Last night Travalon and I went to our first Mallards game of
the season, and we got there early for the VIP experience with Packers legend
Jerry Kramer. We each got a free photo of Kramer clutching the game ball (from
one of his Super Bowl appearances, I presume) and wearing his five championship
rings, and he signed them with his very cool signature. We got to talk to him
for a few minutes, and he told us a great story about how he wanted to pretend
to be in a rainforest while writing his book, so a buddy threw water on the
ceiling. These Packers legends have the best stories; Dave Robinson told us how
one day at practice it was so cold that Lombardi’s coffee froze, so he finally
said it was too cold to practice.
The game itself started with some terrible pitching by our
Mallards, so that the Green Bay Booyah (formerly the Bullfrogs) scored two runs
early. Then their pitching was just as atrocious, so the Mallards scored a
bunch of runs. Both pitchers were walking people left and right, so there were
quite a few times when the bases were loaded. I kept hoping to see a grand
slam, but there were no homers last night. I did see the Booyah pitcher send at
least one guy (maybe two?) home by walking someone when the bases were loaded.
Some of the innings seemed to last forever because of all the walks, and the
foul balls. A lot of people left early, but the game was never that crowded –
maybe because of the presidential candidates’ debate?
At one point a guy was tossing T-shirts into the crowd, and
he threw one right to me! I was so caught off-guard that he would notice me
that it bounced off my Mallards cap towards Travalon, who tried to catch it,
but it went past him too. He spun out of his seat to grab it before someone
else could (there was a guy who reached for it), but he was slightly injured in
the process. Nothing serious, but that’s when you know a man loves you – when he
will risk bodily harm to get you a free T-shirt! And it was just my size too!
He did tell me that there was a “psychedelic” Maynard the Mallard T-shirt in
the shop, so when the Booyah’s manager had Conference #63 on the mound with the
terrible pitcher, I grabbed the chance to go see it. It is bright blue with a
Maynard in neon shades of green, pink, and yellow, and they tell me it was for “90’s
Night” earlier this season. Of course they only had the size above and below
mine, so I tried them on and decided it was better to go a size too large. I am
wearing it today.
The final pitcher the Mallards brought out was more
competent, and Travalon and I stayed to watch him dispatch the Booyah quickly at the
top of the ninth. They probably couldn’t have caught up in one inning anyway,
and despite the rough start, the Mallards won 10-4. They are top of their
division at the moment, and if they can get over their pitching slump, they
should stay there.
Famous Hat
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