Home Game 1: Sunburn and Hot Dogs

Thursday, April 7
Rockies 7, Pirates 1
Home Opener
Record: 4-3

I'm not actually sure why, but in the months leading up to this home opener there was definitely a heightened level of excitement in town for this 2011 Pirates season. Perhaps Pittsburgh is realizing that this team has a great core of young players and deciding to get on board now. I personally am excited because this is my first season as an 81 game season ticket holder for any team, and having tickets to 81 baseball games means I get to go to a lot of baseball games.

It had basically been winter for weeks, but as always the sun shone high the morning of Opening Day. Ten thousand faithful fans and 28,000 who won't go to another game this season gathered on the North Shore to stand around drinking in parking lots, getting sunburned with marginal acquaintances. Sunburned because we are really white. In related news, one PBR and one Four Loko already is enough to constitute a bad idea before a day game.

My associate Lucas had successfully driven in from Washington, D.C., for the series, despite some midweek vandalism to his car which was no doubt perpetrated by some Colorado Springs natives who were still bitter that the East Coast media elites think Larry Walker's stats were park-inflated. In the left field elevator we were asked if we were partial season ticket holders. We hate partial season ticket holders.

Our seats are directly in the middle of a long row. The people on our left were quite annoyed that we chose to get there by walking down the aisle to the seats. People five and six rows up were making comments about our audacity in atttempting to sit in our seats. Luckily these were Opening Day fans so they would be gone in four innings, no doubt dealing on the way home with the revelation that they still don't like baseball.

There's not much to say about the game. Colorado got two runs in the top of the first, and that's all they would need to win on this day. Their potent lineup didn't let up though, chasing Paul Maholm early, and the game was basically over in the fifth inning. We began to drown our sorrows in hot dogs. Our associates Maggie and Laura, Maggie a full season ticket holder like ourselves and Laura attending her first ever game, were gifted with many unrequested and possibly unwanted hot dogs. But we are Pirates fans and so we ate mediocre hot dogs in already stale buns on a beautiful day while our team lost 7-1. I left my free schedule magnet, immediately remembered and went back for it, yet it was gone. Nobody wins 162.