We snuck in two innings of baseball on Sunday before the rains came. Arrived at Cunningham Stadium just after the first. Mostly Indiana fans who didn’t appreciate the plate umpire’s wide strike zone (winning presumably lessened the sting).

The rain fell slow but steady. Umbrellas opened, and those without scampered up the hillside in search of dry ground. We found some in the form of our car and, not wanting to wait what turned out to be 20 minutes for play to resume, drove to Mitsuwa for ramen. Good broth and chashu pork, but the noodles were a bit overcooked for my taste — gave too much, lacked firmness.

From there we walked to Book-Off, where I scored five paperbacks for five bucks:

• Andrew Blauner (ed.), Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People Who Made a Difference — Includes contributions from Pat Conroy, John Irving, and George Plimpton, among others
• Richard Ben Cramer (ed.)., Best American Sports Writing 2004 — Includes Joe Posnanski’s article on Tony Pena
• Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith — Don’t know why; I’ve long been meaning to read her, but not necessarily this book, although for a dollar it can stink and I won’t care
• David Marniss (ed.), The Best American Sports Writing 2007 — Includes Derek Zumsteg’s epic piece on Bugs Bunny
• Frank Zappa with Peter Occhiogrosso, The Real Frank Zappa Book — Because, you know, it’s Zappa

The rest of the afternoon and evening flashed by in a blur. An hour at the gym to keep working parts from breaking and broken parts from getting worse, then back home to sip freshly ground Sumatra coffee and scribble notes about nothing in particular (you’re soaking in them), then band rehearsal to wrestle with the guitar parts for “Mekong”, then home again to devour a bowl of fresh-from-the-pot chili and keep myself from thinking about Monday for as long as possible.

Two innings. It wasn’t much, but it was more than I’d had in far too long. Soon the game will consume me again and all will be right in the world. For now, two innings is enough to get me through the week.

Tagged as: andrew blauner, anne lamott, book-off, bugs bunny, cunningham stadium, david marniss, derek zumsteg, frank zappa, indiana, joe-posnanski, mekong, ramen, richard ben cramer, tony pena