The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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July 14, 2008

Mike Pound: It's all on the bright side at the game

As major league baseball teams go, the Kansas City Royals aren’t great.

They’re not bad; in fact, they are better this year than they have been in a while and actually have the makings of being very good in the near future. It’s just that right now they aren’t so great, although they did manage to beat the St. Louis Cardinals three games in a row earlier this year.

So there is that.

As not so great as the Royals are, the Seattle Mariners are even worse. It’s not a stretch to say that, right now, the Mariners quite possibly are one of the worst teams in baseball. So when I checked the schedule and discovered the Royals game my wife, our 10-year-old daughter and I had tickets for was against the Mariners, I didn’t exactly develop a case of baseball fever.

“Oh great,” is what I said. “This will be like watching someone make ice but with way more expensive beer.”

Mine was, I think, a normal reaction.

But I decided to look on the bright side. I was, after all, going to watch a major league baseball game. That’s something.

I was also going to be watching a major league baseball game at Kauffman Stadium, still one of the best baseball stadiums in the country. Seriously, how far ahead of their time were the guys who designed both Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums?

Pretty far, I think.

I was also getting to watch a major league baseball game with my wife and Emma. I thought that would be fun. Although Emma did get a little upset when I told her she couldn’t take her DVD player to the game. Did I mention that she’s 10?

See, as far as I’m concerned, there really aren’t many things better than watching a major league baseball game in person. After all these years, I still get an excited feeling in my stomach whenever I walk into a major league stadium. I like the sound the turnstiles make when you walk through them. I like the way the guys hawking programs holler at you the second you walk in. I like the smell of popcorn, hot dogs, brats and burgers. I like the shocked looks on the faces of people when they discover that the beer they just ordered cost them $6.75.

So when my wife, Emma and I settled into our seats in the upper level along the third base line, I was in a pretty good mood. I was in a better mood when, before we even got settled, three foul balls landed in our section. I figured that after more than four decades, my major league foul-ball catching drought was going to end. I was wrong, but still, it was fun.

It was also fun to watch a group of 20 or so Japanese teenagers who were sitting to our right. They were there, I was pretty sure, to catch a glimpse of Mariner’s outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. I was right.

It was fun when, during the third inning, Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek got his 2,000th major league hit and the fans gave him a prolonged standing ovation. I always liked Mark as a player and was disappointed when St. Louis opted to not re-sign him a few years back.

Conversely, it was fun to watch Mariners designated hitter Tug Hulett get the first hit of his major league career. I wondered what he thought when he saw Grudzielanek get his 2000th.

It was fun when the Royals jumped out to a three-run lead. It wasn’t so fun when, later, the Mariners came back and scored runs.

It was fun when Emma and I chased down the guy selling cotton candy, and it was fun when my wife, Emma and I shared a bag of peanuts. I don’t know, but it just seems to me that when you go to a major league baseball game, you need to have a bag of peanuts.

And it was fun in the bottom of the ninth inning, with two outs and the Royals down by a run, to watch David DeJesus hit a two-run walk-off home run to win the game.

I’m not sure there is a more exciting play in sports than the walk-off home run. It’s even more exciting when you happen to be sitting in the stands when it happens.

So, I guess it doesn’t matter that the Royals aren’t so good this year and the Mariners are even worse. What matters is the game itself. And the game itself is always great.

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