THE Most Perfect Day!

Ah, memories!

     I was just reminiscing about THE most perfect day, at least sports wise, that I've ever had the privilege to be part of, albeit a tiny part.  As Sophia from 'Golden Girls' would say, picture it; it was a fine October day.  I had to work, but my dad and I were going to game 5 of the American League Division Series, between our beloved Seattle Mariners and the s**t-hoovering New York Yankees (I kid; relax!).  We were leaving very late, so we figured we would have to park and it would be a 5-mile hike to the Dome, but when we got there, we found a spot right in front of The Kingdome, one that everyone apparently thought was marked 'no parking'; except in little tiny letters right below that it said, "between the hours of 7am and 4pm.   Since it was 6 pm-something, it wasn't illegal to park there, so that worked out perfectly; it would only be the first of many  such perfect things that happened to us.

 

 

     When we got to the Dome we hiked the 4 miles straight up, at least that's how it seemed, to our seats.  The place was packed.  This was winner-move-on and loser-suck-hind-tit.  We settled in and the game went into extra innings, with the only good thing happening was that the green boat won the cartoon hydroplane race they showed on the scoreboard, and I had chosen correctly!  Usually, Seattle sports teams had long ago taken the gas pipe, and those races were about all we had to cheer about, but not this year!  The Mariners had made the playoffs baby! 

 

 

     Anyway, the Yankees had won the first two games of the best-of-five series, which meant we had to win all three back in Seattle.  No one thought we could do it, anyone in his or her right mind, at any rate, but we had won the first two, and here we were in game 5, in extra innings.  The Yankees had scored to take the lead and it wasn't looking good for the Mudville Nine (The Mariners!) but Joey Cora and Ken Griffey Jr. had reached base with hits.  Up stepped Edgar Martinez, with a chance to drive in Cora from second base, at least we hoped. 

 

 

     I can still see it when he doubled; still see Cora trotting home to tie the game; and still see Griffey's feet seemingly never touching the ground, his legs just a blur, as he attempted to score from 1st base.  I still can't quite believe how fast  he was moving.  Anyway, he slide and beat the throw and the Kingdome roof barely stayed on, or so it seemed.  The place was absolute delirious jubilation; it's still close to the loudest noise I've ever heard, and that's saying something for an ex-singer in a heavy metal band (just a slight bit of B.S!) 

 

 

     No one wanted to leave, but eventually we had to, because they wanted to lock up!  All 40 thousand+ were headed out at the same time.  Everyone was cheering, and I thought the evening couldn't possibly get any better, but 'oh contraire!'  As my dad and I were walking down the ramp to the parking lot, who should drive right below us, trying to get out of the jam-packed parking lot?  Well, I could make you guess, but I can't wait to finish telling this story, so I'll just tell you; it was none other than the man who was probably THE most loathed man in Seattle, at least for sports; George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees.  The sights and sounds of 40+ thousand baseball fans waving goodbye to him was, well, let's just say it still warms my cockles (have NO idea what the hell that's located, but it's warm, anyhow!) 

 

 

     After that, when we reached the parking lot, we both thought it would take us forever to get out, but we started the car, cut down a road or alley by the car, headed for the freeway, made most every light, and were free!  It was by far my greatest sports memory, and most likely will remain so, unless I score tickets to The Big Naked Cheerleading Championships!  Seriously, it was all-the-more special because I got to share it with my dad!

Reviews

[Marie]

It sounds like a perfect day to me. Of course, I am not a sports fan, so to me the best part was when you managed to get on the freeway right away. An extra bonus if y ou didn't get lost going home.

[Michael Stevens]

It was a perfect day, but I can understand if you don't like baseball, how it might be a lot less perfect!