Father’s Day In The Park

I can never figure out what to get my dad anymore for Father’s Day.  Sports fans are usually really easy but there are only so many hats one can buy for someone constantly perplexed at the day to day operations of both the Lakers and Jay Leno.  A few years ago I thought I had a slam dunk in gifting someone who has been to a Lakers playoff Game 7 with Phil Jackson’s Kobe Bryant tell all The Last Season only to be later foiled by the fact that it was a book.  The same fatal flaw would later apply to  The War for Late Night

Instead I came up with the baller idea of taking my Dad to a ball game.  I hadn’t been to Dodger Stadium in over 5 years. It’s been a tough time being a fan as of late. A decrease in attendance on account of the worthless owner met with an increase in police presence on account of the dudes who beat a Giants fan into a coma. Not to mention a team that has struggled to compete since an epic World series win when i was 5. But Dodger Stadium remains a Marquis ballpark in the majors and definitely one of the most beautiful in all of sports.  And real fans can’t quit on the Dodgers.

The game was great.  I mean it was boring, 1-0 games can do that, but at least the Dodgers won.  And my dad seemed to really enjoy it.  None of us had been to a game there in years, and we had great seats because my little brother can afford to shell out $100 a pop to sit on the third-base line.  I sat in between them, with my Dad, who’s become more or less a real life Willy Loman in the last few years as the automotive industry continues to turn on its people, and my brother, a successful real estate salesman unaware of the irony of his ability to purchase $100 seats to a bankrupt team owned by a maniac real estate mogul.

One my Dad’s favorite things is to tell the same sports stories and trivia over and over again.  It’s something that I will probably pass down, if I haven’t already to my friends.  Granted, he’s got an impressive list.  Anyone who vividly remembers when the Dodgers moved to LA and can recount an almost encyclopedic knowledge of every major team event since then has certainly earned that right in some regard.  Seriously, no one knows more about the Dodgers than he does.

Ethier way, this was a WAY better idea than going to a Casino in Santa Barbara like we usually do.  Those places are way more depressing than the Dodgers’ record. I still got it.