River Cats

I went to my first River Cats baseball game this last week. I loved the stadium by the River. It happened to be the hottest day of the year. When the Delta breeze came up, there was a audible sigh that roll through like the raised-hand stadium "wave."

If I had the opportunity to make a suggestion to the River Cat organization, I would suggest they do not need to fill every second with noise. Do they think that makes the game more exciting? It did seem to make people restless, maybe they sell more food and beer that way.

As a stroke survivor, I am very sensitive to stimulus. It was unbelievable how much stimuli can be thrown at you during a baseball game. By he 7th inning stretch, I was feeling anxious and had a headache. There was music blaring constantly, a bazillion vendors walking up and down the stairs - yelling out whatever it was they were selling. Beer sold beer for $2.00; water was $4.00 -guess which sold more. Lots of beer equals lots of bathroom breaks. Even Jim commented on the constant parade of people up and down the stairs - often the same folks over and over.


If the player stepped out of the batter's box, they had to blast music, if there was a foul ball - sound effects. Changing a pitcher , end of inning, or calling a time out resulted in local radio stations taking the field for gags.

"Kid, would you like a free hot dog or $50.00 to hit your dad in the face with a pie?" The boy smeared pie all over his dad's face for the $50.00, visible to all on big screen - ah yes, America, baseball and apple pie.