The kids running the bases seemed to go on forever as an apparently endless stream of people kept on coming out of the gate on the far side of the field. This was going on for a good half hour! After the kids had finished running the bases, the ground staff reset the field for the Wounded Warrior Celebrity Softball Classic - a special softball game between the Blue team and White team which contained a mixture of amputees and celebrities. In fact, a really good crowd stayed around to watch this game - more than watched the MLB games in Miami I would say! - and we were all invited down to the lower deck and the front seats for the best view. One of the concession stands remained open for hotdogs and drinks as well.
The bases are placed slight closer for softball games and the pitcher throws underarm from in front of the baseball mound and the balls are larger and softer, but some of the hitters gave it a real belt, managing to fly the ball to roughly where a baseball left fielder would have been standing. The game was designed to last at most an hour, although I had to leave after 20 minutes to get to my dinner reservation.
However, I did see an inside-the-park home run for the first run of the game, by one of the larger able-bodied actors, who just about managed to plod around the bases before the ball was returned to the infield.
Much like in the UK, I'd never heard of most of the celebrities - only really the Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, but some of them got some cheers, particularly the actors from NCIS and various CSI series. A couple of the Nationals' players' wives also took part. They even had one of the most senior military commanders in the country playing!
No comments:
Post a Comment