Welcome to
Sacred Heart School of Theology's
English as a Second Language Program
The ESL Times / Summer, 2003
I Love Baseball
By: Fr. Alessandro Capoferri, SCJ
(Italy)
Miller Park: is it a good place to watch baseball? I don’t know! But for me
it’s certain that it’s a good place to see people, to talk with friends, and to
have a good time!
On Friday, August 8, the ESL class, with the teachers, went to Miller Stadium. And. we tried to be “Americans”! Yes, we participated in a tailgating party before the game! This means that we cooked sausages and hamburgers outside the stadium, in the car park.
And, we ate and drink, sharing our happiness and our fraternity.
The majority of us, the ESL students, are from countries where the most important game is soccer. In soccer traditionally the “fans” of the different teams are like “enemies” before, during, and after the game. I think that it would be impossible to do as we did at the baseball in a soccer area - preparing and eating food all together with fans of each team together in the parking lot!
But for us, it was very interesting. We appreciated the good atmosphere, and it was very interesting to observe all the different families, friends, and people all having fun and doing the same thing.
After our party, we entered the stadium; and we reached our seats – located right in the middle of 25,022 fans. We tried to understand the rules of Baseball, watching the game with attention. Oh sure, one student was so tired that he showed his interest only by resting and sleeping, but the rest of us really did enjoy it and try to understand the rules.
The teams on the field were the Marlins - a team from Florida - and the Brewers – the team from Milwaukee. The Brewers played hard and didn’t give up, but the Marlins won! I think that the Brewers did their best. But they had to bite the bullet! It was a difficult situation, and they just could not change the situation. In a baseball game it’s impossible to go to bat for someone! And, the Marlins were really sitting pretty by the end of the game! The Brewers made a lot of errors, and even we (who don’t understand baseball really well) could see that differences exist between the two teams.
But the people who were present in the stadium did not seem to care. Everyone seemed calm and happy although the home team lost the game! During the game we had found it was a good occasion to talk with each other, to drink beer, and to show our happiness in being together with one another.
Finally, when the game had finished with the victory of the Marlins 5 to 3, we watched the roof show of Miller Park: it was amazing to see that when they closed the roof, the big structure covered all the stadium, and it was very impressive.
Personally I enjoyed this trip, and the good time that we all had.
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