“There are only
two seasons:
winter and baseball.”
Bill Veeck, Jr.

I was planning to write tonight’s blog post about the baseball game I attended with my sister, Cathy, today at Oracle Park. The Giants played the Philadelphia Phillies. Last night (Tuesday), the Giants scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to stun the Phillies. Giants’ catcher, Patrick Bailey, hit a walk-off inside-the-park home run. Today’s game was a little different. Philadelphia prevailed today 13-0. Ouch!

Since there is so little to write about today’s game, I’ll focus on the rest of my day in The City. 

Before the game, Cathy and I enjoyed a delicious lunch Frankie’s, located just east of the ballpark at South Beach Harbor. Their “smash burger,” which comes with a side of fries, was excellent. I try to avoid eating French fries, but the fries at Frankie’s are the best I’ve ever tasted. So lunch was a win.

Cathy and I left Oracle Park when the score reached 11-0. The likelihood of a Giants’ comeback was pretty much nonexistent, so we decided to get on with our day. Cathy went back to the train station for the ride to her home in San Mateo. I decided that there were still enough hours and sunlight in the day to do some walking before boarding the train. I walked from Oracle Park to Caffé Trieste in North Beach, where I enjoyed a cold Italian soda and a raspberry thumbprint cookie. From there I boarded the 30-Stockton bus for the ride back to the train station.

On the bus, I met a delightful young woman from Michigan. She is a flight attendant for United Airlines and was enjoying a day off in The City. We had a delightful conversation, during which she told me her name was Emily. Of course, I told her about my granddaughter, Emily, and that her name was an acronym: Every Moment I’m Loving You!

As it turned out, Emily was headed to the train station, too, so we were able to continue our conversation all the way to San Mateo, where she has a place to stay between flights in and out of San Francisco International Airport. It’s always nice to meet someone who is content with life and who truly enjoys the work she does. Her job with the airlines has enable her to visit 30 different countries — so far!

I got home at 8:00 p.m. I thought I’d go straight to bed, but I decided to write this blog post tonight, rather than tomorrow, because tomorrow is a special day and I want to devote tomorrow’s blog post to that occasion.

So I’ll wrap up tonight’s post with a few baseball quotes I like:

“Man, this is baseball. You gotta stop thinking, just have fun.” 
The Sandlot

“Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.” 
Ted Williams

“Remember these two things: play hard and have fun.” 
Tony Gwynn