Summer Time

It's that time of the year again... a time when the sun starts to get hotter and any natural source of water is packed to the brim with Pabst-toting rednecks. That's right, it's summer time, and while the official date hasn't ticked past just yet, it can definitely be felt. At today's Yankees game, it was reported that the crowd cheered as a cloud passed in front of the sun, then booed as it moved on. One of many reasons why Yankees fans are dumb bastards.

We in the central valley don't have the luxury of an MLB team in town, unless we want to high-tail it to the Bay Area, where they have several. Instead, we get to spend our seasonably warm evenings at minor league games!

Our local team, the River Cats, offers an excellent outdoor atmosphere for drinking beer and discussing the talk of the day with pals and other well-wishers. As you can see from the picture, the architects of the stadium didn't really take the sun's path into consideration when designing the "economy" seats.

But I couldn't complain- the ticket was only a quarter more expensive than the beer, and I wasn't really there to watch baseball anyway. Have you ever watched baseball? Kinda dull. When I was young, maybe 10 or so, my dad took us to an Oakland A's game, and it was one of the most boring things I'd ever been to. Our team didn't even score! It made me lose interest for life. Some years later, I learned that the game was one of the famous "no-hitter" games pitched by the legendary Nolan Ryan, in what I believe was his first game playing the A's after leaving them for the Rangers. Baseball fanatics are often wow'ed by the fact that I was at the game. If you ask me, I would have rather been at home watching Snick (if you don't know what that is, don't ask).

That being said, I've never been the biggest fan of baseball games, but I am a big fan of drinking beer outdoors on a lovely evening with some pals. Every once in a while, I'll turn towards the field and declare, "Hey, there's a baseball game going on!" Then I'll venture back for another $8 beer.

At the same time, baseball games have always been a staple for my summer memories. It's just something you do when it starts to heat up outside, like running through a sprinkler or questioning the ice cream man on his immigration status. While I may not be able to discuss this-or-that about popular baseball teams, I still welcome the availability of their games, as it signals the fact that summer has arrived.

Also, they often bring with them fireworks, and nothing speaks to the power of our country like blowing stuff up!

USA! USA! Welcome, Summer '08. I await your offerings.