a seat in comerica park

so tomorrow afternoon i will be going to my first detroit tigers game of 2005. i have to keep reminding myself that i haven't been down to the park yet this year. usually by this time i've been six or seven times. not to mention i still have to take my dad to a game for father's day.

tomorrow's a day game, which is the ultimate in "how to spend a day blowing off work." something about being in the city in the middle of the day... seeing all the people who apparently either don't have jobs, have jobs they can blow off, or are independantly wealthy spending the afternoon under the late summer sun downtown. the smell of hot dogs and beer. the commaraderie of spending 3 hours with some friends watching the greatest game of all.

it breaks my heart to think i've let almost 5 entire months of the season go by without getting down there. hell, i've barely *watched* a game this season, let alone seen one in person. hopefully tomorrow afternoon can make up for lost time.

i have so many great memories of being at a detroit ballgame... some of them happened at The Corner, and some of them at the Copa. my first white castle hamburger, a stolen cigarette from joaquin's aunt's glovebox. intern's night out with jason, jack, joaquin, correna, jen, michelle. opening day, when it was colder than shit, and i was drunk before the game started. opening day a year later when i hosted breakfast at my house prior to the game- the day after kate left me the first time. waiting out a rain-delay with my dad last year for father's day, drunk again. all those deep breaths with joaquin as the sun is setting behind the first base line, and the scoreboard is set in that deep amber glow. how good life can be if you only open your eyes and stop. that's why baseball is great. i don't remember any great moments in my life spent at joe louis arena (where the red wings play), or at the palace. there are a few at spartan stadium, a few at the breslin center... but they don't have the same feeling about them. those were moments for a team, or a joke between friends. the moments i've had at comerica are deeper, more spiritual, even.

nothing makes a better night in all the world than rallying the crowds in the bleachers at tiger stadium after paying $7 for a ticket.