At The Old Ballgame
Take me out to the ball game, Here I am at the entrance to Dodgertown wearing Dodger blue. It felt good to be back. Of course, it had had some
modernizing done since my last visit, but all in all it was still the "ball park"
I remember..not some monolith of a stadium as the sign suggests. Perhaps that's why they're leaving? It was a perfect day for a ballgame: sunny and warm. We had our hot dogs, peanuts and soda...we were ready! It didn't even matter that our seats ended up being a bit farther down the first base line than what I thought when I bought them. Here's our view of home plate: The national anthem played and the game started. There was a quick little "oops" where the Cardinals knocked one out of the park, but before long, the Dodgers' bats got hot. They regained the lead and then some. Then the game settled into the middle innings with not much happening. Kids studied the programs and old timers kept statistics. My Gramp used to keep statistics. Every hit, every error, every run was penciled into a chart and later studied. I was amused to see
someone still doing it. I took this time to find some seats that had been abandoned right behind the dugout. We were now "in the game", but it might have been bad luck. In the 8th inning, the wheels came off. Despite all my rooting, the Dodgers blew their lead and lost. "A shame", as the song says, that the home team lost, but perhaps it was fitting: they lived up to their nickname: "Bums". Game over. Now it's done. A tradition ended. Time to go home. Time to leave Dodgertown forever.
Take me out on the town;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game
Norwith/Von Tilzer
