Playing Catch-Up

So much has happened since my last blog post nearly two weeks ago.

Jana had a fabulous birthday party at the Yard House in Downtown. Why is it so hard to convince strangers that we giggle that way even without a drop of liquor? There is no better thing in life than laughing hysterically in a corner booth with your best friend until one of you lands on the floor and calls it a night.

The next day was the Dodger’s Home Opener and perhaps it wasn’t such a great idea to just keep pointing at the drink menu at random. The opening day ceremony was amazing, marked by a very special tribute to our very own Vin Scully who is currently in his 60th year with the Dodger organization. The celebration was marred only by the very odd contrast of the fly-over of a stealth bomber and the release of dozens of white doves. A “peace” offering, I suppose, to us liberals who are annoyed by the “traditional” spectacle of American military might during a baseball game. The game was great, of course, and marked by history. Interestingly enough 50 thousand people get to tell one story and two people get to tell another.

Jana and I also went to last Friday’s game against the Rockies. That was a great game. I love watching this team. These boys play with all their heart and win or lose it’s great to root for players who actually try. It’s such a nice contrast over the last few seasons and it is what will make this team a winning team this year.

On Saturday I shot a beautiful backyard wedding in Lakewood. This wedding reaffirmed to me how much I love wedding photography. I absolutely just love being in the center of it all. The couple was so loving and their friends and family were so wonderful. Also, I captured some of the most beautiful wedding pictures to date. I am just in awe of my camera and lens. All it makes me want to do is keep upgrading and adding. My only disappointment about that day was that Jana could not shoot with me. Instead a friend of hers, that joined us in DC, helped as my second shooter and did a fabulous job.

Throughout all of this I have been adjusting to life with a 60 pound pit bull. She is just the most amazing and beautiful dog that I have ever seen. She is constantly charming us with her many quirks and her stubbornness makes me laugh. She is amazing me everyday with her quick ability to learn. She already knows what she can and can’t do and tests those boundaries every day. It is so hard for me to fight the urge to let her sleep on the bed. As to her relationship with the cats, I think they are all finally learning to get along. She ignores them for the most part and they try to keep out of her way. I’m sure they will be friendly in no time, but for now my tiny little cats still aren’t so sure of that giant mouth and all those teeth.

Play Ball!

The sights and sounds of baseball gearing up has gotten me excited! This Saturday Jana and I sat down and picked out a whopping 27 games to attend this season and that was just for the mini-plan we were ordering. We were already making plans for certain individual games we might have to get on the side. On top of it all, in just a few weeks, Jana and I will be taking our first ever trip to Spring Training! So, as I stare out into a dark and cloudy sky I am itching for Spring and reflecting on my own passion for the sport.

Sometimes I listen to Jana with deep envy, my passion is not the same as hers. Her love for baseball and the Dodgers goes back to childhood, and a connection with her father and brother. An obsession fueled by the energy and time of youth. I often sadly wish I could share that with her.

But, it is this exact passion in my friend that has made me a Dodger fan. She was the one who took me to my first game as an adult. She was the one who taught it to me. She was the one who showed me how to keep score. She was the one I turned to, and still turn to, when something happens that I don’t understand. Her enthusiasm has become my enthusiasm.

But there were two other reasons for why I fell in love with baseball, and Dodger baseball in particular:

First, Dodger Stadium. The view of the field as you walk out to the top deck is awe-inspiring. There is nothing else like it. I tingle just thinking about it. You feel transported to a different time and all that is in your mind is baseball.

Second, Vin Scully. There is nothing in the world that can quite compare to listening to the voice of Dodger Baseball. My heart aches for future generations who will not know what it is like to listen to him call a game. Listening to Vin is like stretching your own soul across both time and space.

Dodger baseball connects me to history. I have great pride in calling the Dodgers my team. It doesn’t matter who the players are, or whether they win or lose, they will always be my boys, my bums.

But on a more general level I love baseball because it is the one sport that appeals to my nature.  It is  a game of contradictions.  A game of statistics and averages that can lead to predictable outcomes. But also a game of amazing feats, simple mistakes, and bottom of the 9th comebacks.

Proof I really do bleed Dodger blue.

It is a team sport and there is nothing like watching a well oiled machine. But it is also the simplest of duels between two individuals, one with a ball and the other with a bat. It is a slow methodical game and yet sometimes you wonder where the last 8 innings, 8 games, 8 months went.

Baseball is also a game of second chances. You can be down, but you’re never out. You can always get a hit next time, wake up tomorrow and try again. It is a game inherently about hope.

I can’t quite say why I love baseball.  It is more an emotion and a feeling.  I can’t quite say why I love the Dodgers. It is like the love you have for an extraordinary friend. But what I can say is that there is nothing quite like Dodger baseball. There is nothing quite like the excitment of Spring!