The Circus Continues

All that we are missing is some elephants and a couple dozen clowns and I would swear I had stumbled into the Ringling Brothers Circus rather than a Diamondbacks game. Before the gates even opened, several thousand people were milling around the plaza waiting to get inside Bank One Ballpark. As 5:00 approached, people began rushing to the turnstiles crowding around. The poor ushers were left trying to manage the hoard of people as they shoved their way into the stadium. Once inside, the madness did not stop. Instead, grown men and women, their children in tow ran down the aisles to camp out in left field. Within 5 minutes, the entire left field bleachers were filled to capacity. A ball hit into the stands couldn't hit a seat if it wanted to. Instead, 300 people would be on top of it before it reached the ground. There was no place safe from the mob. Even our seats, halfway to third base and 16 rows up were filled with people there to see Mark McGwire hit during batting practice. I took the kids and we went for a walk until batting practice was over. Given the mob of people, it was safer if I took the kids elsewhere. As soon as McGwire went into the clubhouse, the stadium settled down and we could once again go back to our pre-game routine. It is amazing how much of a distraction McGwire can be.