Suh-weet, sweet Suite

Dear Fans in Section 113,
Please, for the love of the Baseball Gods, stop trying to start the wave. It should not take two hours to get people mildly interested in the wave then you should stop and move on. Chant, Woo Hoo, dance or whatever else…just stop going “1, 2, 3…” Wave.
Love,
Pissed off redhead fan in the sweet Suite seats

Well, last night was my big night at the game. Amy and I were going to view the game from sweet Suite seats. You may even say it was our Prom Baseball game. I debated what to wear and finally settled on normal “Casual Friday” cubicle clothes. However, I did brush my hair. All girly-ness aside…

The Suite
I am a Southside girl viewing the game from the Uptown world. We entered a world of free food (build your own nachos, burgers, hotdogs, The Carving Station, cookies and brownies) free beer, fancy bathrooms and big comfy leather seats. The only downside was the cameraman came into The Suite and was scanning our seats. Since our run-in with the Jumbo Screen last time we were at a game Amy refused to look to the right where he was standing. In fact, she even brushed her hair to cover her face and held up the “Joe Mauer – Hometown Hero” magazine in front of her face. Good news, we didn’t make the Jumbo Screen.

Open Question
What would your At Bat music be?
Amy thought my song would be “Come On Eileen” by Dexies Midnight Runners however; I would like to walk up to “Sympathy For The Devil” by Rolling Stones.
Please allow me to introduce myself / Im a man of wealth and taste / Ive been around for a long, long year / Stole many a mans soul and faith.
Wouldn’t that be bad-ass?
Amy didn’t answer the question but I would pick out “Ice Ice Baby” a la Vanilla Ice. Now, I know that Amy is totally pissed at that answer but I think it would be pretty cool.

Speaking of songs…has anyone else that has been to a Twins game heard the Twins rap song that has played in the background?

Homestretch
Twins won Thursday with Baker, Friday with Santana (no surprise) and even today with The Chief (Silva). Let’s go for a sweep of the A’s!

You could be my flamingo, 'Coz pink is the new kinda lingo - Aerosmith

Maybe I am of the generation that expects to be fully entertained at all moments of the day. Maybe I do have a short attention span. I may also be desensitized towards violence thanks to television. Either way…the All-Star game was a snooze-fest. I mean, seriously? The best part was the red carpet, tribute to Willie Mays and the player introductions. After the first inning it was all a blur. Of course, that could be attributed to my alcohol consumption. Yep, I was a sad, sad country song last night. I sat at home, alone, drinking my beer and watching baseball. Actually, I don’t think I was really alone since Amy and I talked on the phone for most of the game. Ah well, tonight we have a night off from baseball and then the Twins are back home tomorrow against the A’s.

Spoiled Baseball Brat
I have a feeling that when I attend the game on Friday I may be ruined for all other seats in the dome. These suite seats include all you can drink, food (including a carving station!), bric-a-bracs, leather seats, private bathrooms and many other perks. My goal (besides trying not to look like a trashy fan) is to get some autographs from past players; evidently they hang out in the area too. Tony Oliva, I am watching for you! (In a non-creepy, non-threatening way.)

Pink, that is the question
Over at Metgrrl.com, my favorite non-Twins baseball blog, there was a brief discussion on pink. You see, there are different ways to represent with pink. Pink glove; cool. Pink “Marry Me Joe Mauer” t-shirts; not cool. It is a fine line to walk. For the first year of Lucy’s life I refused (adamantly) to allow her to wear the pink cheerleading Twins outfit she got. If she was going to be a real fan she would wear real clothes. However, I have since loosened up on that policy. I figure if she grows up to love baseball as much as I do the world will be a better place, even if she wears a “Mrs. Mauer” (or even a “Mrs. Wright”, as long as it stays either Twins or a National League team) t-shirt. I am shuddering at the thought. I am totally okay if little girls (heck, even little boys) wear the pink shirts. I don’t know why I have this hatred of pink bred into me. Maybe it is because of my pasty white complexion and red hair, it makes wearing pink impossible.

Side note
Amy channeled our friend Foley (who often says inappropriate but funny things) last night when she was observing the frequent butt-pats amongst the players. Now, I know I need to grow up and not giggle at this but there was one pointed moment when Pudge gave Bonds a little pat. Amy commented that she wouldn’t mind doing that either. Ah, girls will be girls, even when they are deeply committed to baseball.

*Waving at the Jumbo-Screen* Hi!

Last night my schmoozing skills reaped the benefit of trying to be friend with everyone. I scored the Mighty Corporations season ticket seats for last night’s game. Actually, they came to me third-handed. Whilst seating in the second row above our dugout in the middle of the section Amy and I found ourselves on the Jumbo-Screen not once but twice (much to Amy’s thrill.) We also saw Punto’s great dugout catch right in front of us (I mean, right smack in front of us.)

