since just because you're married doesn't mean you have to stop doing fun things

last night AWD and i drove up to camden yard in baltimore to see the red sox play the orioles in the last game of the regular season.

i wore my red sox shirt and was a little worried about getting punched in the face, but AWD said he would call the police if that happened and there were actually more red sox fans than orioles fans in the stands, so i was pretty safe.

in fact, when the orioles made a good play and the crowd started cheering, the guy sitting in front of us looked around and said, "i didn't know there were orioles fans here. that's nice to see."

it was pretty much non-stop excitement with double plays and people being thrown out at home plate and david ortiz making an impressive, but ultimately failed attempt to steal second.

(at that moment, the guy sitting in front of us said, "what is papi trying to do, stealing a base? he lost his belly in the slide!")

it was such an exciting, tense game that what i really want to do is recount it in all its painful glory here, but the pain has been recounted endlessly today, so i'll just say that it was not meant to be for our beloved sox.

and i'll also throw in that watching them choke, again, is basically the worst.

i trace it all back to the hour-long rain delay. things just didn't go right once play resumed, started with the red sox pitcher hitting two out of the first three batters once play resumed. the sox still managed to hold on to their one-run lead all the way to the ninth inning, but with only one strike left to go the orioles got two big hits off the closer and it was all over for boston.

as the orioles were rushing the field, i got this text from my dad: "i think i will throw up."

it was a sad car ride home, made even worse by the fact that the tampa bay rays, our rivals for the wild card spot in the playoffs, rallied from a seven run deficit to beat the yankees in extra innings.

sigh.

as we were walking through the door in the wee hours of this morning, AWD hung his head and said, "well, i guess this was probably a pretty good introduction to being a red sox fan."

sad but true, husband mine. sad but true.

#saditude

as is becoming our unintended tradition, AWD and i headed to the ballpark friday night to see the home team crash and burn and lose their chance at the next round of major league baseball playoffs (see also: the red sox's spectacular flameout last year).

it was so exciting to have the nats in the playoffs (first time in 81 years or some such) and we were really lucky to score some tickets for game 5. the stadium was packed with every seat and standing room filled, and the nats got off to an incredible start with three runs (including a homer!) in the first inning. we had already lots our voices before the second inning started.

i usually lose focus during baseball games, but this one was completely riveting because every single play mattered so much. and because everyone else was so into it. by the time we were up 6-0, people were feeling pretty good. sort of like this.

and then, just like that, the crappity crap crap closing pitcher walked two batters, loaded the bases and before you knew it we had lost the whole thing, 9-7. it was so sad. and a little pathetic. but mostly sad. everyone just sort of shuffled out of the stadium in silence, and it was a pretty quiet metro ride home.

the good news is, the nats winning or losing doesn't really have any impact on the long-term quality of my life. (though i can't say the same for the guy on the metro who kept saying there was no reason to go on living.) and, even though the outcome was less than ideal, it was an incredibly exciting, fun game.

not to mention that, seeing as we are a household made up of a red sox fan and a mariners fan, we are pretty used to this sort of thing.