floating on thin air
last saturday, lenny dinardo took the mound for a good 6 innings, and i cheered him on from the deep cushioned couch in our living room. he soared to be one of the a's quiet surprises last year, and when he was sent back to triple-a earlier this year, i was a little saddened. but he's back, and last week at root beer float day, he signed autographs and took photos (for donations inside and for anyone who wanted one after warm-ups by the bullpen), giving tons of people a very warm fan experience.
at the onset of root beer pandemonium, inside the east side club, i stood in line and very dorkily asked lenny, "do you mind if i take a photo with you?" i'm pretty sure my voice squeaked out the "you" part, and i didn't know whether to call him mr. dinardo or lenny or sir, so i just breezed over that part... he heartily responded with a big grin and "of course not!", and i felt totally thrilled. i didn't realize until i saw the photo just how pink my cheeks were. it could have been me blushing or from standing outside for a half hour under the toasty oakland sun. but yeah, i was pretty pink for me. a side note: i will never again wash my green bcbg shirt that he lightly touched. or i will, but only when it stinks. or reeks.
the rest of the afternoon was great (well, except for the we-didn't-win-the-game part). we celebrated todd's last days as
a 20-something with tons of dairy and carbonation: mrs. embree and ellis poured todd a
float. dallas poured with the fireman. we saw huston from afar, and
dana eveland put good effort into scooping ice cream (too bad this
didn't translate to his less-than-less-than-stellar innings in boston this weekend; perhaps the scooping put too much stress on his arm?). and we also sighted lew wolff making his way behind the fireman, stopping to chat with some of the "regulars" at the tables by the tv wall.i passed my delivery of the day, ziggy zig zag cream cheese swirl brownies (in honor of brad ziegler!!!), off to lenny after he signed by the bullpen, and he looked at them and said, "hey! for the bullpen! alright!" again, i felt psyched. i may not get long sentences out of these guys, but really, that's not the point. do i make a huge difference in the world of baseball? um... scratch that question. but do i root for them no matter what, trying to boost whatever morale our guys may partially have left? most definitely.
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