This post is even worse than it appears, but it’s alright.
Welcome to another Wednesday photo prompt post! We’ll be going it this week and the next couple without our hostess Marilyn since she’s taking a well deserved respite. It’s going to be hard going it alone, but I will get by…
I don’t know what’s more groovy… that font, or Stephen Piscotty’s name itself.
Last Wednesday I attended the ballgame at Busch Stadium between the most overrated team of all time Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals. Whatever trained chimpanzee is in charge of the fan experience at the ballpark has decided that most weekday games should be “theme nights.” As it was, last Wednesday’s game was Grateful Dead night at the ballpark. Ah, there’s nothing like combining the national pastime with the world’s most stoned band…
Riding that train of cocaine…
I’ll be sure to devote a future post to my absolute dislike of team mascots, but anyway, there’s the annoying Fredbird sporting a tie dyed Cardinals jersey and draped in a Jerry Garcia wig that will no doubt be used later on to dust off home plate. I had no idea The Dead themselves had a bear mascot until I attended this travesty to the sport and noticed it on so many of the band shirts fans were wearing, not to mention prowling about with Deadbird. I guess this was actually a learning experience after all…
And besides, this wasn’t the worst theme night I ever attended at a baseball stadium….
Unlucky I was.
When I made my trek to Minneapolis for baseball in September 2011, I unwittingly walked right into fucking Star Wars night at Target Field. Both the Mariners and Twins were hopelessly out of the playoff hunt by that point in the season, and it was about 50 degrees at game time (a heat wave for Minnesota), so you know the only people who were gonna show up for this sideshow were the freaks themselves…
Uh oh… Darth Maul is giving me the evil eye. I’ll bet he knows I’m a Jar Jar fan…
One minute, you’re trying to enjoy a ballgame, the next minute, you have l’il black Chewbacca running down the aisle in front of you…
I have to admit, the costume was cute… even if my picture sucked Wookiee ass.
And I guess Star Wars night isn’t quite as bad as the Christmas in July game I had the extreme misfortune of attending last summer. Luckily for this Mecca employee who already has to put up with the most wonderful time of the year for three months, I did not bring my camera to that game to forever capture those horrible images that are still burning in my brain…
So instead, you get one last Star Wars picture of Darth Vader with a pussy pink lightsabre.
See ya next Wednesday with some more photos themed around fun! Oh, and enjoy the earworm!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
That’s really sad… How is America’s favorite past time no longer a theme itself in its own right?
I love baseball. I like Star Wars well enough. But I’m failing to see how exactly these two things go hand in hand.
UNLESS…
The new, improved fan night could pit Good vs Evil, substituting light sabers for bats. Who wouldn’t want to see Darth Vader trying his luck (and “accidentally” getting pelted) with a 100 mph fastball?
I’ve ranted about the ballpark experience being turned into a carnival atmosphere many times in the past! How many people being lured to the stadium are actually there to watch the game? For families, it’s almost like a trip to the amusement park anymore. Why should kids give a rat’s behind about the game on the field when there’s so many other (very costly) distractions for them to partake of instead?
I would totally watch if it were C-3PO getting his shiny dome knocked off by some high cheese!
Poor C-3PO doesn’t look like he could handle a bat, ball, or anything else for that matter. 😀
People might be better off hanging out on The Strip in Las Vegas, if they’re craving a freak show type of experience. It’d probably be a lot less expensive, too.
I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea of The Dead + America’s pastime together in one event. It’s wacky. But you know… maybe Casey Jones and Casey at the Bat are really one and the same person. Had you thought of that?!
And the Mighty Garcia has passed out!
I always liked the Dog Days (bring your dog to the game). I agree with you on the other theme stuff. All teams have a famous local band or singer they can bring out for the SSB but other than that just stick with the kiss cam and the organ music. Take me out to the ball game anytime.
We’ve had the dog thing here for a long time (The Cards call it “Pooches at the Park”), but now that you mention it, I haven’t heard about it in a while. I wonder if it got eliminated since it wasn’t “incentivey” enough to bring in cash cow fans? St. Louis also has a tradition of bringing out local school choirs and bands to perform the Anthem (and God Bless America, which they do at the beginning of the game, not in the fricking 7th inning!), though they occasionally break that up for more professional/celebrity talent… I once saw Mr. Miyagi sing the anthem before a game!
I always miss the Metallica night. Every single year. I always miss it.
Ooh, ooh, did someone mention Jar Jar?!
Why, yes I did! And sadly, he was not in attendance at that game. I’d have asked for his autograph… 😦
Dead concerts and ballgames should not be blended, indeed, Bill.
It’s hard to play baseball in a dense cloud of “fog”….
Theme nights? Geez, I guess baseball games really have turned into a circus! The only theme I ever stumbled upon at a baseball game was Drunken Idiot Night.
LOL! I once had a front row seat to a brawl in the bleachers between a couple rogue Twins fans (Back when the team was so bad, they almost got contracted out of the league) who wanted to stir things up with the Cards fans. It was a pretty boring game, so I was glad to have the extracurricular activity to liven things up!
This is no reflection on you, but that song at the end was my favorite part of this post.
I like to include a little something for everybody!
Sometimes,ignorance is bliss. I didn’t know how special all these nights were at the various parks. Mostly, Fenway doesn’t do a lot of this. I think it’s because ownership is too cheap, but it could be they lack the right kind of imagination. Right now, watching the Nats final collapse while watching the Sox make a futile yet somehow noble run to be THE spoilers of 2015 … I can but hope that next year will bring pitching. A bull pen. A couple of aces. A middle reliever. Something.
I’d like to think of it as Boston ownership having a little more respect for the game… not to mention, realizing it doesn’t have to stoop to Bill Veeck-like gimmicks to draw fans. You’d think St. Louis was hurting for fans, but that’s hardly the case…
Why would they need a theme? Isn’t it a sports theme? Where was rambling rose?…
I can’t imagine that at a aussie footy match. People take footy sooooo serious and get soooo
cross if they suspect some one of ‘taking the piss” Which has nothing to do with urination by the way. I just can’t see fans seeing humor in Darth Vader swanning about and distracting from the game, regardless of the color of his light saber. great title for the post.
so many questions. 😀
LOL, the costumed freaks and Deadheads would likely be forcefully removed from any footy match. Or maybe given the infamous “squirrel grip” should they show up for rugby!