Have you been? It is a sight to behold. Baseball, yes, but not so much. Almost Rocky Horror Picture Show vibes, but I don't know if I even know what that is except in theory--costumes, dances, cult-like following. Side note, do people still go the Rocky Horror Picture Show? I never went, to be honest, but I always thought I wanted to because it was like a cool club that I didn't know anything about, but I digress.
Baseball, a family event. Slow, at times, routined, ritualed, predictable in presentation, a backdrop for remarkable things to happen, a showcase of talent. This is that and so much more. It is a rock show, the music never stops. And this is baseball, the action is constant with the mechanics being the same, bat, ball, glove, positions, base coaches, umpires. Pomp and circumstance, between inning tomfoolery. And it is pure chaos. Eight year olds with shirts off running around getting the crowd pumped up, generations of families, lots of girls. Princess dresses. Beads, bracelets, and bananas. Grown men in banana suits, banana socks, banana Hawaiian shirts, banana t-shirts, bananas duct taped to shirts, banana necklaces, frozen bananas, I've never seen so much yellow.
Equal parts fun for a group of retirees I saw sitting in the outfield to teenagers there with their baseball teams. Moms and girls, dads and sons, date nights. You would be hard pressed to find a demographic not represented and while at regular baseball games you see merchandise of the home team in droves, there is always a smattering of rival team jerseys, but this was insane. I saw two Dodger jerseys and one Mariners, but it felt like everyone else was dressed in Bananas gear or their arch-rival, and every day opponent, The Party Animals swag. I've excited that they are introducing a third team to the mix to see what that does for merchandise sales!
Throughout the game they honor first responders, veterans and teachers, they have events for couples married over 25 years, the slowest baby race where babies literally crawl to their parents, a princess event and the usual mascot dances, you can feel the baseball roots but it is next level.
The centerfielder caught a pop up and did a backflip at the same time. As a mom to baseball players, this is the absolute magic because you know if you have raised a player, they do everything with a glove on their hand and are constantly trying new ways to catch the ball. It is both endearing and terrifying because they knock stuff off of cabinets all the time!
Anyway, we went last night, for the second time, ate ballpark food, drank expensive beer and laughed a lot, watched our 15 year old hang out with friends, wander around and engage with real life humans! You should go, take the family, sing along!
