Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Third Time's The Charm - Opening Day's With Arthur

(for those who missed the back story on this interesting encounter, you can read the blog entry, "Court Jester to the Gods (Arthur Rock/Baseball Edition)".

OK... Here's how it went down...

Got inside the ballpark about 12:40 and went directly to my seat, where I found myself alone... About 2 minutes later the Arthur Rock entourage arrived and I gave Arthur a friendly/smiley "Hi! Good to see you again!", which was met with stoney silence (what? he doesn't remember me from the one day a year we see each other, twice before? -lol-)... I shifted my focus to the opening day ceremonies (Blue Angel flyover, hoisting of the World Series Championship Banner, etc.)


Then, same as last year, shortly before the first pitch the "Lunch Order" was placed (for those keeping track, this year it was a chicken sandwich, no cheese, extra mayo). This should have been my opportunity to engage with Arthur, but there were two people sitting to my right who knew him well (very nice folks who were season ticket/license holders), so I was relegated to the role of 'Background Actor/Food Passer'. Once they yelled "Play Ball!" Arthur was deeply focused on his score card, so there wasn't an opportunity to chat, and with the Giants playing catch-up the entire game, the mood in our section was cordial but not overly friendly (though i did get a big smile and 'thumbs up' from San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Giants CEO Larry Baer).


As we pushed towards the bottom of the 6th, I realized Arthur could leave at any moment (my memory of our first two encounters was that he's not necessarily a 'full game' kind of guy), so I reached into my bag and pulled out the manilla envelope containing my copy of the Jan 23, 1984 issue of Time Magazine ("Cashing In Big - The Men Who Make The Killings", the one with Arthur on the cover) that I had purchased on eBay specifically for this occasion. I also pulled out the black Sharpie® marker I had clipped to the edge of the envelope, and waited for my chance. In the middle of the 7th, everyone in the park stood up and sang Take Me Out To The Ballgame, and as I was belting out, "ROOT ROOT ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM!!!" I realized everyone in the park stood up ::except Arthur!!:: Seeing my chance, I finished singing and quickly sat down while everyone else was still standing, pulled out the magazine and said, "Arthur... could i ask you for your autograph?"He said yes and did I have a pen?, and I pulled out the Sharpie® (chance favors the prepared mind). Arthur signed the issue and I said 'Thank you!' and stashed it back in my bag.


The nice folks on my right saw this all go down and asked what it was all about and I told them the entire story and they laughed and then we all watched the Giants lose their 2015 home opener. 

As we were shuffling out into the isle I chatted with Arthur and told him this was the third year in a row that I had managed to randomly get the seat next to him, that I hoped he didn't think I was stalking him, albeit very slowly. I also said I was hoping to turn my amazing skills towards something more profitable, like playing the lottery. He smiled and said he hoped to see me next year. I said that seemed improbable and he suggested I start working on getting my ticket now!

That sounds like a very good plan..

For those who would like to see all the shots I took of the San Francisco Giants Opening Day - 2015, you can find them here => SF Giants Opening Day - April 13, 2015

And since I haven't said it in a long while:

Show Up
Pay Attention
Tell The Truth and
Don't Be Attached To The Outcome

namaste
(and thank you, again, Arthur!)

r.