The Portland Beavers graciously open up PGE Park to our furry friends during two games a year. No, not hippies… dogs. Ashley, Elli and I met up with Hank, Darcy and Amoni a couple weeks ago to watch the Beavers play a double header against Fresno. I always wondered if the park is cleaner or dirtier after these particular games. I can tell you that I never saw a stray nacho or a homeless hotdog lying on the ground that day. I did however see lots of spilt beer. Taunt leashes and beer to the rim don’t seem to go well together. I love the nervous look on Amoni’s face just prior to visiting the Beaver. If I had to give the states I would say:
 
90% nervous
5% anxious
4% happy because she’s out of the house
1% concentrating on holding in a giant dump

My buddy Craig was at my first pitch game with his daughter. He does a lot of photography work for the Beavers, so naturally he had all of his gear with him. He sent me this series of frames last week. I must say for not playing a lick of baseball,  I think its decent form. He’d be mad if I didn’t post his photo of the Beaver’s mascot roughing me up after the pitch. I would say it’s along the lines of Disney meets Shawshank Redemption… He choose the file name, not me.  A link to Craig’s blog is over to the right.

My work sponsored a “kids day” with OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) at PGE park the other day. It’s pretty cool, OMSI teaches the kids about the physics involved in baseball. Instead of sitting in the classroom for the day they all get to go to the park to cheer for the Beavers who are our local AAA affiliate with the Padres. We sponsored three of these days during this season and each of the guys in the marketing department, including myself, got to throw out the first pitch for one of the games.  We have been razing each other trying to make one another nervous. My buddy Ryan went first, he threw it low and in the dirt AND GOT BOOED by 5,000 cotton candy infused kids. My pitch was last week. I was nervous; you have to show up a couple hours before the game so you have plenty of time to think about it. The way I see it, you only get one chance in your life to throw out a first pitch at a baseball game. If you screw it up your never gonna get a second opportunity. I would be ling if I told you I hadn’t stepped off 60ft 6 inches and practiced the weekend before. Actually I stepped off 55ft because I figured they wouldn’t let me stand on the mound. Long story short, I announced my presents with authority and threw a perfect strike. The guy I threw to is Raymond Chang, he’s actually from Kansas City and played his college ball at Rockhurst University.