The Kiss Cam and a Day in the Schoolyard
The front office has been getting better and better with the jumbotron screen in right field. My favorite between-inning spot is the “Kiss Cam.” They train the camera on random couples at the stadium, play hokey romance music, and flash “Kiss Cam” on the board, trying to get the couples to kiss. Over the last few nights, I’ve seen some of the oldest people literally make out like teenagers (my dad would call it ‘sucking face’), two girls kiss each other (a real hit in the clubhouse), and some really awkward moments between people who either don’t know each other or just really don’t want to kiss. They just sit there and look at the screen out of the corner of their eye and silently count the seconds until their public humiliation ends. The tension in the stadium is palpable. Whatever happens, the best part comes at the end where, after 4 or 5 couples have already smooched on screen, they put the camera on two random guys on the other team, in the visitor’s dugout. They’re just sitting there, and then one will notice that he’s on screen, nudge his buddy next to him, and then they both laugh really hard. Last night one guy on the team ran up during the end and actually kissed his teammate on the cheek. It was hilarious. I laugh at it every night. It never gets old.
Today we went to an elementary school to have lunch with the kids, and sign some autographs. We showed up and it turned out that one 4th grader had won a raffle and so he and 5 of his friends got to have pizza with two San Jose Giants players! I spent the whole time trying to make him feel like it was a prize, not just watching two dudes he didn’t know chow food across the table. They were pretty excited though, and we found out all about little league drama. “Did you know that there was a kid last year in Majors that hit 18 home runs? In 17 games?” I remember those Little League legends. Adam Alderson—if you’re out there you scared me a lot when I was l0. Anyway, it was the second to last day of school, so everyone was just running around crazy. All the boys were playing tetherball, basketball, and kickball, and the girls were signing each other’s yearbooks. I got to sign a few—haha—remember when signing yearbooks was a huge deal? I just signed my name and then felt bad because I didn’t include some witty or thoughtful remark. So we ate lunch and then played ‘pickle’ with the guys for a while. It was awesome—they were stoked that we were there, and we got to play pickle for the first time since maybe 4th grade! I did dominate the young chaps—there’s no excuse for being a sloppy base runner—even in 4th grade.
SO, things are still fun out here in
San Jose, as we fight to clinch a playoff spot by winning the first half of the season, and anxiously await the all-star break. I’ve never been so excited for a three-day period in my life.
