A tip of the cap to Lady Luck

Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. That was certainly the case Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park.
By the sheer luck of the draw, my partial season ticket package included the Sept. 17 game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Certainly there is no way I could have anticipated back in March, when I received my season tickets, that Saturday’s game would end up being the night the Phillies clinched their fifth consecutive National League Eastern Division title.
It was the second title-clinching game that I have seen in person. In 1993, the Chicago White Sox, featuring Frank Thomas and Bo Jackson, clinched a division crown against the Seattle Mariners, featuring a young Ken Griffey Jr., in Chicago at what was called “new” Comiskey Park, which was then only three years old.



That one had a little more planning involved, although in the end, it was Lady Luck who served it up to me and my friend Chris Dettro.
An old school baseball fan, Chris was my running buddy back in Illinois in the 1990s. Neither of us could convince our womenfolk to join us on baseball excursions, but that was OK because it left more beer for us.
And neither of us were White Sox fans, we just enjoyed trying to be in the ballpark for big moments. (We would later scheme to be in the ballpark when Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game streak in 1995. Unfortunately, we missed by one game and ended up in Cleveland at the game the day after the record was broken.)
For our White Sox ticket to be the clincher in 1993 though, we needed help from the Texas Rangers. We had purchased the tickets a few weeks in advance trying to predict when the clincher would be. They were $8 bleacher tickets, so if we were wrong, we would be out only $8.
The White Sox and Rangers were playing a doubleheader on Sunday and our tickets were for Monday evening. The White Sox needed to split that doubleheader to make Monday night the potential clincher.
It appeared early on that the White Sox were not going to cooperate. They won the first game of the twinbill and had their ace pitcher, Jack McDowell, throwing the second game. If the Sox won that game, the division title was theirs and Chris and I would have missed by one game.
Since we weren’t White Sox fans, it was easy to cheer against them in the second game. I was working at the newspaper that Sunday evening and we had the TV on watching the game as the Rangers prevailed. It was the only time I can remember cheering for the Texas Rangers to win anything.
Being in Chicago the next night for the clincher was pretty exciting. There hasn’t been a whole lot of winning baseball in Chicago over the past century, and the winning that has been done has been mostly by the White Sox.
The excitement in Philly on Saturday was a lot like that night in Chicago in 1993. Even though the good guys have won five division titles in a row, winning titles never gets old. Fortunately, 14-year-old Son of Blonde Accountant was with me and he got to see his first clincher. That alone is worth a tip of the cap to Lady Luck.

S-F football night all about community

One doesn’t have to like football to enjoy high school football night. That’s because in many towns, it’s about more than just football, it’s about community.
That was certainly evident last Friday night in Spring-Ford High School’s home opener against West Chester East. My kids have been, and still are, in the Spring-Ford school system, so I have been to some football games over the years.
The good guys won 63-12, but for me, that’s only part of the story. I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere, the band, the cheerleaders, and the mascot. Spring-Ford’s mascot — Rowdy Ram — is particularly entertaining this year, interacting with fans, especially the younger children.



And I’ve always loved the band. My high school band in central Illinois was directed by Dr. Lawrence Fogelberg, father of the late singer-songwriter from the 1970s, Dan Fogelberg, and the inspiration of one of his greatest songs, “Leader of the Band.” So ya, we had a pretty good band.
Unfortunately, the Spring-Ford band didn’t perform a halftime routine for the first game, instead deferring to the visiting team’s band for that honor. But the S-F musicians did it up big and loud from their perch in the bleachers, so I got to enjoy a performance just the same. I am particularly fond of the tuba section.
The cheerleaders, of course, also help complete the experience, although I must admit, as a card-carrying member of the Dad of Daughters Club, I sometimes worry that the high-flying aerial routines will result in injury. But I’d have the same concern if I had a son in helmet and pads knocking heads on the field.
All in all, high school football night is a great way to get a relatively low-cost evening of entertainment. But more importantly, it provides a wonderful sense of community, the benefits of which one can’t put a price on.
Did I mention you should go out and see Rowdy Ram? The youngster in the suit is a hoot.