Paternal Pawsox Day

My Dad as a Very Yong Man

Today is of course the manufactured holiday known as Father’s Day.  Don’t get me wrong I am certainly not complaining as inevitably my children feel compelled to come back and remind me how utterly fantastic they are.  It also causes me to reflect back on my own father who died just after I graduated from college in a car accident.  I’ve tried to be a good father in many ways because my own father basically disappeared from my life following his divorce from my mother many years before his death.  My kids made that so very easy by deciding to be a seemingly endless source of pride.  One of my life’s biggest regrets is that their grandfather never got the chance to meet these incredible young people.

Buddy Assumed Control of His Favorite Human Right Away

One those incredible young people, my son, is hanging out with me this weekend.  Yesterday was a company sponsored trip down to Pawtucket to see the minor league team for the Red Sox.  We secured a fancy bus and were promised an all you can eat buffet dinner prior to seats right on the edge of the playing field.  There was a fortuitous (finally) turn of New England weather when the Friday night game was rained out.  That meant we were getting two games for the price of one.  An added benefit had three of the Boston Red Sox regulars playing in game one.

The Family at the Ball Game

The company trip was part of effort to increase good relations between management and the union.  It was a little awkward at the beginning since we don’t usually hang out with each other but by the end of the day we were all laughing united by the unlikely lady named Iris.  My wife decided at the last minute to accompany us and it turned out to be a really fun day of baseball and a few adult beverages.

The seats were right on top of first base and provided the opportunity to assess the Pawsox community relations lady who held court right next to our seats.  The games were okay as all the major leaguers showed why they were down in Pawtucket.  Most disturbing was the pitcher Clay Buccholz who started the first game.  The minor leaguers were teeing off on him for three runs including two home runs.  Even the outs were fairly loud so I don’t think we’ll see him in Boston any time soon (hopefully).

The Community Relations Lady

Some of the union members brought family with them which led to some extremely funny moments.  One was a very skinny lady named Iris who’d obviously seen some very hard times.  I initially thought she was an escaped cast member from the Walking Dead but she turned to be a very funny lady who couldn’t care less what people thought of her ghastly appearance.

Our View Right on Top of the Action

The starting pitcher for the second game was one of the Sox’ best prospects, Anthony Renaudo, and he came as advertised.  He was more dominant that Buccholz.  We decided we would head home if the Pawsox ever scored a run which they failed to do in the first game.  They finally pushed across a run and we headed for the bus (and heard a Pawsox homerun just as we left of course) and the very entertaining bus driver Rudy, a refugee from Alabama (somehow).  The drive back to Worcester was entertaining as any time someone made a smart remark they were threatened with Iris.  I think it’s safe to say that the name “Iris” has entered the workplace lexicon going forward; maybe a new method of discipline.