Phillygirl Goes to the Ball Game: This Week the Phillies' Hitters Pitched and the Pitchers Hit!

Charlie Manuel has to be a genius. If he doesn't get Manager of the Year for 2011, there is no justice. What other manager would send a shortstop in to pitch in a 19-inning marathon because he wasn't willing to screw up his starting lineup for the next series? While Wilson Valdez' victory was the first for a position player since the August 22, 2000, win by the Rockies' Brent Mayne over the Braves, Valdez became the first player since Babe Ruth to start a game as a fielder and win it as a pitcher.

It was no surprise when, at the following day's afternoon game, Valdez got a standing ovation when he took the plate, and I was thrilled to be in the park to experience and take part in it. I'm getting goosebumps just writing about it. People were joking at the stadium that it was a miracle any of the players on either team even showed up for the 1:00 p.m. game, being that they played until after 1:00 a.m. the night before.

I will say, both teams did seem to be playing in slow motion at times. A Phillies 4-0 lead became 4-2 when the Reds drove in two runs on sloppy fielding but, diehards that we are, we had faith. Especially when Charlotte, my seat mate, said that her granddaughter Elissa, sitting next to her, had season tickets and had never seen a losing game. I knew we had a good luck charm at that point. (And how sweet of you, Elissa, to take grandma to the game, who I could tell was a true Phillies fan!)

Our faith was rewarded in the 6th inning when, with bases loaded, Cliff Lee came up to bat. I said to Charlotte that the last thing you want when the bases are loaded is the pitcher up. She was about to agree when Lee, on the first pitch, slammed a ground rule double, driving in two runs. As my buddy Trace Adkins would say, "Ooo wee, shut mah mouth, slap your grandma!" After that, the game picked up when Lee drove in two more runs, Mayberry and Utley homered (Utley's first homerun this season), and the Phillies sent Cincinnati home red-faced with a 10-4 win. Thanks, Elissa, you certainly are a good luck charm.

And, then of course, we had the requisite idiot who ran onto the field to be tackled and perp-walked off. (Sigh.)

I must mention here the fine job of the Ambler Wissachickon Middle School marching band and chorus, who entertained at the pre-game show and sang the National Anthem as two U.S. Navy jets flew over (now I know why the little royal bridesmaid covered her ears). It was heartwarming to see these kids. What I didn't count on was, in the second inning, the band and chorus taking up the several rows directly in front of and behind us! I was quick to compliment them on their performance.

They had cute tees that said "Official Band Geek," and underneath ("Don't read this t-shirt."), and evidently hadn't been fed in a week because they spent more time getting up and down to get food than they did watching the game. Now, I do admit that I am becoming somewhat cranky in my autumn years and, after two innings of craning my neck so I wouldn't miss a pitch, I was about to yell, "Hey, kids, sit down! You won't die if you don't eat every 15 minutes!" They did seem to settle down about the 6th inning, having tired of eating, but by then they had discovered the big foam "We're No. 1" fingers! AAAAAAAHHHHH!

Okay, so 100 or so largely unsupervised (but talented) middle-schoolers acted like, well, middle schoolers. And, yeah, the stadium hiatus merging with rush hour traffic from downtown made a 20-minute ride home stretch into two and a half hours of gridlock in 92 degree heat (110 in the truck) and the AC wasn't happy either. And, oh my God, we saw a BUS actually force its way from the far right lane through three lanes of jammed traffic to make a U-turn! And, to add insult to injury, when we finally reached our neighborhood and ran into the Pathmark to pick up dinner, we came out to a dead battery and had to call "triple A" to rescue the truck and a neighbor to rescue me and the ice cream, while poor hubby stayed behind clutching a chicken breast and a bag of Ritz crackers and Stella Doros as darkness fell.

Was it worth it? You bet was.