A Night At The Ballpark

Last Saturday night I went out to see the Madison Mallards ballgame out at Warner Park with Randy, his girlfriend Emily and her friend Carrie. Initially I was pretty tired from the long trips last week and the means by which I blew off the stress the night before (it involved a few pints of Spotted at Monday's). Randy had procured tickets for the Great Dane Duck Blind, which is an enclosed area in the right field corner where the drinks and food are all-inclusive. It's a real party atmosphere, with 18 different beers on tap. The food isn't too bad either. It was quite crowded on Saturday night, but the weather was just right for a ballgame and I can't blame people for coming out. There was even a band set to play in the Duck Blind after the show.

The Mallards organization has really transformed Warner Park into a place that's both family-friendly and a destination for adults - no easy feat. The baseball game is supplemented with plenty of mascots and sideshows to keep the kids entertained, and plenty of beer for everyone else. Right before the game starts the main mascot rides down a zipline from right field all the way into home plate. This is a picture of Maynard Mallard going past me.The game was pretty exciting, though the Mallards were quite error-prone. The lead went back and forth, but at the end of nine it was all tied up. At this point Emily and Carrie were ready to leave, and we made our way out of the Duck Blind. As we came around the grandstands Emily recognized a friend working a beer stand and this worked into another brew for me. At this point I was feeling no pain, and I took this photo of the ballpark that I find strangely compelling. I think it's the condiment station in the foreground.I suppose that I shouldn't even be allowed possession of a camera after drinking, because I always become a nutbag shutterbug and take all sorts of pictures. Here's an example of the kind of shit I find on there the next morning:I don't even remember this, or the 10 other pictures that accompany it. I also apparently forgot a conversation with Emily in which I promised she could borrow my air mattress pump (?), which I later learned about Monday morning when she emailed me. I do remember that Randy and I were wearing the girls' sunglasses on our hats once the sun went down, and I kept dropping the set on my head since I kept forgetting they were there. All in all it was a helluva good time, but the next morning I could have done without the last few beers. Oh, and the Mallards pulled it out and won in 10 innings. We actually saw the winning run get walked in as we were standing behind the grandstands. Hurray!