All Star Week: Day Six

Monday afternoon I walked from Costco back across Cobb Parkway, then across 285 to the Battery. Walked around there looking at exhibits, then past the Omni Hotel back underneath the ballpark. It was 4 pm. Ran into an old friend.

Then I remembered they were giving away those oversized baseball gloves near the Left Field Gate, so me and another team member walked around there to get one. The glove was so big that I walked it the half mile back to my car. Then walked the half mile back underneath the stadium, all in the 90 degree sunshine.

Had time to cool off. We moved the stages into position before 630, then waited around more. Finally pushed the stages onto the field at 730. We were on the field about ten minutes before walking back off. 

After the national anthem we raced back onto the field, and pushed the stages off the field in 3 minutes. The bigwigs were pleased. Will said he thought he saw me on TV.

With our work for the day finished, most of our team slipped upstairs to watch the home run derby. My new friend Beau and I found upper deck seats behind the plate.

Watched Matt Olson complete the first round.

By then it was almost 10 pm, so we made the long walk to the parking deck. Gatorade was handing out free cold water bottles, which I welcomed. I had started to feel woozy...

...maybe it was the high altitude seats we'd found. At least the view was good.

Made it home around 1030. Watered Ceil's plants, ate some cheese, and went to bed. A long day. Over 18000 steps and almost 9 miles, and 17 flights of stairs. 

Didn't sleep well, mostly due to all the Coke Zero that I had drunk at lunch. Plus there was an old hoot owl making its presence known, a rare occurrence.

Made it back to the ballpark at 7 this morning. At 730 we pushed the big red stage out onto the field so the pregame concert could be rehearsed. Saw Ludacris and Jermain Dupri again. They have their own personal trailers near our team setup under the stands. 

Around 9 am we were given a two hour break during the rehearsal. I raced across 285 to the Fanfest to grab a bucket hat, snow cone, and a few other goodies. 

At 11 we practiced racing out to the field to pull off the stages. Saw my coworker Chris, who was helping with the rehearsal. He snapped a picture of Jermaine Dupri.

We had to push the stages onto from 3rd base over to 1st then to RF and finally out the CF gate. Pushing the bid stages in the narrow underground tunnels can make for some close calls. We have to really push to avoid some scrapes along the walls. Once I fell onto the large American flag that was next to the wall. Drew a laugh from my temp worker friend.

More bomb sniffing dogs are patrolling the stadium today. Fred McGriff strolled past, strolling and waving. The Crime Dog. Maybe those were his dogs.

At 1230, I went to Sonny's BBQ for lunch with Beau and Jarred. Then we walked around the Battery. Saw the end of the Red Carpet Show. Got a free t-shirt and a few more goodies. Then back down under the stadium to rest up for tonight's all star game.