Monday, August 25, 2008
All-Star Reading Night at the Paw Sox
Photo ordered from PawSox.com
The Big Winner himself got to go out on the field for the photograph, above, before the game started. Here is he, waiting to march out onto the field with the fifty-odd other winners:
(Awesome handle on the back of the sign, thanks. We still have the sign, too, which the Cumberland Library staff so carefully created!)It was a perfectly clear afternoon sky and then a gorgeous evening:
Joanne, one of the town library staff, was at the game and took some pictures before the on-field photo opportunity. Unfortunately, we were looking due west into the setting sun and so all my pictures are awful.
This young man was delighted to be there:
Salted, in-the-shell peanuts were the consensus favorites during the game. The pitcher, Zink, was a knuckleballer, so the kids busied themselves with snacks when his weird delivery and slow pitching got to be too much for them.
Thank you, Cumberland Library!!!
One odd note: in the middle of the seventh inning, the announcer asked everyone to rise for a tribute to America, and then they played Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" while snapshots of local soldiers, sailors, and airmen showed on the right field scoreboard. Two umpire went out and stood next to second base; they took off their hats for the song, which I thought was unnecessary -- but then a whole bunch of fans copied them. People, listen to me: that Kate Smith had a serious pair of lungs, but "God Bless America" is not the national anthem, and you can keep your hat on while she sings. (Also, in the past, the stadium staff would walk the stands with trash bags collecting rubbish while the Disney song "Whistle While You Work" played. No more, sadly.)
