Thank goodness there's another option for professional baseball: Class-A baseball, just 45 minutes south, at the home of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. I attended Monday night's game with a longtime friend who lives in Salem.
Thankfully, the August heat had pretty much dissipated by the time the game got under way at 6:35 p.m. We had terrific seats directly behind home plate, but we also moved to a pair of seats down the first-base line, just for a different view. The opposing team, Spokane, scored three runs immediately but the Volcanoes got a run in the first and two more in the third, on a home run that set off the "erupting" volcano beyond the left-field fence. The 3-3 tie didn't last long. Spokane's first five batters in the fourth inning all reached base -- including two home runs -- and sent the home team to an 11-3 loss.
But, hey, who cares if the Volcanoes lost (or if they'd won) by eight runs? It was fun just to kick back and soak up the whole scene. Lush natural grass. Great diving stops and strong throws by infielders. Long fly balls that sailed over the fence or clanked off the wall. A close play at home that nailed a Spokane runner and kicked up a cloud of dust. On-field activities (relay races and hula hoop contests) for giddy Little Leaguers who came dressed in their game uniforms.
The whole experience was made all the better by trading stories of major league games we'd seen and memories of our own exploits. My friend said he always took pride in being able to lay down a good bunt and hit to all fields. I recalled the line-drive single I got as a 15-year-old off future Oakland A's Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley -- and the one home run I gave up as a pitcher on a hanging curve ball that got pounded over the left-center field fence. (I'm over it now, though. Really.)
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