My Non-Superhero Cape

Riding bikes proved to be more than great transportation to the Rockies game a few weeks back, it also won Lyle a 4-pack of tickets to a September ballgame including a on-field batting practice experience. We finally went to the game this past Monday with my mom and dad, but first let us get a bit sidetracked.

 Usually when I am down on a field or court, it is to do business. I'm dressed professionally and have a task to gather news and quotes for whatever publication is looking for some text. Casual conversation ensues with players and coaches. We talk about the game at hand, the direction of the season, and after a while even how life in general is going. The strange thing is, when I'm in my reporter cape, I don't see Adrian Peterson "the celebrity gracing the covers of ESPN and Sports Illustrated" or Yao Ming "NBA sensation and giant man." For that time, they are just people doing their jobs, so I can talk to them and do mine. After an interview with Yao Ming at a Nuggets game, I was riding home with my dad and brother talking about the whole experience.  I can't lie and say I was not excited to interview him, but I started thinking less about his play on the court and more about him as a person. As I stood next to him, he was sitting, we were looking eye-to-eye. I may have even had to glance up. His legs were as big as I am around. After the interview I kept wondering, what kind of accommodations have to be made when he has to travel. Does he get the airplane seat with the extra leg room? What kind of hotel bed can he get where his feet aren't hanging off the end? And like many other celebrity athletes, does he ever get sick of people staring and wanting all of his attention? I don't have answers for any of these questions. When fans see athletes on and off the court, their first instinct is to take part of the athlete with them in terms of an autograph. I'm fortunate to get the opportunity to know some of these athletes as people beyond the stats and headlines we read in the media. They are just people. doing their jobs, and making TONS of money.  

How quickly I can switch back from my reporter to fan cape. It is hard not to get excited to see professional athletes in-person after you seem to acquaint yourself with their personalities on television or from the nosebleed section of the stadium. You read about these "celebrities" in your favorite local daily and catch up with their happenings online. To actually be standing next to them, is a thrill. Monday was one of those experiences.

After arriving at the stadium, we were escorted by Sarah (a wonderful employee of the Rockies) through the mazes of corridors leading down to the home plate entrance of the field. We walked out on the field and as usual, I was struck not by who we saw, but where we were. Ever since I was a little kid, there has been something about a professional baseball field that amazes me. It could be the manicured grass (which I have the opportunity to help with, a story for another day) or maybe the magnitude of stadium itself. I get that "the players are walking out of the field of dreams kind of feeling."

Anyways, out on the field we were detained to a roped off area with the explicit instructions NOT to call the players over for autographs. We didn't. It was kind of like being at the zoo. We watched the players in their natural environments. Some were curious, made eye contact, and came over to say hi and sign autographs. Others shied away from eye contact as to seem a little embarrassed that we would stand for an hour to watch them swing a bat and converse with one another. We all stood behind the ropes in awe, watching the beasts (some of them are a lot taller in person) causally swing their bat and crush baseballs 400 feet from home plate. Just like old times, Mom and I waited until the end of practice to see if any autographs would come our way, and they did. We met Don Baylor (the one-time skipper of the Rockies and the Chicago Cubs) and Jeff Francis. But, the one autograph I wanted waited until we were back in the seats.

We had several things on our agenda after we made our way to our first baseline seats. We needed beers, hot dogs, nachos, and most importantly an autograph that was may years in the making. We went down to the first baseline wall and waited for the players to come out for pregame. Who would have thought one of the first players out would be Eric Young Jr. When I was six, I decided that Eric Young (Senior) would be my favorite player after he hit the first ever homerun for a brand new Rockies organization in 1993. Fate would have it that I still haven't met EY, even after making a trip to Milwaukee only to see him traded the morning before the game. Fate headed our way this day. The players had been starting the autograph signing at the front of the line only to make it through 10-12 people before calling it good. EY Jr. didn't sign autographs right away, but after warming up and the National Anthem, he came straight to the middle of the pack where we stood. Here was my chance to be a fan. I don't know EY Jr., yet I wanted his autograph more than Tulo or Ubaldo. Just because.

We enjoyed our great seats and good food. I folded up my fan cape for another day and prepare to take my reporter cape back out again on Saturday. Each are equally fun to wear, yet prescribe a different view on situations.