flamingos on the field!

What a lovely sight they were, too!

All those long legs...

topped by hot pink plumage...

striding around at Grayson Stadium!

I tell you, it did my heart good to see 'em!

I'm not just saying that in a figurative sense, either - I mean it literally, too!

(smile!)

I've liked this Florence team for a while, but I do believe I like them even better as Flamingoes than as Redwolves, and it's not just because of the change in uniform color.

They've brought a new attitude that's as bright as those practice shirts and their game jerseys.

I like it!

I couldn't help rooting for them!

 

Fortunately, they made that an easy thing to do by playing good baseball.

By the time the game began, I'd already been in the stands since 5:30 pm, when the gates opened.

That meant I had a 90-minute barrage of antics seen before by the Savannah Bananas, so I was ready for first pitch at 7.

Not much happened in the first inning, but the Flamingos were flying in the second!

With birds on yellow bags at second and third, the next bird hit a solid bunt...

and they scored!

The Bananas wouldn't accomplish that feat until the bottom of the fourth inning.

That's because The Flamingoes had a fabulous starting pitcher, Louie Smith, and a very keen third baseman - Mason Staz - who was not only quick to scoop up any balls that headed his way, but also pretty handy with a bat.

That's Staz, at the plate, the man responsible for the birds scoring first in the game!

And with a bunt!!!

Mister Willie would have been so proud of him!

To his way of thinking, the bunt is underused and is a key strategic tool in baseball.

I agree.

 

So, how fared the rest of the game?

Well, I hadn't stayed to witness it.

I had forgotten to bring my evening dose of sotalol with me, as I'd come almost straight from the optometrist's office.

(Yes, my pupils were dilated so I wore my sunglasses at night - and took this photo as Shark played the song - lol!)

I left between the top and the bottom of the fourth, hearing the crowd go wild as the Bananas got in their first run.

Neither the tropical birds nor the tropical fruit would score again until the eighth inning.

You know why that happened, right?

The Flamingoes changed pitchers in the sixth and the Bananas were onto his pitches two innings later,  scoring twice on him.

That was no never mind to me.

I'd had my money's worth of food and entertainment, and baseball, during the three-plus hours I was there.

I was even home before dark fell.

Very nice!

(smile!)