WBC Yeah You Know Me

Puerto Rico lost to the U.S. 6-5 today in the World Baseball Classic. But last Wednesday, they were primed through a run through the international tournament after a 5-0 win against the Netherlands.

I was at the game.

The first round finale was played in San Juan at a fairly nice stadium that reminded me of Wrigley Field–it has plenty of character, but it clearly doesn’t meet modern fire codes. In fact, based on the lack of space between the interior fence and the food stations, I’m fairly certain that the following conversation occurred between the main engineers when the stadium was nearing completion:

Engineer 1: Wow, this stadium is awesome!

Engineer 2: Yeah, let’s go grab a hot dog and a beer to celebrate our accomplishment.

Engineer 1: Damn.

Engineer 2: What?

Engineer 1: We totally forgot to install food stands.

Engineer 2: Damn.

Engineer 1: Okay, calm down, I’ve got it. We’ll just knock out a couple of the bathrooms and install a Fuddruckers or two. Who’s going to eat at a beisbol game anyway?

Wouldn’t you know it, people actually do like to eat at baseball games. The lack of food stands resulted in Nancy and I waiting for literally 35 minutes to get two hamburgers (which wasn’t even what we wanted to order, but it’s what they had available at the time).

Back to the game itself. The crowd wasn’t all that rowdy, and they were mostly into the game, but there were also large numbers of people who seemed much more into socializing than the game.

I was most amused by the comical sounds played on the PA system whenever a foul ball went into the crowd. The sound effects were comical. For example, a hard-hit ball would spin into the crowd, hitting an old man’s face, and the sound effect that followed was, “Boinggggg!” It reminded me of that SNL skit with Fred Armisen as the Mexican talk show host.

All in all, it was a great experience. I think attending a game of a country/commonwealth’s national sport is a great way to get connected with its culture.

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