A Baseball Game: The Giants Opening Day 1983

by Mark Butterworth

On April 5, 1983, Mark Butterworth, along with his future wife, attended the opening day game of the San Francisco Giants vs. the San Diego Padres. Sitting in left field bleachers on an exceptionally warm and sunny spring afternoon, watching to their dismay as the Giants fell quickly behind by a great many runs, they beheld their team score nearly as many and come in reach of victory by the ninth inning after nearly half the 50,000 spectators had quit the game, providing for an exciting and memorable occasion. The pleasure of the game, the intensity of the competition, the sheer fun and exuberance of the event led the author to reconstruct the experience as a blank verse, minor epic capturing the spirit of the moment, highs and lows, the motley crowd, fights in the stands, and the "amusement for a game's brief glow" recounted with mordant wit, sharp, colorful observation, and enthusiastic delight. The author describes himself a baseball fan, a no-name rump, the cheapest ticket sold, a good-for-nothin' left field bleacher bum. and so might the reader after finishing this little book.

62 pages, Paperback

First published June 22, 2015