The heat of the day is beginning to fade away as I make my way down to the stadium. I park my car in the employee parking lot and begin walking towards the field. The teams are taking batting practice, so the crack of the wooden bat meeting the ball rings out from the infield. Music flows from the speakers and I smile to myself when I know the song. I go into the stadium and see my fellow employees running around in our green staff shirts in preparation for the nights game. We have our meeting in a huddled group and get ready to open the gates. The fans have begun to line up outside, decorated in Dodger blue. A player comes down to the gate to sign for fans and we are underway. The smell of popcorn swirls around us as we take tickets in our wind tunnel. The game begins an hour later, bringing more fans trickling in through the gates. The Quakes score a run and the "Hey!" song plays through the speakers. The crowd cheers in the stands above us. I'm released from my duty and I head up to watch the game. The runner on second has dirt covering the front of his jersey, telling me he had to slide into second with a close play right behind him. I make my way over to the left field cafe and stand where bleachers once stood. The Quakes bullpen is separated from me by only a small, metal fence. The relief pitcher is warming up. He grunts as he throws the ball to the waiting catcher. The ball hits the glove and makes a thump. After a few more pitches, another pitcher waves his blue hat at the manager to say that the new pitcher is ready to play. Ball meets bat and I see the ball fly towards the left field wall. It hits the yellow line, bounces of the wall and back onto the field. The umpire spins his finger to announce that it is in fact a home run. The fans cheer and I do too. The Quakes win and the players head out to the middle of the infield to give one another congratulatory high fives. They throw squishy victory balls into the stands and the young fans squeal with glee. The fans slowly trickle out and my night is finally done.
Quakes stadium is an important place to me because it lets me be who I want to be. I get to be the crazy baseball fan and hard working employee. It has made me more outgoing and will forever and always be my "home away from home".
No comments:
Post a Comment