The Baseball Bag

Opening Day is only a couple days off, so it's time to get my baseball bag ready. Then all I have to do when I come home from work is transfer my wallet, glasses/sunglasses, and my phone plus grab the tickets for that date's game and I'm set to go.

A properly outfitted baseball bag is a necessity. The contents will change as the season progresses -- for instance, the lap blanket will be replaced by a lightweight jacket -- but the basics remain the same.

Preparedness

 I was a Girl Scout and the mother of small children, so there are somethings I never leave home without. This is my preparedness bag, which goes inside the main bag. In it I keep wet wipes, hand sanitizer, a small first aid kit, tissues, sunblock/insect repellent wipes. You never know when you're going to need these things.

The basics for April

Some days I feel like a pack mule, especially when TV Stevie asks: "Do you have room for . . .?"

The bag contains:

• camera and spare batteries 
• baseball hats (TV Stevie's in addition to mine)
• lap blanket 
• faux binoculars
• notebook and pen
•  lip balm
• drink cup holder 
• lightweight rain ponchos 
• a fan
• microfiber clothes for wiping down wet seats
• black-bean-filled bat*
• Chiefs water bottle for filling up at the water fountain

Not shown is my umbrella, which must be in my car. I always take an umbrella. This is Syracuse. It rains. I also plan to wear my new Starter Skychiefs Jacket (see my post about Superman's closet back in October), so I didn't pack an extra jacket. This is April in Syracuse. It gets cold.

*Black-bean-filled bat: Last season, Sandee found candy-filled baseball bats and bought one for me. We used them as noisemakers. The baseball-shaped candy inside them soon pulverized to dust. So Sandee experimented with rice, lentils, who knows what else. Black beans worked the best. So that's what we now have in our bats. Little kids see our bats and want them. TV Stevie wants me to give mine to the next kid who wants it. Nope. I love my bat.

So now my bag is set for Opening Day. (Except for the umbrella. Gotta chase that down.) Two days! (Tuesday and Wednesday.) I am very excited.