Four and a Half Innings of Utter Bliss...

Free events are so very cool... you know why? I can afford them!

Yeah, this has not a damn thing to do with homelessness, but you'll forgive an indulgence...

This evening, White Sox fan Ricky and his grouchy A's fan friend (me) hit Max Bear Park (between Murdell and El Padro just off Concannon) and watched California District 57 (aka Pleasanton Little League) TROUNCE the boys from Central Division.

It's the Little League World Series (Intermediate Division) and it's being held right here in Livermore! Can you dig it? World Class Baseball in Livermore!

The place was pretty packed. Ricky and I sat on the edge of left field all the way in back. But it was still a pretty good view of the game. Behind us sat a guy with two boys who obviously knew his baseball (he's an Athletic's Fan, heh... and I'm probably the least Baseball Savvy Athletics fan I know).

Before the game started we got to see the boys warm up. Pleasanton's Pitcher was in the Bull Pen throwing heaters that looked like they had to hurt to catch, while the Central Division boys were not exactly in fine form on the field. They reminded me a little of how the Bad News Bears looked in the beginning of the movie.

Be that as it may, the boys from Pleasanton came to play Baseball, even if the other team did not. In less than sixty pitches, and four and a half innings, it was a 12-0 no hitter that lasted a little over an hour and a half.

But, you want to know something? Neither Ricky nor I have been to a game this year. It was our first game to see, and we got to see a team of local kids with a lot of heart do a heck of a job on the field. And the solo homer in the bottom of the fourth landed less than ten feet away from where we sat.

We're going back to watch these boys play tomorrow at six, when they'll take the field against the boys from Nogales, Arizona!

Just a warning, AZ, our boys came to play!

And maybe the A's will do better tomorrow than they did tonight... oh crap, they're facing Knuckleballer R.A. Dickie! Well, at least we have the Mutant Walrus (Colon) on the mound... but that'll be all over by the time Ricky and I get to Max Bear Park... I may have to console myself again by watching a truly great team in person...