Every once in a while you have a day that reminds you that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Ben Franklin is often quoted as saying that wine was ample proof of the fact, but I think my day today qualifies as well.
I went to watch the As vs. the hated Red Sox at McAfee Coliseum today with my good friend Kyle. I had to look past the fact that Kyle works for Southern Wine and Spirits (AKA the devil), but I’m the forgiving sort. Besides, it was Zito vs. Schilling, Kyle’s 30th birthday, and we’d both taken a half day and met up early for the noon tilt. Life couldn’t get much better. Yet once we entered the gate, great things just kept on happening…
- Perfect weather. 82 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.
- It turned out to be Dollar Dog Wednesday. That’s a dollar per hot dog. At a professional sporting event. Miraculous.
- In the bottom of the first Curt Schilling struck out his 3000th batter, making him one of only 14 pitchers ever to accomplish that feat and only the fourth to do it in the last 40 years. Everyone in attendance gave him a long standing ovation. Here’s what Schilling had to say:
“Hats off to the Oakland A’s for recognizing it. I’m very humbled by the fact their fans recognized it and the Sox fans who were here. You certainly don’t expect it on the road. It was kind of uncomfortable because there’s a game going on and you want to acknowledge the people but you don’t want to make it bigger than the situation. … I was honored they did that. It was a very, very classy thing to do.”
- Soon after, Kyle got a call from his boss telling him that he got a third interview (mostly a formality) for the District Manager position he’d been working on at Southern. He was fired up the rest of the day and could barely focus on the game.
- The As ended up winning 7-2 and knocked out 2 homers. The win was Zito’s 15th.
- As second baseman Mark Ellis almost hit for the cycle, homering and adding a double and a triple.
- The As swept the visiting Sox for the first time in 5 years and are now in first place by 7.5 games. The looks on the chowderheads (Red Sox fans) faces in the seats near us were priceless.
- I got home and a beautiful hardbound book was waiting for me courtesy of Jeff Lefevere at Good Grape. It’s the CIA’s complete guide to the wines of the world and it weighs about 10 pounds. Thanks Jeff!
What a day. Good times. What if a winery experience could be like this?
Wine related trivia: Markham is the official wine of the Oakland Athletics.
What?? How can you not like the Red Sox? I grew up a Cubs fan and married into a family where my father-in-law is a die hard Bosox fan.
My buddies tell me that under no circumstances does marriage equate to fandom by proxy. I still read the box scores just to be conversant with him.
Best,
Jeff
Nope, I’m just not a chowderhead. You gotta keep it real, and for me Boston is second only to New York on my most loathed list.
I’ve got no problem with the Cubbies though. Long suffering fans that aren’t chowderheads are to be respected.
Um…. I think Ben was talking about beer, not wine.
Phil,
It’s funny, when I was researching the quote I ran across both versions. One for beer and one for wine. It turn out that the original quote, from a letter Franklin sent to a friend, is indeed about wine.
Here’s the full quote:
“We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. The miracle in question was only performed to hasten the operation, under circumstances of present necessity, which required it.
Letter to Abbé Morellet (1779) ”
Link: http://www.infomotions.com/etexts/literature/american/1700-1799/franklin-paris-247.txt
Thanks for the comment!
Interesting… I also liked what he wrote about “The Twelve Commandments”.
Too bad we don’t have someone like Ben around today to help straighten out the mess our country is in.
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