Red River, Red Raiders, Red Dirt, Redhawks... and Sooners

THEBOY hides his face, perhaps in embarrassment at the hairdo on the yutz behind him.


Hood and I had wondered the past couple years when THEBOY might be able to join us on one of our spring training trips. To his credit, Hood's always been quick to suggest it, quick to be very clear that he wouldn't mind at all.

So Friday he called me with an idea: Let's go to Oklahoma this weekend and catch a couple games. The Sooners were playing the Red Raiders at home in Norman, and the Redhawks (the Rangers' AAA team) were playing the Iowa Cubs at home in Oklahoma City.

THEBOY said he was up for it, so off we went.

***

The drive up was nice enough, with lingering Indian Paintbrushes and other scattered flowers dotting the landscape. And north of the Red River I-35 cuts through rolling hills and rocky terrain, which is a nice change of pace.

And it's funny how the timing works out. After stopping three or four times to deal with a DVD player that was threatening to die, grabbing lunch, and other assorted delays, we arrived just in time for first pitch.

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It was a good game in a nice little park. THEBOY was into it. He asked immediately who we should root for. I explained that since I went to UT and all, I couldn't root for the Sooners. So he was all into Texas Tech from that moment on, shouting his displeasure at calls, clapping when Tech players did well... despite the sea of red shirts around us. He didn't care.

There's one section that was quite vocal in their displeasure with the home plate umpire, by the way. And like a lot of hecklers, they walked that line between being funny and being mean. Lots of comb-over jokes and "you're ruining baseball" and the like. And apparently the man's name is Terry. He's got thicker skin than I do, let me tell you.

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It took extra innings, but the Sooners won by a run. I think it was 8-7.

We packed up and headed into the city.

***

We'd been to Bricktown, the Redhawks' ballpark, back in 2001 when THEBOY was still an infant. That's where MOBB snuck off to a far, dark end of the concourse to breastfeed THEBOY. I draped a blanket over her yet was stunned at the audacity of the guys around who tried to get a peek. Yep. Guys would do their best to crane their necks around for a glimpse of a workin' boob, complete with a baby hanging off of it.

Again, I don't understand this obsession with boobs, man.

***

Our seats were just great, gotta say. We were third row behind the first base dugout. Bruce Chen was pitching, and Frank Catalanotto was there on a rehab assignment.

There were lots of familiar names, like Jason Botts and Desi Relaford, not mention Nate Gold, who could be the Rangers first baseman by the end of the season if the team continues to slide and they trade Mark Teixeira.

THEBOY was all into it again, rooting loudly for the Redhawks. Chen wasn't exactly crisp, but it was a pretty good game nonetheless.

Long about the fifth or sixth inning THEBOY and I finally left our seats to hit the playground out beyond right field. He'd had 15 or 16 innings of straight baseball at that point, so he was overdue. After he played for a while we walked around and hit the gift shop.

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We came back out for the final two innings, which were quite exciting. I'm tired and can't remember the final score... 8-4 Redhawks maybe? THEBOY would know.

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We were out of the park when they started shooting fireworks--dang. But we managed to walk up the alley behind the left field bleachers and watch for a few minutes.

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From there we hit Denny's for some grub, got gas, and hit the hotel. It was shortly after midnight when THEBOY went to sleep.

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That kid is definitely ready for the show, let me tell you.

And I told him so tonight as I tucked him in. He wanted to know where we'd go on a spring training trip. I told him Arizona or Florida, and showed him on the map there in his room. He said he wanted Florida, and it's probably the more likely possibility at this stage.

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The drive home was fairly uneventful, though I was stunned that the whole time were in in Oklahoma I saw only one (1) Starbucks.

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Ya'll have a good week.