It is an exciting time to be a Blue Jays fan! The team has been playing some great ball and is making a serious bid to win the American Eastern Division and become a contender in the World Series.
My husband has always been an avid follower of the team (even in their losing seasons) and we have been fortunate to attend a few of their games. At home Ken religiously watches their games courtesy of Sportsnet and I will keep one eye on the game as I do some other task. But lately I have been sitting down to cheer on the Jays as the action has been quite exciting and I don鈥檛 want to miss anything.
Ball is a natural fit for Ken as he played competitive fastball for many years and still plays slo-pitch. I, on the other hand, was a poor specimen of a ball player and never did make the roster of any team. First of all, I was terrible when it came to judging a flyball so that rendered me pretty much useless as an outfielder; and, secondly, I shied away from any grounders so playing an infield position was out of the question.
So, finally, (because I still liked the game) a suitable position was found for me 鈥� I became the scorekeeper. There I could still feel part of the action and the team - that is until one game-changing moment.
It was a ladies鈥� tournament and the home team was up to bat. I was sitting on the bench on the first base side calling out the names of the batters. Ken was umping the game and had just called, 鈥淏atter up!鈥� followed by, 鈥淧lay ball!鈥�
I was busy writing in the book when I heard a funny click sound and looked up just in time to see a black shape come hurtling straight at me before hitting me smack between my eyes. Down I went on one knee trying to figure out if I was still conscious or not. Apparently the batter was late swinging at an outside pitch so that she actually punched it right off the end of her bat, sending it directly at me. Since I hadn鈥檛 been watching, I didn鈥檛 even have time to duck.
I was immediately taken to the local hospital where the doctor determined that, indeed, the bridge of my nose was cracked and she would have to straighten it. That meant shoving glass tubes up my nose and then pulling them in one direction to reset the bones. When the nurse suggested that there was nothing to cry about (try having no tears when something is stuck almost to the eyeballs), I wanted to punch her in the nose and ask how it felt!
That incident pretty much ended any actual interaction with the sport of ball playing. Since then I have stayed safely behind the netting or in the comfort of my living room chair to enjoy games. There I can enjoy a beer and periodically check my emails while not having to worry about constantly keeping my eye on the ball.
And if the Blue Jays keep playing as well as they have been, I am going to be watching quite a few games in the next while!
