Playoff Baseball!

So there I was, sitting in class on a normal Thursday afternoon. All of a sudden, I got a IM from JJ about potentially going to San Francisco to watch the Reds first round playoff game against the Giants. I sat there in class and researched all the different ways to get to San Francisco and what my options were. I looked at flying. Too expensive. Greyhound? Too long. Amtrak? Very long. I kept looking and looking, and we started looking at tickets. I put out a text and Facebook message to all my friends who would potentially be interested. I ended up with one 'maybe.' That is potential.

On Friday, I talked my friend, Ethan Lynn, into coming with me. Driving? A much better option. We got tickets in straight away center field and JJ got a hotel room near the airport. I was so stoked. I ran around with my Reds gear on for the rest of the day in anticipation.

We left at 5:30 AM on Saturday morning San Francisco bound. About an hour and a half into our trip, we got pulled over! Luckily it was because they didn't have my insurance on file. Phew! The trip continues! We drove and drove and drove and listened to General Conference for part of the trip. We talked Reds baseball, life, baseball, Reds, Playoffs, and everything in between. The game was at 6:30 and we rolled in around 4:45. JJ had gotten in and taken the BART into downtown to meet up with one of his friends who was in San Francisco. Ethan and I were playing phone tag with JJ and didn't really understand where we were supposed to meet. Ethan and I got off the highway (after a battle with a dear friend on the toll road-- we didn't have $5 to pay. We had $4.56. He asked for all our change and all our pennies and scolded us saying that the people need this money) and started looking for a parking spot. We turned down one street and Ethan said, "Hey! There's a Reds fan!" I look over and turns out its JJ walking by himself down the street. We rolled down the window and started yelling at him. We then found a FREE parking spot in downtown SF! We had to check the signs like 5 times before leaving, but it was FREE! After meeting up with JJ and his friend, we started towards the stadium. 3 Reds fans dressed to the brim in Reds gear and blankets swimming in a sea of orange and smack talk.

On our way to the stadium, we passed a very fitting restaurant:

We also passed a big ship, ready to do work just like us: 

                                      

We arrived at the park and had some police women take our picture. They were the most trustworthy to hold our camera for us in the crowd. We got bood everywhere we went. Luckily JJ can strike up a friendly conversation with anyone, so no one could hate us (too much). 

We made it in to our seats with a ton of time before the game. We were in straight away center and had a great view. We got their for the Reds' batting practice (check that off my bucket list). Aroldis Chapman was right in front of us. Occasionally, a ball would come and bounce out to the wall. A Reds player would come and pick it up and normally throw it back to the infield. Sam LeCure came and got one in front of us, and we were cheering loud for him. He threw the ball to the infield, then turned to us and said "Stay strong tonight, boys." If you know about this game, it was him who would be the strong one!

                                      

At one point, a ball was hit and came to rest on the warning track. Aroldis came to get the ball, but right as he was about to get it, someone threw this little cup on a string out to corale the ball. Aroldis put his hands behind his back and watched as the fan slowly drew the ball to right under the wall, then lowered the cup and suctioned the ball and was able to pull it up. It was really amusing. 

At the end of batting practice, Aroldis had a ball. I had been yelling to him the whole time trying to get one. He turned and threw it in our direction. I called "I GO!" (soccer style), and somehow I snagged the ball in my catcher's mitt. It was one proud moment, as can be seen below:

After batting practice, we went on tour of the stadium. AT&T Park is gorgeous. I absolutely love it. It is easily my favorite park that I have been to. The right field wall backs up to the bay, they have awesome food, their fans are extremely good, and the stadium is very unique and impressive. Here are some pics: 

The garlic fries are incredible! If you go to AT&T, you HAVE to get them. 

 After doing a loop around the stadium, we got back to our seats in time for the enormous American flag.

 I was one extremely happy boy to be there. 

 These fans that we sat near, however, were not happy that we were there. 

 As the game went on and our team was winning, we became happier and happier. And the fans around us became drunker and drunker. The lady behind us was hilarious-- she complained and moaned the ENTIRE game about how people were not standing for the whole game. "In 2010, we stood the WHOLE time and they WON THE SERIES!!! How can they win the series if we don't STAND!?!?" The people in front of us were interesting too. They had a lot to drink, and were making us laugh. 

 Our view wasn't too shabby!

 We made friends with some fellow Reds fans in our section: 

 VICTORY!!!!!

 Since we were in San Francisco, we decided we had to go do the classic San Fran things! We drove down Lombard Street (the steepest road!), went and got ice cream at Ghirradelli Square, then went off to an abandoned Fisherman's Wharf.

 The wharf was hilarious-- we watched seals trying to sleep on the floating docks for about 45 minutes. There would be one or two punk seals who would jump in the freezing water, then jump back up and crawl over everyone, thus waking them. Seals who wake up with a cold wet seal on top of them are not happy, so they bark real loud and push them back in the water. It was so entertaining! We stayed there until the wee hours of the morning. We then went to our hotel near the airport (so JJ could take a shuttle to the airport for his early flight). Ethan and I made the drive back to Provo and got in around 9 ish. It was so worth the money, lost voices, lack of sleep, and long hours in the car to see a REDS VICTORY! (don't mention the rest of the series.) Thanks Dani, Hayley, and Ethan for making this trip possible!