We had a terrific day today in Indianapolis watching the final Indians weekend afternoon home game. Joe, Laura and I have been talking about going all year, but realized this was our final chance. Olivia has been there once, as a zygote, so we figured she’d enjoy it more now- what with her eyes and all.

Victory Field Panorama from Left Field Lawn

Victory Field Panorama from Left Field Lawn

We met Joe inside around 2PM. I really figured it would be more crowded, though we were able to secure lawn seats just as the Indians took the field. There’s always a really good atmosphere at marginally popular sporting events. I’ve found that the crowd falls into two categories: people who really enjoy the game for what it is, and people who are there for the event and to have a good time with their family and friends. In either case, there’s not a lot of superfan activity that completely destroys most pro-level and college sporting events for me. The jack-assery is held to a minimum. (Though, we did see two high school kids making out for what seemed like the entire 4th, 5th and 6th innings behind the video scoreboard)

Olivia and I share an ice-cream cone to beat the heat

There was a downside to the day: it was incredibly hot. Not temperature hot, but Hole-In-The-Ozone-Has-Moved-Above-Your-Head hot. It was as if Satan himself was holding a giant magnifying glass between left field and the sun and burning us to see if we’d scatter like ants. So, eventually, we wussed out and sought shade behind Right Field, across the sidewalk. You couldn’t see the game as well, but at least you weren’t losing layers of skin to the heat. It was actually quite pleasant.

By the 8th inning, the Indians had scored something like 10 points against their opponents and I realized that I had no idea who we were playing and that I wasn’t paying attention much to the game. Olivia was getting a bit cranky, so we decided to pack it in a bit early. Mom and daughter both fell asleep immediately in the car. Dad had to get us back to Bloomington…