14 Innings on a Sunday night

I am philosophically opposed to leaving baseball games early. More than any other major sport, a baseball game is a self-contained unit, with beginning and end defined only by opportunities rather than time. So if I'm going to a baseball game, I plan to see a game, not a piece of it. Whether or not the score is close and the outcome yet to be decided doesn't really figure into it.

This can be a problematic philosophy at times, in that games can run very long and the weather can be very uncertain. I do occasionally leave during a rain delay, but even that is rare.

Here in Philadelphia, where we are dealing with a particularly involved fan base, there tend to be only two motivations for people to leave early. Either the game is lopsided or the game is long. Sunday night was of the long variety. Since this year's version of the Phillies don't play long 9 inning games (their pitching is too good and their hitters too impatient to drag things out), it took a 14 inning affair to drag things out for the not quite 5 hours I spent at the park. Adding to the fun was that it was a Sunday Night Baseball game on ESPN, meaning it started at 8, an hour later than usual, and the commercial breaks were longer.

On top of everything, the experience was warped by the sudden chants of  USA! USA! as people found out about bin Laden. This added a peculiar kind of energy that had nothing to do with the game. Kind of like the wave. Even with that distraction, the crowd began to thin in the 8th inning with the game still ties, and each futile Phillies at bat unleashed a new wave of exits.

Setting aside the ultimate result, the worst thing about long games is the ban on alcohol after the 7th inning. Even beyond Bill Murray's astute observation in favor of such cutoffs (something like "Anyone who can't get drunk by the 8th inning doesn't deserve to have another drink") I understand completely that they don't want people getting completely wasted, but why bother having all those security guards if they don't have some drunk guys to drag out? Seems like a waste. And for me, yeah, I wouldn't have minded having one more beer in the 10th inning.

The biggest positives were the chance to have a 14th inning stretch, complete with another "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and 2 Bongo Cams, plus getting to ride the subway more than an hour after it was supposed to be closed. I guess they hold a train or two for the transit-riding sorts like myself.

I got home at 1:30 and I was tired and not at all unhappy that I'd stayed.