On the second day of our combo college tour/ballpark tour, my son Jude and I started the day in Pasco, hit a sweet thrift sale in an old movie theater, then drove to Whitman College, Washington State, University of Idaho and Gonzaga. It was Saturday, so none of the school buildings were actually open. I figured we could just get a feel for whether or not they seemed like a fit for him. He liked Washington State, where we stopped at the only campus facility that was open: the art museum. At least there we could talk to actual human beings: two nice students who were working at the museum desk and apparently waiting for us, their only customers. He also got a good vibe from Gonzaga, although it might be a tough family sell, as our daughter is annoyed with the Bulldogs messing up every March Madness bracket she’s ever completed.

Somewhere along the way, I’m not even sure where, we also stopped in an odd little town called Dayton where about a billion people were at a downtown car show. It’s possible I’m exaggerating, but not by much. We were so used to driving along through miles of empty farm and pasture land in Washington that we were both shocked to come across an actual town. And one where every person in Eastern Washington had descended for the afternoon. A small town car show is one of those events that’s pretty much the same no matter which town you are in America.

Eventually we headed to the Spokane Indians game, after strolling the Gonzaga campus for a bit.

Here’s a point in favor of not buying tickets until you get to a game: we met the nicest couple, Jerry and Janet, walking up to the ticket office. Jerry offered us two of his season tickets they weren’t using and then insisted on buying us drinks (I really tried to buy him a beer! Honest!!). We had some great conversation and a great time hanging out with them for the first few innings.

Eventually, Jude and I wandered around the ballpark, and then our new best friends left in about the sixth inning. There was a Saturday night fireworks show scheduled for after the game, but since we had a LOT of driving in front of us, we slipped out during the bottom of the eighth to hit the road. More on that in the next post.

The game itself was not overly competitive (none of the three games were all that close, now that I think about it). This was the biggest blowout of the three, and the only one in which the visiting team came out on top. The Eugene Emeralds jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the fourth inning and then tacked on five runs as we were headed to the parking lot to finish off an 11-4 victory. The Emeralds only played their nine starters, and every single one of those nine had either one hit or two. The game drew about twice as many fans as the game in Pasco: we were among 5,864 spectators on this Saturday evening. The team also has what must be the most impressive mascot-to-fan ratio anywhere: they have Otto, Doris, AND Ribby. I know that Ribby is a trout. I’m not entirely sure about Otto or Doris.

I should also mention that Spokane’s team is, indeed, still known as the Indians, which feels a little surprising with most other similarly-named teams changing monikers and mascots. But it seems as if there is a pretty strong relationship here between the indigenous tribes and the ballpark: The ‘Spokane’ name on the jersey is written in Salish, the language of the Spokane tribe, as is much of the signage in the stadium.