A Night of Baseball and the Balloon of Doom

Last night, Mr. Traveler's baseball team, the Domstad Dodgers, played an evening game in Leidsche Rijn against UVV-3. Even though it was technically an away game, I rode the bus over to watch since Leidsche Rijn is just on the other side of Utrecht. (Plus Mr. Traveler promised to ride home with me, so I wouldn't have to wait in the dark at the bus stop.)

UVV Club House

As I left home, I noticed it was getting chilly, and I grabbed a sweatshirt to pull on if I got cold later in the evening. When I already needed the sweatshirt at the bus stop, I should have realized it was going to be a cold night. I got to the field just before the game began and found a spot on the bleachers. Immediately, I could feel the cold breeze rushing through my sweatshirt, long sleeve t-shirt, and tank top. As the game started, however, I tried to forget about the wind and focus on the game. After all, Mr. Traveler was up to bat first.

The first half of the first inning wasn't too eventful. The Dodgers didn't drive in any runs, and soon UVV was up to bat. UVV managed to get 2 runs before the Dodgers could get the third out. At this point, it felt like UVV was the better team, but the Dodgers were only down by 2 so I tried not to lose hope too quickly.

Baseball

The second inning wasn't too eventful and passed fairly quickly. In the third, however, the Dodgers started to power up. When Mr. Traveler grounded out as the second out of the inning, I thought the inning was over. However, the Dodgers were just getting started. They drove in run after run (some, the result of awesome hits and others, as the result of UVV errors). At one point, a third out seemed imminent, as a UVV player stood directly under a popup. However, the ball fell right out of his glove. Mr. Traveler even got a second chance to bat in the inning, this time walking and eventually making it home. At the end of the inning, I'd lost score (since there isn't a score board and I was slightly distracted by one of the player's daughters who was running around, climbing up and down the bleachers, and having a blast), but I think the Dodgers had about 9 runs.

Mr. Traveler Waiting to Bat

At this point, I started to feel cold again, and my concentration wasn't too strong. I knew that UVV had scored 3 runs, but I lost track of the Dodgers' run count for the next couple innings. However, going into the 6th, an update from the scorekeeper let me know the score was 14-3, Dodgers. If the Dodgers could maintain this lead, we'd all be headed home at the end of the inning since the league has a run rule that they will call a game with a 10 run difference at the end of 6 innings.

Unfortunately, the Dodgers were unable to extend their lead in the first half of the 6th, and it was up to their defense to get us out of the game (and out of the cold). Unfortunately, the UVV bats were warmed up by now, and the inning ended with a score of 14-5. So much for a short game.

I'm not sure if it was in the 7th or the 8th, but the real turning point in the game seemed to be the arrival of the balloon of doom. Ffffpppt. Ffffpppt. Everyone heard the loud noise in the sky. As those of us watching the game looked back, we saw a hot air balloon seemingly headed straight towards us. Those in the hot air balloon seemed to be frantically trying to shoot more heat into the balloon to prevent it from landing on a tree, in the bleachers, or in the middle of the field. Ffffpppt Ffffpppt. The players tried to concentrate, but the Dodgers, who were in the field were in ideal viewing position to see the balloon closing in on the field.

Oh, a Hot Air Balloon!

Eventually, the ffffpppt ffffpppt of the balloon came with shouts from the riders in the balloon, presumably attempting to warn us of their landing. Even if the players were only half as distracted as those of us in the bleachers, I don't know how they continued to play.

Getting a Little Too Close for Comfort

Eventually the balloon passed but not before it seemed to rattle everyone's concentration. UVV-3 picked up a few more runs and going into the 9th, the score was 14-9.

At this point, everything seemed to fall apart. What had seemed like an easy win was now looking more like a need for damage control. The pitcher was especially rattled, and the UVV players started walking one after another. The bases were loaded when the ball sailed past the outfielders. The score was 14-13 in the bottom of the 9th. The Dodger's other pitcher was playing outfield, but something needed to change. The pitchers switched positions, but the new pitcher hardly had a chance to warm up. Soon the bases were loaded again. There were no outs in the inning. And, the inevitable happened; UVV drove in the winning run.

At the end of the game, I was just happy to get of the cold, but I knew the players were feeling down. As we walked towards the parking lot, the players talked about the win that could have been, the meltdown, and the balloon of doom.