Paralysis of the Mind

Last Monday, my girlfriend and I took a trip to Cooperstown, NY for the 2005 Hall of Fame game featuring the evil Detroit Tigers (boo) and the heroic World Champion Boston Red Sox (this is still somewhat hard to believe).

Anyhow, since writing on here hasn't been my strong suit lately, I figured I'd drop some pictures all in on the blizzog. (I apologize if this takes forever to load.)

Before the game, there's a parade down Cooperstown's main street. Coop's a quaint little burgh, and the parade is great fun. First up, your 2004 WORLD SERIES TROPHY!!



Soon after, the players hopped a trolley to wave to the crowd. Enjoyable, and a good chance to get awfully close to the guys. I bet you'll NEVER guess who this next shot is of...



Followed by the Tiggers, of course. I was shooting for Troy Percival (his face is covered by the dude in front of me in the Red Sox hat) but behind him grinning was Pudge Rodriguez.



While this was going on, both Bronson Arroyo and David Wells were signing autographs in a store on the parade route. I show Arroyo only because Wells sucks and despite the fact that he's on the Sox this year, he's a Yankee at heart.



Then, on to Doubleday Field, right behind the Hall. We sat four rows from the field in right-center, but it's hard to imagine ANY bad seats in this nice little place. Here's a look at home plate from where we were.



In center, before the game, Kevin "YOUK!!!" Youkilis and Matt Mantei were signing kids' baseballs and hats (one of the kids right in front of us was totally pumped to get Youk).



First there was a home run derby, won by a certain guy we call Big Papi. In the game itself, though, who should come out in the bottom of the first but...



And instead of warming up with the other outfielders, Damon chose to toss the ball into the crowd and wait for one of the fans to throw it back. One came our way, but a few rows over... here's him waiting for the throw back.



The game? Well, all in good fun. Damon kept up a conversation with us through the first inning, prompting someone to yell "We love you Johnny" to which he waved, followed by a louder guy screaming, "My WIFE loves ya Johnny!" Broke us up. Damon later praised us over the PA, noting that his "peeps" in centerfield offered to buy him a hot dog or a water, and he might take us up on it later. In the end, the Tiggers won the game 6-4 on a walk-off home run (my girlfriend has been to 2 games, and both ended in walk-off fashion if you can believe it)... on the drive home, a pretty good looking ending:



Well... ALMOST perfect ending. And who greeted us at the door?



Perfect.

It's an odd time when conservation is hated by conservatives and fiscal responsibility is preached by liberals.

Sickness, anyone?