Take Me Out To The Ballgame...!

Welcome to the Tucson Toros inaugural season! For a while, Tucson has been home to the Sidewinders - a minor league affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. But the Sidewinders moved to Reno, leaving Hi Corbett Field vacant. Enter the Toros. If you cared, you could read all about the storied history of the Tucson Toros on wikipedia. But you don't, so let's get back to the game.

Of course, nothing completes a game quite like a ballpark dog.

I was a bit unsure what to wear to the game. I don't have any Toros gear, but their colors are red, black, and gold, so I figured a Cardinals shirt would work. I guessed right. I didn't see a single Toros shirt in the stands. People generally wore whatever baseball apparel they had - regardless of the team. It seemed to me, though, that I saw more Cardinals shirts and hats than any other club. It made my heart proud.

I promise, the stands filled up a bit more before the game. The crowd was a whopping 3,116!

It took some doing, but he finally got his hat back from his sister.

Getting the kids to look at the camera was like pulling teeth. They kept watching Tuffy the Toro. He was their favorite part of the game. About every 5 minutes, Boofus would ask where Tuffy was. Chubbles kept us up to date on his whereabouts: "Duddy dow dere!"

Tuffy Update: I got the kids to leave their mom alone this morning by telling them that I had Tuffy on the computer. This post was actually delayed an hour because I kept getting interrupted. "See Duddy!!!!!"

And after all that fun, there was a baseball game too! The Toros took on the Outlaws of Chico, California. The Toros starting pitcher struggled early, giving up 5 runs in the first three innings. Relief arrived in the fourth inning and the Outlaws were shut out for the rest of the game. The Outlaws' starter took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but the Toros scattered four runs over the last four innings, including a run in the ninth, to get the crowd pumped...before the game ended with a double play. Ah well.

It was Fireworks Friday, so we enjoyed some of those after the game.

Then they let the kids run the bases after the fireworks. Here's Boofus rounding third. She's looking, and I think she's gonna make a break for home.

We really did have a blast and I , at least, am looking forward to the next time we can make it to a game. Come on down to Tucson this summer, and you can come with.