Making memories at the ball park

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/08/2022 (1434 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

We were root, root, rooting for the road team. And having all kinds of fun in the process.

A trip to the Twin Cities last week served up a reminder of the beauty of sports. The Toronto Blue Jays were in town, along with a few thousand Canadian baseball fans excited for an up-close look at the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Alek Manoah.

They didn’t disappoint. Sure, the visitors only managed to split the four-game series at gorgeous Target Field. This was about a lot more than simply wins and losses.

It was about making memories, the kind I will cherish after being joined by my 20-year-old son, 43-year-old brother and 73-year-old father. Major League Baseball was merely the backdrop for us to spend quality time together, and for that I am thankful.

The laughs and jokes and stories during the eight-hour drive in each direction. The conversations at the hotel and restaurants. The competition on the golf courses, including a stop at a miniature track inside the Mall of America where bragging rights were very much at stake. Let the record show my dad navigated the treacherous terrain with his putter better than anyone.

And, over at the park, the shared emotional swings that come within a ball game, of early deficits and rallies and home runs that bring you out of your seat and have you hugging and high-fiving each other. An offensive explosion in Game 1. A big comeback that ultimately ended in stunning fashion in Game 2. A hard-fought loss in Game 3. And a controversial victory on a disputed play in Game 4.

I met plenty of other fans from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and northern Ontario who were enjoying a similar experience with family and friends that felt cathartic and therapeutic, one the global pandemic had essentially made impossible for the previous couple summers.

Now, the Canadian invasion was back in full force, and it was a sight to behold.

The Twins and their fans were the perfect hosts. They embraced the “enemy” with plenty of playful banter and ribbing in the stands, which were filled well beyond season average. The Blue Jays are definitely good for business.

“Baldelli, you’re killing me!” the Minnesota die-hard behind us on Friday night hollered from section 120 towards the Twins manager, after a questionable decision not to have a runner tag up on a fly ball and advance to third. “I could have made it and I’m 72-years-old!”

It’s easy to get bitter and jaded at times about the state of the sports world. From inflated salaries and out of control egos, to scandal and corruption, you don’t have to look far to feel discouraged. It’s also important to remember what it is about the games and athletes that keep us coming back for more.

This trek provided such a refreshing palate cleanser for yours truly.

Admittedly, there isn’t a whole lot I cheer about when it comes to sports events I attend these days — other than for quick, decisive contests that end well before my print deadline as I pound out my copy from the press box above, and for juicy, compelling storylines.

I have no skin in the game regarding whether the Jets and Blue Bombers win or lose, for example.

I can’t deny a bias when it comes to the Blue Jays, a team I do not cover for a living. Although, let the record show the Montreal Expos were my first and true baseball love, and I still proudly wear their hat to this day, including at the park last weekend.

The current Toronto team is a pretty easy crew to get behind, with no shortage of vibrant personalities and likeable players who haven’t seem to forgotten that playing a game for a living isn’t life or death. Whether it’s Lourdes Gurriel Jr. making fruit cocktail in the dugout during a recent blowout win over Boston, Guerrero Jr. dancing along to the seventh-inning stretch or the presentation of the “home run jacket” — something we got to see six times over the series — I’m not sure there’s an MLB team that has more fun.

These guys love what they do. And it’s infectious.

I recently wrote about our baseball trip in my weekly newsletter, which promoted the following reply from a reader:

“I don’t have a son or a brother and my dad died in 1994, but I do have a 17 year-old grandson who’s going through a tough time right now and a new son-in0-law who has been through this struggle with him. So you got me thinking “I wonder when the Jets play the Wild?” We’re all huge Jets fans. I checked the schedule and they play there November 23. And low and behold the Vikings play the next night against the Patriots. My two favourite NFL teams,” his email began.

“I’ve never been to an NFL game and it’s been on my bucket list. So I ran the idea by my daughter and she was so enthusiastic about it. So I’ve booked the hotel and bought the tickets and we’re all set. My son-in-law says maybe we can make this an annual boys trip. So I just want to thank you for planting the seed. Maybe this will be a way through a tough time for my grandson and his stepfather as he goes into grade 12.”

Beautiful. That’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it?

Regardless of whether the 2022 Toronto Blue Jays season ends in the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat, it’s important to savour every step of the journey. For three generations of my little family, the one to Minnesota and back was especially sweet.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg