July 15, 2005

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

... or, “Craig tries to be a sports writer”
Took in a Sacramento River Cats game last night. The Cats lost 12-8. The whole thing has a really interesting vibe. The Rivercats play AAA minor league ball, the level of baseball just under the major leagues, which means that every player on the field is just a pulled hamstring away from going to the big show. This feeling of almost greatness hangs over the whole place. Pictures of River Cats players who’ve made the Bigs hang on the walls of the stadium. A player goes for a bunt and pops it up and the guy in front of me intones, “Scouts don’t like a guy who can’ bunt.” It’s like there’s this big dream of money and fame so close to this game that every diving catch in the outfield and two-run homer brings that dream closer and every bobbled grounder and wild pitch moves that dream farther away.

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