I love going to baseball games. The pace of the game is perfectly suited to a warm summer afternoon. No need to get all sweaty on the edge of your seat. Just sit back calmly, beer in hand, and watch the game unfold before. Surrounded by several thousand fellow baseball fans, a baseball game is second only to a busy airport for interesting people-watching.

Another attraction of baseball is that, at any given moment, you might see something you had never seen before, and are unlikely to ever see again. I recall one such moment at Yankee Stadium several years ago. The Yanks had runners on first and second with no outs. The Stadium was buzzing with anticipation of a rally. With the count 3 balls and 2 strikes, the runners took off in a hit-and-run situation. The batter hit a screaming line drive directly past the pitcher, seemingly headed for the outfield and at least one run. The crowd cheered and leaped to its feet. But the second baseman, who covered second when the runners took off, easily caught the liner. One out. He stepped on second base while the lead runner was nearing third. Two outs. Meanwhile, the trail runner was cruising into second, and tagging him completed the unassisted triple play. The crowd sat in stunned silence trying to figure out what had just happened, as the opposing team jogged back to the dugout. After a few seconds came the sound of 35,000 people talking amongst themselves. No boos, catcalls, cheers, or any other of the usual baseball noises. Just normal conversation, of the "did I just see what I thought I saw?" variety.

Another "you'll not likely see that again" occurred Sunday at Harbor Park. Down 5-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Norfolk Tides scored 10 runs in one inning. 15 batters went to the plate, the first 10 reached safely, eight runs were recorded before the first out, and the only extra base hit was a double. Only one player failed to get a hit in the inning.