…At the old ball game! I start this episode where I ended the day – Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City Oklahoma, where I watched the hometown Oklahoma City Dodgers defeat the visiting Iowa Cubs in a thrilling 11-inning episode. I started the day at the Waffle House. I’m not sure why I like it, but I do! I saw this on the counter and it occurred to me I needed reminding I am in the American Southwest; I’ve simply not seen this in any other Waffle House … and of course the whole “Casa de Waffle” gives it away. I was headed for Norman, Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma. Turns out, visiting on the Friday before the Monday start of classes is just not a good idea – I was in Norman a lot longer than I wanted to be. But along the way, I was reminded, in abstract, how profitable dentistry is…When your dental clinic has a genuine, antique railroad engine as part of its exterior decor, I think you’re doing OK. (Look to the right) I also enjoyed the occasional storefront, like this one; it’s just steps away from the OU campus. You know who they cater to!The campus is immense; there’s no other word for it. I cannot remember being on a larger campus. What I appreciated, however, was all the red brick. It’s a feature of the older buildings, and they’ve done a good job keeping it with many of the new. The Cherokee Gothic arches here are gifts of the classes of 1915 and 1917. There are similar red brick entrances to the campus on other streets. Back in Oklahoma City, in the Bricktown district, I needed a bite to eat. I was coming out of the Bricktown Brewery (wings!) when I saw this pedal bar. I have seen one of these in Nashville; now I wonder how many cities have them. It’s a travelling bar and all the people on the whatever-it-is are drinking- but they have to pedal to propel themselves through the district. I’m sure it’s a scenic tour, but I wonder how blurry the final attractions seem to be.

I was only about two blocks from the stadium, so I went and got my ticket but still had nearly 2 hours to kill before gametime. You should know that Mickey Mantle is an absolute hero here. He was born in Oklahoma; went to high school here and played ball here before becoming a New York Yankee great. The stadium is on Mickey Mantle Blvd. Across the street is Mickey Mantle’s steakhouse and I was drawn there. This is how I passed the time waiting for the game – a good cigar, a 14-year-old single malt Scotch, some lovely conversations… Aahhh, this is the way to unwind on a Friday afternoon. I had a great seat – you can see where I was relative to home plate, and I was the only person in my row! But as you can see from the first two pictures, the game was well attended. First game of a three-game set, the Oklahoma City Dodgers versus the Iowa Cubs. The home team won 6-4 in 11 dramatic innings.

But, the Iowa pitcher hit three batters in the course of the game, the third one in the head! He had to leave the game, but not before trying to charge the mound, which brought out some Iowa players from their dugout, which brought out all the Dodger players from their dugout, which brought out both bullpens from the outfield and it looked like a donnybrook was set to go. But cooler heads prevailed, the game went on, the home team won, and… … there were fireworks! I want my city to find out who does these for this team; they were remarkable. No way could I capture the best of them here, and anyway it is a lot more fun to just sit and watch them and have the memory. And that’s what I did.

Seated a few rows back of me were two young men in Toronto Blue Jay hats. Turns out they are both members of the Royal Canadian Air Force on temporary duty down here. They told me there are 4 to 6 RCAF members here at any time in a training and exchange capacity.    Tinker Air Force Base is nearby.   When these two return to Canada, they go back to CFB Trenton .  Both agreed it was too hot to watch baseball; it was a night they were pining for their domed stadium back home.

Oh,  added bonus – it was military & veterans appreciation night!

Tomorrow, it has to be museums, plural. I don’t know which ones yet.

One of the things I am reminded of just by being here is the number of times a history book told me that America need room to grow; that Americans wanted to get some elbow room; that they felt they could spread out a bit if they just moved west. This is a sprawling city that is clearly taking advantage of the fact that it has all the elbow room it wants. As a result, the drive from any one point to another is further, and takes longer then you expect. The grid squares on one of the tourist maps are in square miles! I don’t think that means anything profound; it’s just my own observation of this part of the American west. One last thing about Mickey Mantle. He’s everywhere. Literally everywhere around here. This statue is outside the ball park; I wasn’t going to use this picture, because statuary has started to become a theme of my trip and it’s something I’m going to deal with separately.