Baseball game

Last week I went with a baseball game in Salem (just outside Roanoke) with a friend. On the way there, we passed the longest traffic queue I have ever seen! They had shut the I-80 due to road works, which is the main road south going past Roanoke and Blacksburg. Unfortunately the diversion road was not as flat and a lot of the big trucks were having difficulty getting up the hills. And then one broke down and blocked one lane. The tail back was about 10 miles! And that's not including the traffic that hadn't even left the I-80. I dread to think how long it took to clear. They really do do things bigger in the States!  I did feel a lot of pity for the people in the queue. But I was really glad we were heading in the other direction and we arrived with no problem.

As it was a weekday game, it wasn't packed but there were enough people to make it fun. The game was between the Salem Red Sox and the Frederick Keys, we think from Maryland. I have decided the Salem Red Sox are now my team. They are a minor league team and a farm team for the Boston Red Sox.

The game was a double header, so they play 2 games. We got there part way through the first game so decided to get something to eat first. We had hoped the Bull & Bones was a restaurant but it was just an outlet. Still the food was good and the sunset was lovely. (And it only rained on us a little and cleared up for when we went out to actually watch the game.)

Sunset from Salem Baseball stadium

BBQ nachos and BBQ platter for dinner.

I also got a pink lemonade in a huge souvenir glass. :-)

The game was fun, though the teams seemed very evenly matched as no one got to home base. But it was good because it meant my friend could explain the rules without worrying about missing something so I felt a little less guilty about asking lots of questions! :-)

Salem Red Sox stadium.

Keys pitching

Red sox batting

Speed of the pitched ball!

Red Sox getting ready to pitch.

Close but missed.

I was really excited when we were close to catching a foul ball but I was sitting a few seats too far away. I was however glad we were sitting where we were when the bat slipped out of the hitters hands and went flying into the crowd. Twice.

Honestly though the funniest parts were the entertainment between the intervals when the innings. They did, to name a few, a chicken catch (they flung some plastic chicken into the air and got a kid to catch them for food vouchers), an air guitar competition and my favorite, the t-shirt toss. If you have seen the Simpsons where Ned's wife was killed by a t-shirt gun, you know what I mean. They didn't have a gun but they did have a sling shot. Unfortunately I was beaten to the t-shirt by some kids but it was still fun to watch.

It was a really fun night and I am looking forward to watching more. However it is the end of the season so I am going to have to wait until April. But I have American football, ice hockey and basketball in the mean time. :-)