Hello Fellow Travelers!
I now count myself in the vast throng that is the San Francisco Giants fan base. I'm learning about "the game within the game" and the mellifluous voices of Kruk and Kuyp lulled me through some of my darkest days in Brain Cancerland (sounds a little like Candyland, doesn't it? Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part). Those guys became my friends, my summer rehab partners. Being a fairly recent fan of Baseball, I'm grateful to Ken Burns, Ben Affleck and Kevin Costner for their baseball contributions, I wear Giants gear on game days and I'll, watch any retrospective that features any Giant, From any era. The Giants 2014 ascension was nothing short of spectacular and completely predicted by me, I have no "feeling" about Giants' Baseball in 2015; I knew the Giants were going to win that trophy in 2014 like I know how many calories are in a Ghirardelli's Hot Chocolate (many, but they don't count and who cares anyway?). Like so many events in 2014, I just knew!
PS has been instrumental in my growing understanding of America's game! He has taken me to see games at the Stick and then in the Giant's "new" ballpark that's so perfect, it makes me smile when it's on TV! PacBell Park has everything! Fabulous snack foods, microbrews, excellent wines, shopping! And all of it, the Park, the restaurants, the kiosks selling hoodies and bobbleheads,all are dedicated to the Giants! Forget Disneyland. PacBell Park might be the happiest place on earth!
Especially since I've been "disabled", I finally appreciate the subtle nuances in the game and the season itself, it literally goes all summer and into fall!
As we've all gifted other family members over the years, Giants' tickets are an old standby. They're always appreciated and anyone can buy them!
So when PS saw that there were Giants tickets available at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, and they were playing the Diamondbacks he gifted freely, with my support! What we didn't know until much later, or what I didn't know is that the Giants/DBacks game was in July. In Phoenix!
Phoenix is frigging hot in July! It's like a Geico ad: "Everybody knows that". What is not commonly known is the quality and the quantity of the heat. The heat doesn't relent for months! You step off a plane at Sky Harbor and it's like walking into a convection oven. You're blown away by it! And it doesn't let up at night either! Nine months out of twelve are perfect, ideal, but three months out of the year, every summer, Phoenix is a heat-blasted wasteland no amount of air conditioning can remedy.
Southwest heat in summer is as restrictive as Midwestern cold in winter!
"Respect the heat!" And I do but I'm not sure PS does. He seems to be convinced that lots of air-conditioned environments will trick our senses into tolerating 90+ days (and nights) of triple digit temperatures that the greater Phoenix area enjoys every summer
I know better. But as a member of "Giants' Nation" (albeit an uncomfortable member!) I am committed to going inside "the Belly of the Beast" no matter how miserable it is! Because that's what baseball fans do! We go to games.
I now count myself in the vast throng that is the San Francisco Giants fan base. I'm learning about "the game within the game" and the mellifluous voices of Kruk and Kuyp lulled me through some of my darkest days in Brain Cancerland (sounds a little like Candyland, doesn't it? Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part). Those guys became my friends, my summer rehab partners. Being a fairly recent fan of Baseball, I'm grateful to Ken Burns, Ben Affleck and Kevin Costner for their baseball contributions, I wear Giants gear on game days and I'll, watch any retrospective that features any Giant, From any era. The Giants 2014 ascension was nothing short of spectacular and completely predicted by me, I have no "feeling" about Giants' Baseball in 2015; I knew the Giants were going to win that trophy in 2014 like I know how many calories are in a Ghirardelli's Hot Chocolate (many, but they don't count and who cares anyway?). Like so many events in 2014, I just knew!
PS has been instrumental in my growing understanding of America's game! He has taken me to see games at the Stick and then in the Giant's "new" ballpark that's so perfect, it makes me smile when it's on TV! PacBell Park has everything! Fabulous snack foods, microbrews, excellent wines, shopping! And all of it, the Park, the restaurants, the kiosks selling hoodies and bobbleheads,all are dedicated to the Giants! Forget Disneyland. PacBell Park might be the happiest place on earth!
Especially since I've been "disabled", I finally appreciate the subtle nuances in the game and the season itself, it literally goes all summer and into fall!
As we've all gifted other family members over the years, Giants' tickets are an old standby. They're always appreciated and anyone can buy them!
So when PS saw that there were Giants tickets available at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, and they were playing the Diamondbacks he gifted freely, with my support! What we didn't know until much later, or what I didn't know is that the Giants/DBacks game was in July. In Phoenix!
Phoenix is frigging hot in July! It's like a Geico ad: "Everybody knows that". What is not commonly known is the quality and the quantity of the heat. The heat doesn't relent for months! You step off a plane at Sky Harbor and it's like walking into a convection oven. You're blown away by it! And it doesn't let up at night either! Nine months out of twelve are perfect, ideal, but three months out of the year, every summer, Phoenix is a heat-blasted wasteland no amount of air conditioning can remedy.
Southwest heat in summer is as restrictive as Midwestern cold in winter!
"Respect the heat!" And I do but I'm not sure PS does. He seems to be convinced that lots of air-conditioned environments will trick our senses into tolerating 90+ days (and nights) of triple digit temperatures that the greater Phoenix area enjoys every summer
I know better. But as a member of "Giants' Nation" (albeit an uncomfortable member!) I am committed to going inside "the Belly of the Beast" no matter how miserable it is! Because that's what baseball fans do! We go to games.
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