April is a great month. Winter is finally gone and the warmth of the sun makes everything feel fresh and clean. It’s also, of course, when baseball season begins. I have already attended two of the first three games of the opening series against the Columbus Clippers. The Boss and I went to the opening night game. Thursday saw some major storms coming through, but they held off while the game was being played and it was really a very nice evening. It was just the two of us and it was really fun to have a “date” together. We shared an Indians “Superdawg” which is the equivalent of four regular hot dogs, enjoyed some liquid refreshment, people watched, and just enjoyed the moment. The Boss relaxed and had a great time. The Indians lost 4 to zip but that was beside the point. It was wonderful to be outside again after winter had kept us indoors for so long. It was a wonderful evening with fireworks at the end.
Saturday night we returned to the Vic, this time with a party in one of the luxury suites at the top level of the stadium along the first base side. Along with 20 other friends, we watched the Indians in comfort and style. With burgers, hot dogs, a tasty chicken barbeque, mac and cheese, both a fruit and pasta salad, plus a selection of cold liquid refreshment, certainly all our culinary needs were met. The suite is a really special way to watch the game and I highly recommend it. Among my fellow guests were my daughter and her family and my son. For my grandson, the Little Big Man, it was his first game. He probably will not remember it, but it meant a lot to his papaw that he was there. My granddaughter, the Ladybug, also came to the game. Like her Mamaw she likes to explore and see all the people. She also loves hot dogs so she came back to the suite for some dinner. She came out to the patio seats with her hot dog drenched in ketchup and sat next to me and asked “Papaw, which ones are the good guys?’ I replied “The ones with the red hats.” She then yelled “Go red head guys!”
It was an evening to remember with great food, great conversation, and the Indians even won the game 2 to 0. The Tribe had gone scoreless the first 22 innings of the season. Finally in the fifth inning they grabbed two runs. It was in the sixth inning that perhaps the most memorable occurrence in all my years as an Indians fan occurred. From the fourth inning on the opposing pitchers seemed to be throwing a great deal of “junk” pitches and as a result a whole bunch of foul balls were hit. At the top of the sixth inning, the Clippers were batting. Where we were sitting we had a commanding view of the whole field. The Columbus batter was really trying to find one. He hit yet another foul ball. The ball arched over his right shoulder and climbed to the top level of the press box. It hit the top and ricochet downward towards our box. It landed in the box next to us and a young fellow made a grab for it but missed it. It rolled into my waiting hands. Finally, after six decades of coming to Indians games, I had captured my first Indians foul ball! Interestingly, my son-in-law had found a baseball in his truck bed that morning and had given it to the Ladybug. She had brought it to the game for good luck. So we both had our foul balls, The baseball gods were good to us that day!
