Bliss on a Budget - BaseBall Bliss

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I came from baseball stock. I can say that with big confidence because my grandfather Les Powers was in fact a professional ball player. A pitcher. He played for the San Francisco Seals (among others) the pre-cursor to the Giants. When I was a child my father would pull out old newspaper clippings of when my grandfather struck greats like Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig. At the time I didn’t quite understand who these men were – but as I got older this slice of history was something that I was particularly proud of. I remember going to visit my grandparents at “The River” (this is their home located on the Russian River, in Northern California- It is the closest spot to heaven on earth for me) and my grandfather would be sitting in his new-fangled chair – it vibrated and warmed up to relax his aching back from all the work he was doing around the house – watching the Giants on the small TV on the corner. I would plop down on the floor next to him, letting the cool breezes from the open screen door next to us; blow the smell of the redwoods, river and ocean into the room. He deeply involved in the game – maybe giving some advice from the chair, me sitting quietly by, playing cards – solitaire, making sure not to disturb.

My father was a baseball player as well. Although in his mid-teens he had to make a decision to play baseball or to continue to pursue swimming. I think we all know how that went. A great decision!! But regardless there he was, having no sons, and wanting to play catch. So I with my mitt and he with his would go out into the backyard where I would do my best to catch what I can only describe as “deadly fastballs” being thrown with all the fire that he could muster. When I caught the ball – My hand would immediately feel the sting and pain of the catch. When I wouldn’t- well those same balls would hit the wooden fence behind us – until one day the fence simply gave way. It could no longer stand under the hammering of the missed balls.

I had a very short lived career as a ball player. I think I played only two summers of softball. Maybe just one, around the age of 12 or 13. My team was the stingers. I was number 14 – My lucky number to this day. Although I must say they must have thought I was dreadful. I simply could not throw a softball to save my life. The baseballs I had thrown where small, these softballs were huge, and I was clumsy with them. I hated batting, I rarely took a swing. My thought was – well let’s hope for a walk. I always played right field (when I wasn’t sitting on the bench) and for the most part nothing really happened near me. So I didn’t cause the team a lot of strife or losses. I only remember one crowning moment when a fly ball quite literally soared out to where I was standing, and in my only moment of brilliance I actually caught the ball. It was like something out of a movie. Everyone cheered and acted like it was the most wonderful thing anyone had done ever. I even got an award at the team BBQ at the end of the season.\

Needless to say – I thought I was most likely the end of the line. But then Jackson my youngest met James. And they, as anyone who knows them knows, are a match made in heaven. Jackson is the ideal son for the dad, who wants to have a kid that loves sports, and wants to play them, and the cherry on top is that Jackson (even though every parent thinks their kid is great – in our case it is actually true) is really athletic. Jackson gets it! Jackson would play baseball (I am borrowing this from the movie Sandlot)”all day, all night, rain, shine, tidal wave, whatever” I often go into his to his room at night, and he will be fast asleep with his bat clutched in his arms. Jackson is a ball player!! Last year he was the only 7 year old on the All-Star team, and this year he is on, not only his little league team, but has already been selected to play on the All-Star team – So from now on, we will be playing a minimum of 4 games each and every week. Now this blog isn’t just a brag about Jackson – this blog is about doing blissful things on a budget.

Every year my family goes to Santa Cruz, CA and spends a week in a beach house there. When I say my family that means; my parents, my little family, and my sisters family. It is a trip we look forward to every year – and I could write a whole blog on just the beach – but it’s what we do on the way to the beach or depending on the way home from the beach. We go as a family to a giant’s game at ATT Park in San Francisco. This is quite possibly the best location in the world to go to a ballgame. It is right on the bay – and if you sit on the 3rd base side, you can watch the game and the boats drift through the ocean. It is freezing cold – and there is hot clam chowder in bread bowls to keep you warm, and the smell of the ocean, and the thrill of the crowd to fill your heart. This is quite possibly one of my most favorite things in the world to do. And here is the thing. It is affordable – the first year we went; we got tickets for a whopping $5.00 per seat.

Now I know that not everyone can go to San Fran and attend a Giants game, but there is baseball being played somewhere in your town. Maybe it’s a little league team, maybe a high school team or possibly college. Take out your old glove (you will need it to catch the fly balls) grabs your honey, or your kids, and head out to the game. Buy a hotdog, and peanuts or cracker jacks feel the sun on your face, cheer for the home team, get up in the 7th inning and sing your heart out.


“For its root, root, root for the home team,
if they don't win it's a shame.
For its one, two, three strikes, you're out,
at the old ball game."

Now go get your baseball bliss 