Love and baseball schedules

We've been anxiously awaiting the release of the 2011 MLB schedule, which finally came out tonight.

About halfway through this season, we bought full season tickets for the rest of the year at Nationals Park, which came after my mostly-in-jest battle with the Nationals ticketing office and Sharon's discovery that she has a favorite baseball team. Between then and now, we've acquired about 12 Nationals T-shirts (Sharon has one each for pitchers Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard and yet another urging the Nats to Let Teddy Win), five or six ballcaps (one of which Sharon got Clippard to sign during a blood drive), two balls I caught during batting practice (one of which Sharon later got pitcher Doug Slaten to sign when she spotted him in plainclothes in the stands during his suspension), two or three songs from iTunes that the players use when they come to bat (the full list is here; my favorite is "Prrrrum" for Alberto Gonzalez, despite the fact that Cosculluela appears to be wearing a Pirates hat in the music video, though I am also partial to Pudge's early '90s "Check Yo Self" goodness), numerous gross-out moments from Adam Kennedy's disgusting habit of spitting his chewing tobacco into his hand and then tossing it into the outfield after reaching base, and various other Nationals knick-knacks.

So, yeah, we've grown to like the team a fair bit.

We're definitely going to renew our season tickets for next year, but we haven't decided yet between the full or half season plan. One big consideration was whether we'd have to miss a bunch of home games around our June 4 wedding in San Francisco (and also have to find a way to dispose of the tickets). We were planning to get to California a few days before and then maybe take a weeklong honeymoon.

Turns out, the Nationals will be on an 11-game road trip (their longest of the season) at precisely that time. Sharon noticed this and was blown away. Then I pointed out the cities where the team would be traveling: Phoenix (where Sharon first worked out of college and where she got her surprise proposal), San Francisco (Sharon's hometown and our wedding locale), and San Diego (my hometown and unanimous best city in America). Not to mention that NL East teams only visit each NL West team once a year, making the scheduling fluke that much more unlikely.

I'm not usually one for signs, but this coincidence makes me incredibly happy. I can't wait for another season at the ballpark with my all-time favorite seatmate.

Sharon has a favorite baseball team

When Sharon was in high school, one of the moms gave her group of friends tickets behind the dugout to a Giants game. The girls, generally apathetic to baseball, spent the afternoon tanning and reading magazines.

Fast-forward to last night. We grabbed dinner at Fuddruckers in Chinatown. Sharon was shaking with anticipation, encouraging me to eat as quickly as possible.

"OMG! THERE'S GONNA BE PIEROGIES! AND TEDDY! AND CLIPPY! AND STRASSY! AND MATTY! (our friend)"

To which I wryly replied, "You don't have to pretend to like baseball for my sake."

You see, last night was Stephen Strasburg's major league debut. He's the most hyped pitcher I've ever seen. He struck out 14 batters, a Nationals record. The little scoreboard that tracks the K's ran out of room and just had a little button that said "plus 12 more." I've never been to a game where the whole crowd stands up every time there are two strikes, or where "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is completely drowned out by people chanting the pitcher's name.

These days, Sharon sometimes watches the Nats when I'm not home. Or pleads for us to go to the game on the weekend. Every time we go, she insists we take a picture with Teddy (there's even a picture on this blog of Little Teddy rockin' the ring). She runs up to the railing to cheer on the racing presidents in the middle of the fourth.

The other day, I said, "You know, Sharon, you actually have a favorite baseball team now." She thought about it for a moment, and then said I was right.

She's come a long way. It's nice to share an activity that we both genuinely enjoy (though I'm less in it for the mascots and hot relief pitchers).

Baseball has one final element in our lives. Often, Sharon will ask me to put on the radio broadcast of a West Coast baseball game when she heads to bed. She's always asleep within the inning.