Sometimes you're in a situation where the people around you just aren't that into a game that you may be intently watching. And when a big play happens and you react accordingly, you tend to feel a bit out of place.
I wrote about this happening to me while at a bar in DC on that fateful October night last fall when Matt Stairs and Shane Victorino hit blasts deep into the Los Angles night.
Well, Matt Stairs hit another beautiful pinch hit home run last night -- his first since that amazing game against the Dodgers -- and I found myself standing and cheering awkwardly once again.
The scene was your typical Easter living room with the television on, being flicked back and forth between the Masters and the struggling Phillies. For most of the room, the television was simply background noise. The conversations tended to focus on the newest addition to the clan, two-month-old Aidan and his future as a Flyers prospect, or the delicious bottle of Malbec my dad got for $14 bucks (it's a 90 pointer!). Then, BAM! Stairs connects, gets good wood on it, and I jump up from my seat, hands in the air and let out a half-assed, "YEAH!"
Pretty awkward. I woke the room up a bit.
Not that Stairs' blast on Easter, which ended up being a game winner, was that momentous of a moment in the big scheme of things but it reminded me of the last time he went yard and what an epic game that was in Phillies history. Which got me to thinking about how I remembered the exact place I was at when it happened.
That seems to be a pretty good barometer of how huge a play was -- being able to recall the exact place you were at when it happened years before and then reminiscing amongst friends. "Remember that amazing marathon game against the Red Sox at the Vet when Todd Pratt hit that home run off of Rudy Seanez in the 13th!? I was watching that at the O.D. in Sea Isle and that whole place was going fucking nuts!"
Good times. I'm sure future Easter Sundays will remind us all a little bit of Matt Stairs
The boys got a good win yesterday that boosts the Phillies back up to a respectable .500 mark after a real slow start and a string of wretched performances from their rotation. The starting pitching looks extremely bad but the record could be a lot worse.
The bats are coming alive and Ryan and Chase are off to great starts. Maybe somebody needs to start throwing baseballs at Jimmy's chest to get him angry.
These Phillies are still fun to watch when they're clicking and they certainly don't roll over when they're down a few runs. Gotta love the fight.
>>Stairs' pinch-hit homer beats Rox [MLB.com]
image by flickr user ryanfritz10
Original Story:
http://www.the700level.com/2009/04/ma...
