And we're again! At the beginning of this season, I visited 23 of the 30 main league ballparks for True Blue LA. The next is my discipline report from revisiting Washington, DC, and visiting Toronto, Ontario, Canada for the primary time.
Love is the loss of life of responsibility
Washington, DC will all the time have a gentle spot in my coronary heart. DC was the place the place I accepted the thought of turning into a lawyer. Additionally, for a not insignificant a part of my thirties, my final purpose was to work, and finally construct a life, whereas serving my nation. For sure, the above didn’t occur, however there aren’t any regrets.
It didn't occur for lack of expertise. In reality, even after all of the networking I did in DC it was canceled six weeks after the inauguration in 2017. I ended up getting a few gives to work in DC, which I turned down for numerous causes.
The first motive was that I selected love over responsibility. Regardless that stated love didn't work, I by no means regretted that call to decide on love – not as soon as, not ever.
In that spirit, it was unusual to return to DC, which has by no means been the warmest of cities emotionally. I might do nicely right here, however I actually wouldn't be writing for True Blue LA if I selected responsibility. As well as, this journey is the primary for the reason that father died. Such was the luggage I introduced with me to the ballpark, that it melted as soon as I noticed this sight.
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It was becoming to return to the second ballpark I've ever visited for which I went to the final two video games of the latest three-game sequence with the Washington Nationals. Nats Park started permitting memento sodas to be refilled as usually as doable in the course of the sport with self-service dispensers. This truth was additionally true in Toronto, however you needed to have somebody cool your soda for you. Certainly our japanese cousins have a lot to show.
An 11-2 blowout to begin the season is all the time good, however frankly, it's usually not memorable, exterior of sticking with the bullpen and watching Shohei Ohtani be Shohei Ohtani.
Essentially the most memorable second of those video games was Yoshinobu Yamamoto's shock virtually inflicting his head to fall off from a twister. Satirically, the Nationals' stadium decal commemorating the 2019 World Sequence victory exploded earlier than that sport when a foul ball was hit immediately. Actually, this World Sequence has been cursed.
In the course of the inning earlier than the comeback, I wished to have a snack as I’m used to doing. I noticed that it was close to the trophy of the World Sequence 2019. I made a decision to take my picture with it once more earlier than returning to my seat. On the literal actual second the picture was taken, the twister occurred. Typically life comes at you quick.
I attempted to trace down the ball so as to add to my assortment of “cursed” Dodger memorabilia, however sadly, the Nationals don’t promote game-specific balls to the general public, as an alternative using a random catch bag ingredient and promoting them on the public sale objects of selection. That's life.
Poutine on the Ritz
Going to Toronto is one thing that has been on my radar for the reason that schedule was introduced in August 2023. Since my worldwide travels in 2016, I had not been exterior the US earlier than this a part of the journey .
Actually, Toronto could be very stunning, and if I had gone to Canada earlier than all these years in the past, the tradition shock I skilled all these years in the past can be significantly mitigated. Because it stands, I discover no cultural excuse in Toronto to look at the Dodgers play.
Toronto is only a extra liberal, extra French, and extra hockey-obsessed model of the US…the place the US Greenback is about 40% stronger than the Canadian greenback. Discovering a fairly priced lodge close to Rogers Heart was a problem. For the lifetime of me, I couldn't discover one and I couldn't perceive why till I obtained there.
Oh – playoff hockey, the rattling Toronto Maple Leafs.
I noticed the gang and investigated. Playoff hockey…wasn't on the agenda tonight.
And right here, when spring comes, that's when the leaves are out. pic.twitter.com/y7bM0LPNCb
— Michael Elizondo (@elidelajandro) April 28, 2024
The Leafs and their almost sixty years of playoff futility have inflated lodge costs. Describing the continued futility of the Leafs is like describing an amalgam of the Chicago Cubs, the Dallas Cowboys, the anti-New York Yankees, and sure, our Los Angeles Dodgers. Let me put it this fashion, the final time the Leafs gained the Stanley Cup, Sandy Koufax was nonetheless a daily within the Dodgers rotation.
All that newly acquired prime expertise finally ends up going completely AWOL when it issues most. If the final sentence a couple of hockey crew strikes a chord, simply file that thought away.
On the time of this journey, the ultimate final result of the Leafs playoff sequence was unknown. (Shocker, they misplaced.) In spite of everything, this franchise as soon as misplaced to a 42-year-old Zamboni driver… who labored for them a few years in the past, which deserves its personal assessment, however we'll have to maneuver on .
What do I keep in mind about Toronto? Along with the above, all poutine you’ll be able to eat.
It's not a foul phrase, however one thing regional to eat: fries, salsa, and curd cheese. I had a ridiculous quantity whereas up north. The Blue Jays had a signature poutine canine, which oddly sufficient was worse than the sum of its elements.
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What stood out in Toronto was the Blue Jays' utterly unwarranted agitation towards Shohei Ohtani. 29 groups will nonetheless be omitted of the Ohtani sweepstakes. If the Toronto trustworthy wished to be mad at anybody, they need to be mad at reporter JP Hoornstra for getting the incorrect report indicating that Ohtani would signal with Toronto.
For sure, the Toronto trustworthy booed Ohtani all through the sequence, beginning with the primary at-bat. Ohtani rapidly responded in variety.
And Twitter being Twitter, this juxtaposition has virtually been misplaced to time.
The primary characteristic of the Rogers Heart is undoubtedly the Marriott lodge that may be seen above the middle of the ballpark. One imagines that the lodge can be linked to the ballpark; that perception is solely incorrect as one should go away the lodge to get to the ballpark.
As rooms go, it's a trick. It's a enjoyable gimmick; is an costly gimmick (even with the sturdy US greenback, it's an costly gimmick), however contemplating the humidity issues in Toronto, it was good to return to the lodge in the midst of the ultimate on Sunday to have a singular view from my pseudo-skybox.
The issue with this view, moreover having upkeep employees begin cleansing the ballpark at midnight and remembering that everybody can actually see you, is that as you sit on the Inexperienced Monster at Fenway, you may have a reasonably large blind spot.
All in all, having the Dodgers win 4 of 5 was a pleasant change of tempo from my earlier adventures, which proceed this July within the Motor Metropolis. See you then!
