The day began with bland Japanese food for lunch. Japanese food can be many things, but seldom is it bland. Today, it was.
From there I strolled to the Hockey Hall of Fame, which is in the middle of a shopping center. While there, I learned or rediscovered a few things:
- Mario Lemieux was inducted into the HOF before Wayne Gretzky. This surprises me, but as I’ve said before, I don’t follow hockey all that closely.
- Gretzky was a ridiculous talent. I knew this, having seen most of his career while it happened, but watching video of him reminded me just how good he had been.
- Gretzky finished his career with the New York Rangers. I can’t remember if I’d known this, but there it is.
One somber point came from seeing all the records updated through the most recent NHL season and realizing that it had ended over a year ago. If I were a hockey fan, that would just kill me. I hope the geniuses at MLB never let things get that bad.
After the HOF, I wandered through various parts of downtown. The tall buildings seemingly made only of glass. The old brick churches, and the parks that surrounded them – always with dubious, yet pleasant, characters milling about the grounds or sitting on benches, waiting for something or someone to take them elsewhere.
I had intended to follow a path carefully laid forth in one of my tour books, but I managed to stray from it and, not wanting to walk around with my head buried in the pages of a book, I headed north to Dundas and made my way toward Chinatown. Once there, I saw that this is where I should have eaten lunch.
But I didn’t, so I had a cup of coffee instead.
The air was pungent with herb shops, dim sum cafes, and open-air markets. The din of a language incomprehensible to me, yet familiar, trailed behind as I walked south along Spadina toward the CN Tower and Rogers Centre (formerly known as the SkyDome). There, nearly anonymous in my Akinori Otsuka T-shirt and Padres cap, I purchased a $2 ticket for Tuesday night’s game between the Blue Jays and the Cardinals.
A word about domed stadiums. I won’t say they’re not right, but I will say they’re not right for me. Something about looking up at concrete and steel girders where sky should be. I kept thinking there should be a halftime, or an intermission, or something. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice enough facility. It’s just that you’re already down a strike with the DH. Throw in some artificial turf, and slap a roof on top, and it doesn’t feel like baseball to me.
That said, the place has a few redeeming features. First, there’s a hotel in it. I’m not sure if that’s cool, but it’s so bizarre, it must be. Second, they serve my new favorite Canadian beer on tap. I’m not a great fan of India Pale Ale, but this stuff is really good.
Finally, they play Rush tunes between innings. Well, okay, they played a Rush tune, but that’s more than I’ve heard in 99% of the stadiums I’ve visited. And it wasn’t Tom Sawyer, either. That makes up for a lot.
The game? Larry Walker belted two homers. He got a warm reception after the first, because even Blue Jays fans seemed to value his being Canadian more than his being a Cardinal. Former Blue Jay hurler Chris Carpenter pitched as good a game as I’ve ever seen in person, limiting his old team to just one hit and fanning 10 in a 7-0 shutout.
Oh, and the folks at Rogers Centre, as they have been everywhere in Toronto, were extremely pleasant. I look forward to catching another game or two there while I’m in town.
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