Ouch, long day with the Tigers yesterday. You may have wondered what your prayers for a successful outing got me:
1. The vouchers for box seats were no good. They were sold out.
2. My backup reserve seats were available, but the tickets put us in the very last row in the stadium. We also couldn't see the scoreboard (which features replays, interesting stats, games, etc.)
3. The temperature hit the upper 90s.
4. The Tigers didn't try to win the game (they didn't start Kenny Rogers, though I believe he was rested, and they sat three of their best players, including two all-stars).
5. The game was boring, if you're a Tigers fan.
By any objective account, the day was a mess. But it wasn't. The boys had a great time. The reserve seats were so far back, we got to sit in shade (shade is a rarity at Comerica Park). There was a good breeze. It was still hotter and muggier than Louisiana, but it wasn't unbearable. Michael (7) found $3.00 on the ground, which really fired him up. I received a free Tigers baseball hat (given to the first 10,000 adults through the gate), and a kind man gave his free hat to one of my boys. We left in the eighth inning, which allowed us to miss all post-game traffic. The boys didn't fight once. They just seemed quietly happy to be there.
I used my vouchers to score September 28th tickets to the Tigers v. Blue Jays game. The game might have big playoff implications; it might mean nothing. The boys want to go again. We'll see.
