
It’s Opening Day for Major League Baseball. Thanks to T-Mobile, we got a free subscription to watch MLB for this season. Tonight’s game, the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Chicago Cubs, is bringing back lots of memories.
We haven’t lived near a ballpark for over 20 years. When my kids were young, we were all baseball fans. They still are, so when we go to Minneapolis and Seattle, we usually go with our kids to a game.
Baseball started for my girls with the 1998 Arizona Diamondback expansion team. We lived just down the freeway from Bank One Ballpark (now called Chase Stadium) and we were all delighted when Phoenix was chosen for the new NL team that year. My husband took my kids out of school for afternoon Opening Day games more than once those next six years.
Other memories around the Diamondbacks are fond. My kids were 7 and 9 when the team started, and the franchise was very family-friendly. We would bring a van full of us, plus the extra three seats were filled with neighbors or school friends. There were $1-seat sections in the ballpark back then, $5 parking, and home-packed dinners. It was a cheap family outing, and we did it dozens of times those first years.
To the 1999 AZ Diamondback team,
you have all gone your way, retired now.
When we watch tonight, I have
memories of those strong years.
Our family favorite was Luis “Gonzo” Gonzalez
who entertained us with his hitting streaks.
Then Randy Johnson’s no-hitter and record
number of Ks, and Jay Bell’s grand slam
that made a fan a million dollars.
All-Stars, all of you.
Thank you for the memories.
Tonight’s game started at 7:10 PT.
By 7:24, the Diamondbacks scored their first run: 1-0. They lost the lead in the second inning, though.
At 7:26, Keith said, “I’d be okay not watching the whole game.”
I said, “Well, I want to watch until at least 7:55. This is my Slice of the day.” We turned it off a little after 8:00. Then later, we watched the ninth inning.
My guess is we won’t be using the T-Mobile perk too much, but it’s nice to know it’s there when we want to watch a little baseball.
Postscript: The Cubs won the game, 10-5.