I hoped that I could get Ooma to a WooSox game while we were in Worcester as I think that is one of the summer highlights of the city. But COVID intervened. I then expected to be accompanied by Ray and Kim, with an extra ticket to be disposed of. But Kim broke her foot a couple of days before the game. Down to Ray and me and *2* tickets to repurpose. Solution: invite old buddy Mike. And he had a neighbor who was interested. Problem solved.
We – Ray and I – planned to meet up with Mike and Joe at The Banner, a pub not far from Polar Park. But as Ray and I were walking to the pub I got a text message from Mike. He just realized that the game was for Thursday, not Friday as he thought. He could still make it but would be late.
The Banner was crowded so Ray and I moved down to the Smokestack Urban BBQ restaurant (since closed). We got a table and had a decent meal. We were unable to meet up with Mike and Joe before the game, but they did make it to the stadium in time for the first pitch.
One final fly in this ointment: I forgot that I had my Swiss army knife in my pocket. I knew it would be confiscated at the stadium, so I had to seek out a hiding place. I found an orange construction cone and dropped the knife under it. We then were able to enter the stadium without anything being confiscated.
The game turned out to be rather historic. Michael Wacha, a Red Sox pitcher who had been out for several months with an injury, made his first rehab start that night. He mowed down the opposition, going nearly 5 hitless innings while the WooSox built an 8-0 lead. Two other pitchers completed the game, also allowing no hits. My first ever no hitter! And the first no-hitter ever at Polar Park. Damn exciting. The final out was a diving catch of a line drive by the left fielder – a fitting end to a wonderful game, won by the WooSox 12-0. To say that the crowd went home happy would be an understatement.
And my knife was still under the cone.
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