The dates below refer to the day the pictures were taken. The comments and pictures usually appeared here on Dave's Picks a few days later. If I was super-motivated, I'll link them all up, but I'm not at the moment.
May 23rd
Here's a picture from the Saints' game. Right to left we have Saint Nick (who lived in a trailer at the park last year), Pete (who has since junked the car that Justin Varitek had autographed), Julie, from fan services who was working her last game (except she came back), and then J.D. Steve the vendor's butt is featured, too. Saints lost, and the rules for the beer vendors changed with no notice to anyone. It was the first game I've left early (I went to the lot for more beer in the middle of the 8th, rather than being able to buy one in the top of the 8th, when the Saints gave up 4 runs) since 1996, I think.
June 17th
Last night
before the Saints game, Tony the Bike Guy was riding a sweet Schwinn Stingray around the lot (it's green, even though the cheap digital camera doesn't capture that color so well). He stopped long enough for me to snarf a couple pictures. Apparently the bike (which was under $100 when I was a kid) is now worth over $2500. Notice the disc-brake, 5-speed shift lever, and shocks.
June 20th
Got a bunch of pictures from the parking lot after last night's Saints game (where we had pork chops with Rhubarb Sauce for dinner, which were pronounced "yummy"). It was a pretty good night. Ex-Saints Coach Ray Korn is in town visiting, and he sat in the stands. It was good having him there to talk baseball. Also, Scott and Becca came to the game and had a good time.
The only problem was that Becca couldn't keep her eyes open for a picture, until I took one (with the red-eye reduction turned off). Pete was mugging it up with Amelia, too. If I could hold a camera steady, it'd be a better picture.
June 23rd
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| Playing Hammerschlager |
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I've known this guy for fifteen years |
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It was the second day game at the Saint Paul Saints in a single week (after Wednesday's play-hookie day). And for the second time in the week, the forecast was for scattered thundershowers and mostly cloudy.
Here are the rules for hammerschlager, if you were curious.
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| More Hammerschlager |
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| Hey-Oh! |
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But the sun was shining through enough (again, for the second time in the week) that there were plenty of sunburns (including mine) before the day was done. In spite of a couple sore spots (how the heck did I sunburn the back of my calf?), it feels pretty nice to come home from a day spent in the hot (and humid) sun, perhaps with a beer or two in the system, and take a long nap in front of the air conditioner.
Saturday July 20th
Saturday's Saints game was the official PeTA (People Eating Tasty Animals) night. It was a pretty good time, especially since the opposing team's bus broke down, and they were 5 hours late for the game (the game started 3 hours late), which meant just that much more time for us to sit in the parking lot eating all the good grub people had brought and drinking adult bevereages. Many pictures follow. Some of them are even pretty good.
 | | Al and Terry (with Brian in the backtground) | | 640x480(68k) |
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 | | Dave, taking a picture of our neighbors | | 1600x800(288k) |
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 | | The other Dave | | 512x800(89k) |
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 | | Amelia decorated herself up pretty with duck tape | | 400x560(19k) |
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 | | She did her sandals, too | | 800x600(85k) |
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 | | Rose (Amelia's mom), in the stands | | 400x500(42k) |
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 | | Markee (the shy 14-year old) made a halter out of duck tape. | | 240x600(35k) |
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 | | Tommy, Karen, Rick, Markee, Jody (Three players, two gals) | | 640x480(65k) |
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 | | Puppy in wading pool. Ain't he cute? | | 1024x768(161k) |
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 | | An early group shot | | 1600x640(193k) |
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 | | The gang. Someone else was taking a picture from the front. | | 2400x720(125k) |
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 | The PeTA gang
from the front
(added 28Aug2002) | | 1500x1200(177k) |
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As for food, here's the best I can reconstruct what we had:
- Me: Beef fillet with horseradish, beets and greens. Garlic bread with blue parkay and mozzarella. Strawberry-Apple mead.
- Brian: Cornish Game Hen
- Dave & Candy: Walleye bites, french fries, lasagna, buffalo wings
- Pete: Venison & habañero chile
- Terry: Marlin steaks
- Tony: Bacon-wrapped beef tenderloins
- Bruce & Lynn: Pizza Rolls, buffalo steak
- Al's Mom: Sushi
- Al: Buffalo steak (roast?)
- Dr. "Scott's Uncle" Yoho: Pheasant (or was it chicken - the label wasn't clear)
Saturday, July 24th
Space station visible in Minnesota, and sure enough, at Saturday's Saints game, a couple thousand of us saw it just after the game had finished because I'd printed out the Strib article: A bird? A plane? No, it's the space station to hand to Eric, the PA guy, and he'd announced it to the crowd.
