Grand Slam!
Today I went to see the Florida Marlins play the New York Mets at Baseball. I went with a couple I met last night, who were fantastic fun, and Canadian, so we could be embarrassed together. We stood for the national anthem (when in Rome...) although we didn't clasp our hands to our hearts. We listened to the precocious 13 year old singing. And we settled down with our Buds and popcorn for some serious baseball action. I'd expected something similar to rounders, but with men. However, it appears that the rules are more complex, and you don't have to shout "rounder, rounder, rounder" every time someone hits the ball.
I thought it would be a fast-paced game - after all, the average attention span in America isn't that long - but in that respect baseball is very much more cricket than rounders. I enjoyed it, nevertheless, in the same way that I enjoy a cricket match. The sun shone, we watched some of the game, talked a lot, ate french fries, drank water and generally spent a happy 3 hours on a sunday afternoon. I even got to see the Marlins win (which apparantly they don't do very often, despite being "world champions") and I saw one of the rarest things in baseball. No, not an American rationally discussing his teams failings, or even the guys campaigning for a Shaq attack to come to Florida. No, it was a Grand Slam. This means, for those of you not in the know, that all 3 bases are filled and the batting guy hits a home run - giving them 4 points in one go. I was very excited, honestly. I'd do it again. Particularly as I got a free hat out of it. Next home game is a free lunch box, but unfortunately that's just after I leave.
