PRO PLAYER STADIUM
If Alfred Lord Tennyson is correct when in "Ulysses" he said, "I am part of all that I have met," then Sam Hicks added a little to me at Pro Player Stadium when it first opened in 1995. Our friend Cris Carpenter was claimed off the Cardinal roster by the Marlins. This was not a popular pick up in our family.
But Cris got us tickets to the Marlins opening weekend season in Miami. It happened to coincide with our Spring Break which worked out well for us. We went to Marco Island at the beginning of the week and ended our vacation in Fort Lauderdale where we were joined by the Hicks' at our hotel. After a day at the beach, we loaded up and went south to the ballgame. Sam kept on his swimming trunks and threw a shirt over his head. Hey, it was raining and predicted more precip for the evening. And Sam was, well, Sam.
The stadium was converted from the Dolphins football stadium, thus its name today. It was not done well, with a huge funky scoreboard in left that Padre Gary Sheffield homered over for a Marlin loss, late in the game. The food was really good with a lot of Cuban flavor to it. After the game we were to meet Cris and Jane. What we didn't know was where. Caroline and Courtney ran into Jane and Cris' father. They led us to the media room where we waited for Cris to finish his post-game spread.
All kinds of personalities were there, Jay Randolph, Gary Carter, along with players' wives and Sam. All decked out in his swimming trunks. Well, Sam was in trunks, not the wives or personalities. We were there for about an hour before Cris came out, tired but well fed. Cris' dad, a high school music teacher acted as his agent and secured a good signing bonus with the Cardinals for Cris. We talked about Dal Maxvill, not on good terms with any of the Carps, and the crummy weather. If anyone was upset with Sam's clothes, besides his son, Michael, no one said. But it was a source of ribbing for Sam for years.
If I were to give wrigley an E, then ProPlayer would be a C+, just a shade better than KC's Kaufman Park.
If Alfred Lord Tennyson is correct when in "Ulysses" he said, "I am part of all that I have met," then Sam Hicks added a little to me at Pro Player Stadium when it first opened in 1995. Our friend Cris Carpenter was claimed off the Cardinal roster by the Marlins. This was not a popular pick up in our family.
But Cris got us tickets to the Marlins opening weekend season in Miami. It happened to coincide with our Spring Break which worked out well for us. We went to Marco Island at the beginning of the week and ended our vacation in Fort Lauderdale where we were joined by the Hicks' at our hotel. After a day at the beach, we loaded up and went south to the ballgame. Sam kept on his swimming trunks and threw a shirt over his head. Hey, it was raining and predicted more precip for the evening. And Sam was, well, Sam.
The stadium was converted from the Dolphins football stadium, thus its name today. It was not done well, with a huge funky scoreboard in left that Padre Gary Sheffield homered over for a Marlin loss, late in the game. The food was really good with a lot of Cuban flavor to it. After the game we were to meet Cris and Jane. What we didn't know was where. Caroline and Courtney ran into Jane and Cris' father. They led us to the media room where we waited for Cris to finish his post-game spread.
All kinds of personalities were there, Jay Randolph, Gary Carter, along with players' wives and Sam. All decked out in his swimming trunks. Well, Sam was in trunks, not the wives or personalities. We were there for about an hour before Cris came out, tired but well fed. Cris' dad, a high school music teacher acted as his agent and secured a good signing bonus with the Cardinals for Cris. We talked about Dal Maxvill, not on good terms with any of the Carps, and the crummy weather. If anyone was upset with Sam's clothes, besides his son, Michael, no one said. But it was a source of ribbing for Sam for years.
If I were to give wrigley an E, then ProPlayer would be a C+, just a shade better than KC's Kaufman Park.
posted by TQ @ 5:01 PM
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