The First Lady of TampaBayRaysFan at the Home Opener!
The following blog is written by Kimberly Hubbard, who attended her first Major League Baseball game on April 13th, the Rays home opener against the New York Yankees. She will be attending several games throughout the year and giving her perspective on baseball as a new Rays fan.
I’ve played ball for as long as I can remember. I used to be the un-athletic child in the outfield picking my nose behind her oversized glove in the outfield on the tee ball team. Then I grew up and moved on to softball where I sat happily in the dugout reading my book and would begrudgingly trot out to left field every few innings to stare off into space and miss a few pop flies.
My favorite time in softball was batting. I loved when all the girls would come into the dugout and start singing the cheers and encouraging one another. I loved getting up to bat. Hearing my name in the cheers, my number screamed at the top everyone’s lungs and swinging that bat as hard as I could. I wasn’t good at anything in the sport, except batting. I could stand at bat all day long. So it was a mega thrill to me, at my first pro baseball game to see so many amazing hits by the Tampa Bay Rays.
While Evan Longoria seems to be the pick for the best bat, Carlos Pena blew me away with the grand slam he hit in the 2nd inning.
There were several amazing hits throughout the game that kept my attention running strong.
I was excited about attending my first professional baseball game.
I’ve been to my fair share of games for the sport no doubt, with 2 brothers and 2 sisters that have played for a total of over 30 years combined.
I was a little hesitant at first but I remembered this is what they get paid for. There won’t be any overzealous parents screaming at/for their children and no over coaching such is the case in little league. The atmosphere was great at the game. Everyone was there to have a good time and cheer on their respective teams. We were seated amongst Rays fan with a few Yankees sprinkled in between.
The vibe was good until a true Yankee near us started a little trouble because he couldn’t quite squeeze his ego in between all the Rays he was surrounded by. He finally settled down after a little bit, but luckily, that was the only bad experience I had.
I wish I had gotten a foul ball hit my way, but I knew it wasn’t likely given that our seats were in BFE to the left of home plate. It would have been a helluva slice to get it way up there. Next game, I hope we have more time for tailgating and maybe we’ll actually get to park in the Tropicana Field parking lot. See you next game!!
