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By education and experience - Accountant with a specialty in taxation. Formerly a CPA (license has lapsed). Masters degree in law of taxation from University of Denver. Now retired. Part time work during baseball season as receptionist & switchboard operator for the Colorado Rockies. This gig feeds my soul in ways I have trouble articulating. One daughter, and four grandchildren. I share the house with two cats; a big goof of a cat called Grinch (named as a joke for his easy going "whatever" disposition); and Lady, a shelter adoptee with a regal bearing and sweet little soprano voice. I would be very bereft if it ever becomes necessary to keep house without a cat.
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Coors Field Nugget Seven - 9/11
With a home game scheduled for Sunday Sept 11, the on field observations inevitably were going to be more elaborate than usual. Usually the pregame announcements and recognitions last about 20 minutes, but last Sunday's ceremonies lasted at least twice that long.
The day began with a confusing pre-game script. We get one of these printouts for every game, because the guests arriving for on field introductions often arrive in the lobby and the script gives us valuable clues on who to call to provide an escort to the green room.
Last Sunday, the clues on who was greeting whom were almost impossible to decipher. I was puzzling over the page when the promotions director came through the lobby. Jason often seems to be flying low, but he stopped to go through the list with me and identify which group I should be watching for. Most of the guests were scheduled to meet their escorts at another gate.
When things got underway at about 12:30, the Cincinnati Reds and the Rockies lineups were introduced almost right away - usually those introductions come right before the teams take the field. I understood the timing change when the parade of returning veterans began. The uniformed military personnel circled the warning track and the ball players waited on the track to shake hands, offer hugs and high fives as they passed the dugouts.
There were two first pitch ceremonies, one by a double amputee returning Green Beret. He dropped one of his crutches to the dirt on the mound, and fired the ball directly over the plate to catcher Chris Ianetta. By this time, I was choking up, and of course, the phone rang. I managed to take the call without embarrassing myself.
Then it was on to unfurling the 30 by 60 foot flag on the field; a moment of silence; the National anthem; an F-16 flyover; and some rockets fired off the top of the scoreboard. Both the Rockies and Reds left the warning track to join the people on the field holding the flag.
Pitcher Juan Nicasio was hit in the neck by a line drive in early August. The ball hit and fractured C-1, the same broken bone which put Christopher Reeve in a wheelchair. But Nicasio is recovering. He wears a tall, thick cervical collar. He was on hand to greet the marching vets and stayed on hand to join his teammates in holding the flag during the anthem.
But the emotional tugs were not over for the day. One of the players we received from Cleveland in the Jimenez trade is a young pitcher Drew Pomeranz. The Rockies sent him to AA Tulsa, to get an idea of his skills. Quite a few of the baseball administration VIP's spent a couple of weeks in Tulsa to watch him pitch. And then, he ended up in the hospital with an emergency appendectomy.
We weren't at all sure we would see him this season in Denver, but he started on Sunday, with pitch count of 60. He made it through 5 innings with 62 pitches, got the win, and calmed everyone's nerves with a 3 up, 3 down first inning that featured first pitch strikes to the first two batters he faced.
All in all, a memorable way to celebrate Sept 11.
After all the hoopla this year, I'm wondering if eventually 9/11 will become a national holiday. It wouldn't surprise me.
The day began with a confusing pre-game script. We get one of these printouts for every game, because the guests arriving for on field introductions often arrive in the lobby and the script gives us valuable clues on who to call to provide an escort to the green room.
Last Sunday, the clues on who was greeting whom were almost impossible to decipher. I was puzzling over the page when the promotions director came through the lobby. Jason often seems to be flying low, but he stopped to go through the list with me and identify which group I should be watching for. Most of the guests were scheduled to meet their escorts at another gate.
When things got underway at about 12:30, the Cincinnati Reds and the Rockies lineups were introduced almost right away - usually those introductions come right before the teams take the field. I understood the timing change when the parade of returning veterans began. The uniformed military personnel circled the warning track and the ball players waited on the track to shake hands, offer hugs and high fives as they passed the dugouts.
There were two first pitch ceremonies, one by a double amputee returning Green Beret. He dropped one of his crutches to the dirt on the mound, and fired the ball directly over the plate to catcher Chris Ianetta. By this time, I was choking up, and of course, the phone rang. I managed to take the call without embarrassing myself.
Then it was on to unfurling the 30 by 60 foot flag on the field; a moment of silence; the National anthem; an F-16 flyover; and some rockets fired off the top of the scoreboard. Both the Rockies and Reds left the warning track to join the people on the field holding the flag.
Pitcher Juan Nicasio was hit in the neck by a line drive in early August. The ball hit and fractured C-1, the same broken bone which put Christopher Reeve in a wheelchair. But Nicasio is recovering. He wears a tall, thick cervical collar. He was on hand to greet the marching vets and stayed on hand to join his teammates in holding the flag during the anthem.
But the emotional tugs were not over for the day. One of the players we received from Cleveland in the Jimenez trade is a young pitcher Drew Pomeranz. The Rockies sent him to AA Tulsa, to get an idea of his skills. Quite a few of the baseball administration VIP's spent a couple of weeks in Tulsa to watch him pitch. And then, he ended up in the hospital with an emergency appendectomy.
We weren't at all sure we would see him this season in Denver, but he started on Sunday, with pitch count of 60. He made it through 5 innings with 62 pitches, got the win, and calmed everyone's nerves with a 3 up, 3 down first inning that featured first pitch strikes to the first two batters he faced.
All in all, a memorable way to celebrate Sept 11.
After all the hoopla this year, I'm wondering if eventually 9/11 will become a national holiday. It wouldn't surprise me.
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