August 20th
(Kevin Sullivan's & my birthday)
Got rained out at the Saints game last night. At least we managed to finish cooking and eating before the rain got heavy. They'll play two on Thursday, making the game(s) start earlier, which will be a problem, since the folks I was going with have to work real jobs and can't duck out an hour earlier. Oh well, that's part of the fun of outdoor baseball.
August 22nd
Brutal evening over at the Saints. It was supposed to be a double-header consisting of two seven-inning games, starting at 6pm. Figured that two games at about two hours each, plus a half-hour break in-between, and we'd be home by 11. Nope. First a ten-inning game, and then an eight-inning game (both into extra innings). At least the Saints won both of them.
August 31st
Wayne Terwilliger is going to be leaving the Saints after this weekend. He's moving to Texas to be near his wife's family, and taking a job working for Marty Scott (and the Fort Worth Cats, I think), who left us last year, and has been tapped to manage Team USA this year. Twig's a good example of a classy baseball guy. And I managed to get my Twig bobble-head autographed last night. We'll miss ya, Twig.
Monday, September 2
(Labor Day) was the last game of the season. Here's the wrap-up:
 | | Tommy's Bangin' Nails | | 1600x1200(413k) |
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 | | Me, Candy, Sully and Dave | | 1600x1200(355k) |
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 | | Sully, Jody, Jason, Candy and Lynn | | 1600x1200(435k) |
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 | | Some guys, some gals | | 1600x1200(425k) |
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 | | OJ, The Can Man | | 1600x1200(439k) |
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So it's time to look back on the Saints season that was.... I made 31 of the 50 home games this year. Not bad for supposedly splitting the season-ticket package half and half with Rob. We met a bunch of new players, and a bunch who returned.
Tommy, Sully, Mags, Jody, Ricky, New-Guy-Joe and a bunch I'm forgetting, we'll miss you guys if you don't come back next year, but hopefully it'll be because you've found better jobs. Maybe we'll manage to talk a few of you warm-climate guys into coming ice-fishing this winter. Can you imagine Ricky Gomez in Sorels and a parka?
Coaches Korn and Twig, we hope you both come back to visit next season. Marty, keep Twig busy in Texas so Lin doesn't go nuts with him puttering around the house.
I've almost got all the mailing list software in place so the PeTA gang can email back and forth in the off-season. If only my boss will give me the time to get it all working.
I enjoyed the season, even if the Saints didn't make the playoffs (which reminds me that I've got to find the playoff tickets so I can get credited toward next-year's tickets). There were a lot of rough games, and at least one crew of umpires who need to get their eyes checked during the off-season, but it was still outdoor baseball, hanging out with friends, and cooking up some wicked grub in the parking lot. A heck of a summer.
Other pictures that didn't make the cut
 | | OJ, The Can Man | | 1600x1200(422k) |
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 | | OJ, The Can Man | | 1600x1200(412k) |
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Copyright 2008, Dave Polaschek.
Last updated on Wed, 22 Dec 2004 14:43:17.
As the game started, it was a beautiful evening, but due to a half-dozen errors, the local boys had a rough night of it.
Coming into the 9th inning, they were down by 5 runs, and it was pretty clear that everyone just wanted to get home. The temperature had dropped into the 50s, and it was clear that folks were just hoping there'd be better weather for the regular season opener.
Here's a picture from the Saints' game. Right to left we have Saint Nick (who lived in a trailer at the park last year), Pete (who has since junked the car that Justin Varitek had autographed), Julie, from fan services who was working her last game (except she came back), and then J.D. Steve the vendor's butt is featured, too. Saints lost, and the rules for the beer vendors changed with no notice to anyone. It was the first game I've left early (I went to the lot for more beer in the middle of the 8th, rather than being able to buy one in the top of the 8th, when the Saints gave up 4 runs) since 1996, I think.
It was a beautiful night for a ballgame last night. Just as we were starting to eat, there was a brief shower, and then we got a rainbow over the stadium. Mild temps once the rain had passed, and not much wind. Lots of errors, but it came out right in the end, with the Saints winning in spite of themselves.
Last night
before the Saints game, Tony the Bike Guy was riding a sweet Schwinn Stingray around the lot (it's green, even though the cheap digital camera doesn't capture that color so well). He stopped long enough for me to snarf a couple pictures. Apparently the bike (which was under $100 when I was a kid) is now worth over $2500. Notice the disc-brake, 5-speed shift lever, and shocks.