Due to the fact that sitting that close to the action I had a hard time noting stats and other specifics. I spent most of the time watching for foul balls from lefties and other random happenings around third base.

Here are a few things I did notice:
Slowey did not do horrible but he gave up four earned runs. Guerrier did not do well and gave up a BIG two-run homerun. Our offense was sporadic and our defense was mediocre. Castillo was hurt, Red (Redmond) got smacked around and the home-plate Ump got smacked by a pitch.

Random Recaps:
* Lots of people like to “borrow” the open seats until they get kicked out which is fine except we have to stand up every time they shuffle back and forth.
* Gate F has the best food and beer choices – Corona, Summit and Heineken plus carved meat.
* The dirt looks like velvet (random, I know.)
* I feel like I know Scotty Ullger now, since I spent the whole night two rows from him.
* I want a ball but I don’t want to have to catch it. Players and coaches would throw foul or last out balls into our section, however, I didn’t want to catch it. I wanted Amy to get one and give it to me but she kept saying she would give it to a little kid and that made me mad. I totally didn’t talk to her for half an inning.
* This last one is going to sound totally girly and baseball-wimpy but I “heart” Barty (Bartlett). This is 100% on a shallow – he is super cute and has a great smile – level. I know, I am shaking my head at myself.

Let’s move on to fellow game attendees from last night:
Dear fans of section 132, rows 4-6
To the lady behind me: Please stop talking…forever.
To the male half of the Yellow Couple: The nicknames you made up were cute but no one likes a random yelling fan. It is distracting and…well, random.
To the 17-year old girls who kept getting kicked out of seats but kept coming back: You are too young to be drinking beer and you are too old to be drinking the beer that was left behind.
To the ticket holders of the seats around us: When you have such great seats why would you come during the third inning and leave during the fifth. Call my cell if you ever want someone to keep the seats warm.
To Amy: I am still hurt that you wouldn’t give the hypothetical ball to me.

Warming up and random newsman

Hell of a weekend for baseball

Here's Lucy!

What a beautiful weekend of baseball. We had a series with the Blue Jays and started a series with our arch-enemies, White Sox. In the three games I went to I had four beers, one brat, one root beer float, one pretzel, one bag of cotton candy (pink) and a giant soda.

Friday night
Since Steve is now a lawyer we used his perks to score the sweet Dorsey & Whitney (law firm) seats. We sat 14 rows up from home plate (close to our “on deck” circle) and it was amazing. After I got over my initial nervousness of being just shy of the safety netting (we could have potentially gotten smacked by a foul ball (and me without my helmet) I settled in to enjoy the running commentary from Steve. Here is a snippet of the conversation:
Steve: Hey, where is Joe Mauer? I wanted to see Joe Mauer squatting in front of us!
Jen: He’s hurt; he has a hamstring injury that is taking the world’s longest time to recover.
Steve: - pouting –
Jen: Wow, the Bat Boy is cute from this angle.
Steve: He has to be at least 18, right?
Jen: Let me text message Amy.
Jen: Oh, Amy says we are pervs for thinking that.
Steve: He looks nice; I think he has potential for hotness (he’s talking about Cirillo)
Jen: Mmm…
Steve: Did you see that? He’s cute? What does that sign mean?
Steve: What’s happening now?
Jen: Mmm…

Yeah, by the fourth inning I was using my “Selective Hearing” to filter Steve. I did have lot so fun at the game with him and I owe him big time for the tickets, beer and root beer float.

Saturday night
I was living the single gal’s nightmare on Saturday evening. I was crammed in the upper deck in the middle of the row between toddlers and a breast feeding mom. We were celebrating Bennett’s second birthday – Happy Birthday Bennett! The game was good (although the end result of losing after 13 innings wasn’t good) and I think Lucy enjoyed the game. I did get Lucy a Morneausey t-shirt that she can now wear with pride.

Sunday afternoon
Amy, her parents and I enjoyed a fun game, which ended with our winning. Still no Baby Jesus in the line-up but Barty (Bartlett) was back at Shortstop. It was Armed Forces Appreciation Day so we had singing, flags, awards and video messaging from overseas. I will admit that I did tear up a time or two.

Monday afternoon
I wasn’t at the game and I only caught the last three innings but I guess they were the best. What an awesome game made sweeter by the Pierzynski drama. Like Ozzie Guillen said “If he’s not on your team, you hate him. If he is on your team, you hate him less.” Pierzynski is the man everyone loves to hate, including me.

Well, before I sign off I would like to make note that I will be gone for a week and unable to update this blog. I hope to follow the game on recaps but I don’t think they will show them on television, especially not where I am going. I will see you next week if all goes well in Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.