A look back on a worthy first home stand…

First off, lets all agree it’s exciting to have Pro Baseball in Victoria again! The crack of the bat, the snap of the glove, the smell of the fresh roasted peanut… well two out of three ain’t bad…

As it seems to be cool to blog in lists, here’s my top five memories from the opening home stand, of which I was fortunate enough to take in the first home win on Sunday afternoon, and sneaky enough to enjoy the “Businessman’s Lunch” afternoon special on Tuesday.

5. Neither day was overly busy, so line-ups were not present for anything. A few minutes each for beer and food, and none at all for the little sluggers room. Nary a pitch was missed exercising any of the seemingly mandatory baseball activities. Not that they fixed anything from what I heard about on opening day - they simply had less people to deal with. “Beer Cart” anyone, or could you imagine the call of “ICE cold beer here, ICE cold!” going up and down the aisle while you stayed in your seat. Heaven I tell you, heaven.

4. Food was a mixed bag, pun intended. Dogs are pretty standard, and at $3, well priced. What’s offside though, is the whole-wheat bun... All the condiments and onions in the world can’t compensate for the lack of a nice soft wrapper of doughy white goodness. That’s the Victoria touch I guess – does someone plant a tree for every dog sold? The best thing in the park however, is the Fry cart outside of section 8. The deep fried goodness is not your usual French Fry, but more like a home-made potato chip. Devoid of any noticeable grease, they seem calorie and cholesterol free – even after a couple bags. Great value at $4. The chips almost made up for the complete lack of peanuts in the park. Almost.

3. Musical interludes. History lesson for you… In 1941, music in baseball got its start at Wrigley Field in Chicago, with a live organist who would play between innings, and by the 1960’s pretty much every park had live music of some kind. By the mid-1970’s recorded music began to take over and replace the organ, and as of today, there are only a handful of live organists in the majors (interestingly, the Washington Nationals added one this season and have gotten a huge positive reaction).

But how does that relate to the Seals, you ask? Well the musical selections heard at RAP are also a bit of a history lesson. Seemingly fresh out of a Victoria Cougar leftover’s box circa 1989, the selection of ditties range from the blatantly obvious “We will rock you” clapping and a late-inning “YMCA”, to some downright annoying electronica played pretty much every time the Evans jigs his way to the mound. Some serious upgrading of music is required – either that, or dust off an old Wurlitzer, and teach Cleeve a song or two… And ditch the sound effect that plays when a foul ball is hit – the one with the whistle and then the glass breaking. Half the fun of a foul ball at RAP is knowing that it most likely WILL hit a car parked in the lot that’s all of about 15 meters from the edge of the field (why anyone in their right mind would park there is beyond me). Let’s listen for the real thing!

2. Victoria fans, those polite Victoria fans. At the game on Sunday, in about the 4th inning or so, I found myself distracted by a couple having an argument. Doing the dishes, toilet seat always left up, feeding the cat… I didn’t hear enough to catch exactly what was causing the riff, as they weren’t sitting that close to me. In fact, they weren’t even at the game - they were standing on their balcony across Pembroke Street from the park. That’s when you realize it’s pretty quiet in there. It got louder as the beer sales increased and the game moved on, lets hope as the fans become more educated about the game and learn the players, Victoria’s love for this team will come forth in the form of cheers. And let’s hope the neighbours have been able to work it out…

1. Who are these guys anyway? First let me say the Uni’s are great. The hats – especially the white one, is one of the coolest ball caps on the planet right now. Crispy white, reasonable logo, and the GBL crest on the side finishes it nicely. Both games I saw featured the dark blue jersey sporting the V logo, with the bat boys showing off the white jersey as well. The colours and cut are traditional, and I very much like the retro font used for the logo and numbering. Stevie and Greg at Teamworks did a fabulous job making these boys look great - but what’s with the lack of names on the Jersey? If I was in New Yawk, where I already knew Jeter was #2, or Bawston where Jason Bay proudly sports #44, I’d probably be ok. But 9 games into the season, with a bunch of non-household names on the field, it’s a tough hill to climb for all but the diehard fan. I appreciate that the electronic scoreboard will eventually help, and yes I could bring a line-up card, but give the kids a break. My 8 and 11 year old daughters spent the entire afternoon referring to Brian Rios as “Inky” due to the seemingly endless number of tattoos the man has. I was calling him “Hervé Villechaize” for a while but it was met with nothing but blank stares…

So after all that – yeah it was fun. Yeah it was the place to be. Yeah it was great family fun. Yeah I’m stoked for the next home stand! See you at the park. I’ll be the guy eating the bun-less hot dog, who looks like he’s smuggling a schnauzer. No need to worry though – it’s just a couple bags of peanuts…