Go back to Minnesota

Christine and I played hooky from watching the Phillies today to go to Popcorn Park Zoo, a favorite home for needy animals.

We missed them not giving Roy Halladay any support and getting shut down 4-1 in a complete game by Carl Pavano. Incredible.

So the Phillies lost a series to the Twins, and many Twinkies fans will be leaving Philly happy. We couldn't believe how many Minnesotans ventured to the East Coast for the series. At first it was cute, then it quickly became nauseating because the fans didn't give them the Philly treatment.

Consider this couple who sat near us on Saturday, decked out in matching Nick Punto (why Nick Punto?) shirts. We got past that tackiness when we learned from their sign, which they waved incessantly, that it was their honeymoon and they were following the Twins from Philadelphia to New York.

The kind usher in our section loved their story, offered some tourist sight-seeing advice and gave them a ball he said he got in batting practise the night before. (We've seen several ultra-nice ushers at the park lately.) They cheered hard for their guy, Punto, but left when he walked in the 9th inning, missing the Twins great comeback.

We can't understand why they didn't catch any of the Phillies fans' vitriol. Late in the game, finally, someone told them to put down their stupid sign and helpfully pointed out that they misspelled "Philly's." And, yes, that was in reference to the team, not the city.

Christine and I appreciate the idea of spending a honeymoon chasing baseball, but we would not feel the need to advertise it, and we would not wear matching outfits.

These weren't the only Twins fans near us on Saturday. Perhaps a foreshadow for the honeymooners were a couple of retired folks. The gentleman wore a Michael Cuddyer T-shirt, and his wife wore a "Gramma Jan" Twins jersey with the No. 41 on it. She also wore big baseball earrings with Twins logos. She didn't really irritate me until we were leaving and she stopped traffic down the stairs to chat with some more Minnesotans who were still in their seats.

Other observations from the stands on Saturday: The kid next to me amused me until late in the game when he spit incessantly. He didn't have anything to drink, so I don't know how one boy could have so much saliva. Before annoying me, I learned that he and a buddy got balls tossed to them from Twins Francisco Liriano and former Red Sox Ron Mahay. The balls had logos for the Twins inaugural season at Target Field; apparently the road team brings its own balls. ... His buddy made us laugh when he started calling Jayson Werth shaggy. "He looks like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo," he said, breaking out his best Scooby impression.

Once again, we caught the Phillies' father-child game before the real game started, so the dads actually lost two games in one day.

Musically speaking: After stints with Journey, Sammy Hagar, Kings of Leon and others, Jayson Werth is using Metallica's Wherever I May Roam for his intro music. It's probably a slump buster, but I wonder if he's talking about his impending free agency. ... I'm addicted to Placido Polanco's into music, I Know You Want Me by Pitbull. I don't know why it never caught my ear when Pedro Feliz used it. ... They played Roller Coaster at one point. I think it should be retired in honor of Chris Coste. ... The Phanatic danced to Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher. We never heard that one at the ballpark before. ... The St. James Alumni Blue and Gray Voices directed by Pete McLaughlin did the anthem because it was St. James Alumni day. I don't remember their rendition, so it probably wasn't bad.

Antiquated shirts: Jimmy Rollins (not being snarky, I saw a Rollins No. 6, ironically walking next to a Howard No. 6), Jim Thome (also saw a current version of his Twins shirt), Bobby Abreu, Cliff Lee and former Twin Carlos Gomez.

I don't consider shirts of Hall of Famers antiquated, so it was nice to see a Kirby Puckett jersey, even though the guy wearing it should go back to Minnesota.

Oh well, almost time to see the Red Sox try to complete a sweep of the Dodgers to remain a game behind the Yankees and pull into a tie with the Rays for the Wild Card. Who was worried about their slow start?

Rainy memory

Something occurred to me as I mowed the lawn in the rain today. We're going to our first regular season game tomorrow; it's against the Cubs and it could rain. That combination will always conjure a memory for me.

Last May, Christine's co-worker had tickets he couldn't use so we went to a Saturday afternoon game we hadn't planned to attend. It was a pretty good game: Freddy Garcia actually lasted six-plus innings. Although he and Geoff Geary blew up and gave up six runs in the seventh, the Phillies came right back with six of their own to retake the lead in the bottom of the inning. Brett Myers pitched two innings in a non-save situation in what was a turning point toward him being a dominant reliever.

But for us, an off-field incident will always stick out. There was a rain delay that lasted more than an hour. We sat through it, and the place emptied out for the end of the game.

In the ninth inning, as the rain was pouring down again, Aramis Ramirez fouled one back all the way up to our section. In our row. Since there was no one else left in the row at this point, I ran down the row and dove, coming up banged and bruised but with a game ball. Unfortunately, a kid was a few seats and rows away. He wasn't a cute little kid - more like a teen and he was nowhere near the ball. But that didn't stop a drunk in the section from suggesting the ball belonged to the "kid." I wussed out and gave the ball away. {I tease Greg about this, but he definitely made the right decision. We didn't need a fight over a ball.}

I'm still kicking myself for that. It would have been the second ball I ever got at a park - the first in regulation. In the early '90s, I brought my glove to batting practice at Yankee Stadium. I was there real early, camped in the right field corner. Someone hit a lofting fly right to me. I camped under it, but someone jumped over me and snagged it. Determined, I moved up to the wall and soon a ball was roped there. I reached across a bunch of kids (none of them had gloves and had no chance at it) and wound up with the ball.

Later, I had Pat Kelly sign the memento while I interviewed him for my high school paper when he was signing autographs at a local mall. I wore my Red Sox windbreaker and used my Red Sox pen.

Tonight's games: Christine and I are heading to the city for a party tonight. I know we have to miss the end of the first nationally televised Yankees-Red Sox game and probably all of the Cubs-Phillies game, so we probably won't update until after Sunday's game.