For the love of baseball

Wednesday night (2 weeks ago) we took my girl to her very first Rangers vs. Yankees game. She was so excited, and would periodically ask over the past several weeks: "When is the baseball game? Is it today?" The night before, she came into our bedroom in the middle of the night due to a thunderstorm, and talked for two hours straight, about baseball (among other random things like the dog, her sandbox, the mosquitoes, the thunder, her aunt, bugs with 'fuzzy wings', & so on). My husband was smart, since he snuck into the living room to lie on the couch and never came back. Also? She sang "Take me out to the ballgame" 4,982 times in those two hours.

So, Wednesday.

We get there early to avoid traffic, parking, & idiots (not in that order), & my kid is talking a mile a minute, as usual. She wants a Rangers shirt. She wants a baseball hat. Can she have one of those big, huuuuuge finger-things that goes on her hand (foam finger)? Can she have a hot dog? Do they have cotton candy? What about potties? Where are the players? When does the game start? Can I have a bite of that? When are they singing the song? GO YANKEES!

(Seriously, I think the real torture is the non-stop talking from a little kid. SHOOT.ME.NOW.)

We get hot dogs, cotton candy, nachos, & peanuts. She gets to drink a Dr. Pepper all by herself. (What the hell are we thinking?) She actually sits very patiently before and during the game. I was impressed by this. It wasn't hot & we were in the shade. The beer was cold.

Yet.

"When are they going to sing the song, Mommy?"

Over, and over, and over, and o.v.e.r.

I kept trying to get her to sing it with me, but she was adamant that she wanted everyone to sing it, since we had told her this happens at every game.

"I'm totally waiting to sing."

She clapped when the Rangers scored. She clapped when the Yankees scored. She wore all Rangers stuff, but yelled "Go Yankees!"

And she apparently fell in love with all the players because around the 4th inning, she started saying that she wanted them all to be her brothers. She wants them to come to our house and spend the night. She will share her blankets with them, and let them sleep on her floor. She wannnnnnnnts them. Puh-leeeeeeeeease? But, Moooommmmmmmmm, I want them to be my bruuuuuuuuuuuh-thers!

Only 4 things got her to stop talking (read: whining) about "her brothers":

1. Buying her a pink Rangers hat

Notice the touch of purple & the fairy? Only my kid.

2. Singing "Take me out to the Ballgame" with the entire stadium during the 7th inning

3. The fireworks

4. The drama going on around us.

So, the 7th inning comes, and everyone stands up to sing her song. When she realizes what we are singing, the broadest, brightest smile lights up her face, and she starts swaying and singing. I really wish I could have caught that smile with my camera.

Then, the fireworks go off, scaring the hell out of her. I explain that they do it when the Rangers hit a home run, so she starts cheering "Home run!" . She clapped & squealed when they finally hit one.

Lastly, ohhhh, the drama.

I'm a Yankees fan. However, I like the Rangers too. I believe that we can simultaneously love several teams at once, cheer for both when they are playing each other, and just enjoy the game. I LOVE me some Josh Hamilton, and would still love him even if he was traded to another team. The same goes for Texiera, who used to be a Ranger, but is now a Yankee.

So the people next to us were Yankee fans. Actually, there were a lot of Yankee fans at the stadium. The 2 couples behind us (Now known as Assholes 1 & 2, and their annoyingly supportive wives) were Rangers fans. They showed up after the game started, and had a handmade poster that said "Yuck the Fankees". Brilliant. Except it was written in Sharpie, approximately 4.2 seconds before they sat down behind us. So we were high and headachy about 4.2 seconds after they sat down behind us. Which would be fine, I suppose, if I even liked the smell of Sharpie, or if I liked getting high.

So, then they immediately started ragging on every Yankee fan around us as they cheered. Which would be fine, I suppose, if they weren't being such asses about it. So, then security showed up to take away their sign, saying that it was inappropriate for families attending the game. Well, I guess that really pissed them off because they took 'ragging on every Yankee fan around us' to a whole.'nother.level. They pissed off the people next to us, and then security showed up again. Lucky for us, we chose that time to go buy my girl her hat. When we got back to their seats, Assholes 1 & 2 were subdued, but not for long. Most of the family next to us was gone, but Assholes 1 & 2 immediately started giving hell to the remaining woman. While everyone else was playfully ragging on each other, these guys were yelling 'All you shitty Texans who jump on the Yankees bandwagon don't deserve to live in Texas' and 'Go back to Skankee land'. It was all very stupid, but omg, SHUT UP. Can't we just enjoy the game without the rude, asinine comments?

"What the heck is wrong with you people? Shut UP & enjoy the game!"

Besides the drama, it was a good game and we had a great time.