway. Ben is originally from New Jersey he said. He now lives in Northern Virginia. He's a Yankee fan but he has adopted the Nationals as his other team. He also loves the Pittsburgh Steelers and he has season tickets for them. He travels to see different ballparks from time to time either when he's on business and/or for pleasure. He's also married with a young son. I want to personally thank him and Lee for coming up to see us. It means a lot to me to get to see people who share a similar interest to mine. That's what enjoying life to the fullest is all about.
Thanks to my blog I've directly and/or indirectly have met some amazing people. That trend will continue to grow as time goes on. These people are more examples of what can happen if you reach out and make an attempt to communicate with other fellow human beings.
Stay tuned as I continue to write more special posts instead of my usual week in review segment. It was a very eventful week which deserves extra attention to detail. Please bear with me as I try to find time to do so.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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