Everett Aquasox – Dear Liza

Dear Liza,

While we were in Eugene, Grandpa Nelson thought we should see the Emeralds play on their home field, PK Park. The Eugene Emeralds are a farm team for the San Francisco Giants, who we love.

After snafus at security (Only transparent bags! Who knew?) we got inside and realized it was Harry Potter night. This fabulous young lady was happy to put a spell on me.

We had good seats behind home plate, and watched the Emeralds face off against the Everett, Washington Aquasox. Yes, it seems an odd name for a team, and some of the players follow suit. There is Harrison Ford, who goes by Harry; then there is Walking Cabrera. Yes, Walking. I assumed they were teasing a fellow named Joachim by misspelling it, but nope. That’s his name.

Like other local baseball games we have been to, there are lots of other games between the innings to keep the kids interested. The ones in Eugene all seemed to be sponsored by local businesses. The Sani-Pac Recycling Bungee Tug of War and the Prince Puckler’s Ice Cream Scoop Pitch were very popular.

There was also a game for the adults, called Beer Batter. Before each game, an opposing player is chosen at random. If that player is struck out by the Emeralds pitcher, all beer is discounted for fifteen minutes! The player for this game was Ben Ramirez. He struck out quite a few times and made a lot of fans very happy.

And the beach balls! While we were all standing up for the Seventh Inning Stretch, singing “Take me out to the ballgame”, folks in the broadcast booth began tossing beach balls down. This got everyone up, tossing and cheering.

Happily, none of the balls ended up on the field, but just kept bobbing around the stands well into the eighth inning. Eventually, they were caught and kept by some kids.

The actual game was fun, too. The Emeralds were behind, then tied it up. And in the last few minutes of the tenth inning, BAM! A walk off home run sent everyone out cheering. There were group hugs and cheers and bottles of water dumped on players.