THE 4th OF JULY, BASEBALL, AND KEVIN COSTNER (Cheri)

More than one person has asked us what the Fourth of July is like in the South.  We didn’t get out to celebrate – both of us came down with the flu – but it’s certain to be a crashing success wherever you head.  Year-round, if you turn your head while traveling a freeway in any relatively unpopulated area of the states we’ve traveled, you are certain to see a massive fireworks warehouse . . . and an adult lingerie emporium.

The night of the 3rd, Mark sent a text to his family, talking about how different it is to be standing outside, watching fireflies and listening to fireworks.  When I was here last year, getting the house’s security system set up, and asked our neighbors if what I was seeing fireflies they seemed bemused, but really, they are magical.  There are a small number of places where you can actually see fireflies that actually flash simultaneously, and a few of them are in North Carolina.

So as I mentioned, I was in bed the night of the 4th, but the window was open and it was like listening to a choir, with fireworks of many types exploding from different distances and directions.  There was a brief whiff of sulfur dioxide – the smell of matches igniting – on the air off and on.  All in all, quite nice if the vegetation is so wet that you don’t have to worry about it catching fire.

We bought a partial season-ticket plan for the Winston-Salem Dash, which is the local White Sox “High-A Affiliate.”  (Mark, or Wikipedia, would be one that could actually tell you what that means.)  I’ve always associated minor-league teams with nasty stadiums, but this one is really nice.

Attending a local minor-league game is a lot of fun.  I already know one woman who runs the catering department, and another who works in concessions, and you see the same employees frequently, enough to know which teenagers give it their all when they lead the inning-switch dances, and which ones should be on KP duty.

I’d wondered why they had so many employees.  The number necessary to roll out the tarp for the rain delay the other night provided an explanation. 

Rain delays are common here.  We’ve experienced two, out of four games so far.

I’ve been taking The Grind along to read during some of the inning switches.  It’s been fun, as it focuses on the season from the viewpoint of different positions within a major-league organization.

Parade magazine just published an article on the movie Bull Durham, which Sports Illustrated called it “the best sports movie of all time.”  I remembered an editorial from an old issue of Our State magazine, in which the editor told of her parents attending a Durham Bulls game and sitting by someone they didn’t know, who said he was attending because he was working on an upcoming “baseball movie.”

“Oh, are you doing a movie on the Bulls?” the mom asked.  “Kinda,” responded Kevin Costner.

Click here for a shot from the movie (OR DON'T if you have tender eyes).

I’m not sure I’m qualified to evaluate whether Bull Durham is the best sports movie of all time, but I’d put money on it being right up there among the sexiest!  If you’ve seen it, and liked it, you might enjoy the director’s new book, The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings, and a Hit.  I know I’m looking forward to reading it.