College World Series of Fortunate Events

Crowd to Wolf: “Booooooooooooooo”

Crowd to Wolf: “Woooooooo… Yeahhhhhhhhhhh.”

We exited the land of trees, creeks, mountains, and fresh air and entered the next part of our journey – rolling hills, humidity, pit stains, and the crack of the bat.

We planned on going to several major and minor league ballparks, but on a whim, we drove to Omaha, Nebraska to see the College World Series. As we took the exit into Omaha, our eyes widened to see traffic and skyscrapers as they were more foreign to us than bison and geysers.

After a thirty-minute detour thanks to Siri, she finally pointed us in the right direction. TD Ameritrade Park was in sight and we were stoked.

It wasn’t long before we spotted a scalper. With my Seattle Mariners game experience, I knew the stereotype. He cut us a good deal. Thanks LJ.

As we approached the stadium, we heard laughter and commotion from the two-story bar, Blatt. We felt that two green shirts would fit in nicely with the sea of Maroon from the Mississippi State fans. There were at least 300 people in the bar, but Peter and I outnumbered the UCLA bandwagoners.

With the first pitch steadily approaching, we found a slim opening at the bar top and ordered a couple of shots and beers. I tried to give the bartender my card but she denied it. Puzzled, I ask why. She informed us that a Mississippi State gentleman, in every sense on the word, had opened a tab for the entire bar. WOW. After speculating how many thousands of dollars were on the tab, we figured a couple more shots wouldn’t hurt the deep pocket of the man from the deep south.

 We were now loosened up and the conversations began to flow like Avalanche Creek. Our first great encounter was between three guys from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. After they told us of their love of Ducks football, we decided our hearts were with the Dawgs (not to be confused with our inferiors to the north). John gave us his card and said when we get to Louisiana he will “hook us up.” A future thanks for that.

After a few more conversations with MSU fans, and a terrible one with Bruins fans, we headed toward the bleachers in center field. On our walk, our Ducks gear stood out like a grizzly bear in an open field and we became minor celebrities. We were called out on a microphone and interviewed on the big screen and called over by the brother of Oregon Basketball assistant coach, Kevin McKenna. Dave McKenna (in pic on right) had great inside recruiting info and called the transfer of the Houston guard to Oregon. This experience recalled our trip the Rose Bowl a couple years ago when we talked with the doorman at Pebble Beach Golf Course, John Aliotti (brother of Nick Aliotti, Oregon’s Defensive Coordinator). After our chat with Dave, we made it into the stadium. Our tickets were standing room only, so we watched the first three innings from the concourse behind third base. We had one eye on the game and one eye on vacant seats. We decided to give the seats a shot. After four failed attempts, we found two great seats next to Robin and Co. on the first base side.

    

Home field advantage was not helping our Dawgs as UCLA had a commanding lead heading in to the bottom of the 8^th. As the stadium, which once held the crowd of a championship game, turned to the crowd of a Mariners game in August, we headed down to the front row.

We were quickly ridiculed by a slobbery drunk fan. Shortly after, a dribbler was fouled off into the on-deck circle. As we yelled for the batter to toss to our seats, he did. I did my best Stretch Armstrong impression and snagged the ball in front of the drunk fan with my outstretched fingers three rows up. The Mississippi State fan started booing me and some of his Mississippi State fans joined in. I showed Peter the ball and gave him a high five and slouched into my seat to the overwhelming boos of the stadium’s remaining fans. As the boos grew louder, I slouched deeper. I didn’t want to give up that ball, but the boos were relentless. I decided it was best to give the ball away. I stood up and walked two rows up to the third row and handed it to a little boy who was experiencing the game with his dad. With the eyes of the stadium focused on me, the boos quickly turned to loud cheers and clapping. Peter led the standing ovation. I soaked it in and stood there for a second while I clasped my hands over my head in the shape of an Oregon “O.” Our minor celebrity status was now full blown Kardashianesque.

 

Moments later, three girls sprinted on to the field in left field to an eruption of cheers. Weaving their way past and around the crowd control staff for a few moments, they were finally caught and escorted through the tunnel five feet away from us. The first girl, now handcuffed, managed an elbow five with a guy leaning over the wall.

With two outs in the 9^th, a lazy ground ball made its way to first base. The UCLA first baseman fielded it cleanly and softly tossed to the sprinting pitcher. They tossed their gloves up in celebration as high as the top of Beartooth Pass. Cameras flashed and fireworks boomed like the storm of Glacier National. UCLA had done it. We appreciate UCLA representing for the PAC-12, but felt a sense of sadness as our hearts were with the Dawgs.

We exited TD Ameritrade elated with our experience and to see the final college baseball game of the 2013 season. On our way back to Black Sal, I was continually patted on the back by MSU fans for the gesture I made. One fan said, “It was such a great thing you did. You represented Oregon well.” Now off to our couch surfing experiment with our unknown hosts, Ananth and Chase. 

Our favorite version of this classic song: Bruce Springstone - "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"