Rochester Red Wings

Growing up, my home-town baseball team was the Senators (go Frank Howard!). I might have been taken to a game as a kid – I don’t really remember. But professional sports weren’t a priority in our household, so I couldn’t even tell you who bought them or when. I did attend a couple of Mets games, but only because they were company outings. And since we sat in some remote bleachers, we were mostly there to socialize, not actually watch the game. At least I think it was the Mets. It could have been the Yankees…

View of downtown from the stadium

Tom, Naomi, and Glen

This week, I had the opportunity to attend a Rochester RedWings game. I didn’t exactly know where Frontier Field was – somewhere on the other side of the river, right? What a lovely little stadium it turned out to be! Our friends Tom and Glen had arranged with Naomi Silver, the team’s President & CEO, to have a box overlooking 3^rd base for a party of about 30. It was a comfortable, air-conditioned space, with access to private bathrooms (this is definitely the way to see a game!). We had a tasty food spread, and at one point two women came around with a cart and made everyone ice cream sundaes. Oh, and we watched the game. 

Colleen, Steven, and Caroline

Off and on… But I did learn a few things: the Red Wings are AAA, which means they’re at the top of the minor leagues. And they are the feeder to the Minnesota Twins (one of my friends joked that that made more sense than the Baltimore Orioles, the former affiliate, since Minneapolis and Rochester have about the same weather…). Another friend, Ali, actually explained some of the play to me as it was happening! Also, I learned more about how to use the camera on my iPhone from Naomi.

The mascot Mittsy stopped by to wave hi

I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout – the stadium appeared to be over half-full on this balmy mid-week summer evening – and relieved that the sky was clear and a light breeze made sitting outside (in the shade) bearable. There weren’t enough seats for all of us to sit outside at once, which was fine – there were plenty of tables inside with a good view, and high-top tables for socializing. Another friend, Karl, introduced me to his twin and his twin’s wife, from Albuquerque (he was wearing a Breaking Bad t-shirt). After they said they were from Albuquerque, I asked where, and the wife replied, “New Mexico.” Funny. I persisted, because I meant where in Albuquerque! Turns out they live less than a mile from my sister. Small world.

I felt a bit bad that I made my carpool group leave after what we thought was the 8^th inning, to beat the “traffic.” The Red Wings were down 6 to 4, so it seemed likely the Charlotte Knights would win. When I looked at the final results the next day, it must have been just after the 7^th when we departed (next time someone will have to teach me how to count innings on the board…) and the Red Wings came back to win 7 to 6! So we missed an exciting finish – oh well... I have to admit, it was a really enjoyable way to spend a summer evening.