Coming back from abroad is tough. I went to the DMV to get my motorcycle license .After waiting in line for 30 minutes they said that I had an outstanding ticket and I couldn't do anything until I took care of that. Funny but I didn't remember any ticket. So I went home and called the number. The Daly City Police said that I had been stopped for some reason (Oh yeah , I had forgotten to turn my lights on ) and I didn't have my proof of insurance with me. It was a fix-it ticket. I thought I had fixed the fix-it but they said no. I had no way to prove it after being away for 1 year. The woman on the phone said that I owed $529 because I keeps growing and growing. I asked if I could speak to a judge or get a hearing. She said no, it had been too long.

When things are going really bad, sometimes it’s best to stop struggling. So I called my friend Aaron and suggested that we go to a baseball game.

"Who’s playing?"

"The Florida something or others."

"Oh the Marlins" He obviously knew a lot more about baseball than I did.

I'd never been to the new ballpark. This year was an especially interesting one because the Giants were winning and Barry Bonds was hitting a lot of home runs. Maybe he would break the all time record. Aaron had never been to the new park either. Even though it was at the last moment, 1 hour before game time, we agreed to try to meet there. I'll meet you where the streetcar lets out at game time. I got there early and looked around for my friend, but he was not to be seen. So I got in line for tickets. They said that there were only standing room tickets. After a few minutes a man came by with a fistful of bleacher tickets that he wanted to get rid of. He was selling the $9 dollar tickets for $5. I got one. After I bought it I thought, "I should get one for Aaron too." I ran up to the guy. He had one left. I looked through my wallet but I had only $4. The guy said, "Don't worry about it," and ran off. I went back to the streetcar stop and waited for my friend.

When I heard them sing the National Anthem, I decided I had waited long enough. So I walked around for about 2 minutes saying, " I have an extra bleacher ticket. I have an extra bleacher ticket." A man came up, "How much?"

" Face value. That's what I paid for it." (OK so it was a slight lie.)

The man gave me the $9 and I went into the park, quite pleased with myself. I got in for FREE. It's a very nice park. There are lots of nice little touches like a cable car for the kids to get on near the bleachers area. Everything is new too. Its a fun place. Before walking all the way around to my seat in the bleachers, I stopped off and walked down the isle to a seat about halfway up in back of the opposing team's dugout. I sat down and no one seemed to mind. So I stayed for a while.

It was a good game. Barry Bonds hit a home run his second time up. It just cleared the right field wall. The crowd went wild. That was his 52 homerun of the year. That tied him with Willie Mays for the most homeruns by a San Francisco Giant. The Marlins stayed scoreless. Behind me were 3 nice gentlemen ( I guess they were gentlemen because they seemed to come to many games, so I imagine they were rich.) They were very friendly and answered all of my questions. A very nice seat, and for free....except ( and here's where that part of everyone that is never satisfied comes out) it wasn't in the sun. Maybe I was asking too much but , hey I live in the upper Haight, not far from the beach and I hadn't seen the sun for about a week, only fog and cold. I wanted to be in the sun. So I got myself up in the 6th inning and decided to go off and find my real seat.

I found it. I was certainly in a different socioeconomic zone that's for sure. I was sandwiched between a group of about 50 10-12 year olds who were in a camp program, and an elder's group from the Glide Memorial Church. They are famous for doing outreach work in the homeless/ drug addicted population in San Francisco. Some of my bench mates seemed a little rough around the edges but we were united in that we were all out to have a nice relaxing afternoon. One woman in particular seemed to be the leader of the group. She welcomed me to their proximity with a bag of peanuts and some cracker jacks. I gratefully accepted. I had forgotten to eat lunch on the way to the park (Oh by the way as I was eating my snacks the Marlins scored 3 runs so now the score was 3 to 1). I turned around and offered my crackerjack prize to one of the younger kids. The accepted and in return I was presented with a cotton candy. Now normally I don't eat junk like that but it was kind of a special day and I was trying to forget my other problems (my $529 problem in particular) so I got right into the spirit of the baseball culture by eating the peanuts, the crackerjacks, and the cotton candy.

The Giants were dismal in the 7th and the Marlins didn't do anything in the 8th. The Giants came up swinging in the 8th. The first player hit a double. The next hit a single. 3 to 2. The next hit a single too. 3 straight hits. And that brought up, Barry Bonds. The pitcher threw a fastball and Bonds didn't make a move for it strike one. The next one was the same. He seemed to be sleeping. The crowd sighed and it felt like some air was let out of a balloon. Third pitch …. kapoow. It was a line shot. It was coming my way. Was it far enough to make it over the center field fence? Everyone stood up, some ducked for cover. The ball was coming right to my section. I stood up and leaned over but the ball landed 3 rows in front of me. Home run! Bonds hits number 53. The most home runs a Giant has ever hit. Everyone was happy. I was high fiving with the camp kids and the geriatirc homeless folks. We had all seen a bit of basebal history. I tried to see the scramble for the ball and who got it. It was a young woman . She held up the ball and then immediately gave it to the man next to her. She was kind of cute.

So that made the game 5 to 3 Giants. The fans had certainly gotten there money's worth, especially me. The Giants scored no more runs after that. The rest of the game was downhill after that. The Giants closer came in and that was that. Great game. The place was buzzing as the fans started to file away. I was in no hurry, the streetcar would be jammed. I sat down to wait for the crowd to die down. I saw the young woman, her father, mother, and brother were down talking to one of the security guards. The Giants organization wanted that ball. It was a part of Giants history. I walked over and listened in. "Of course we would like for you to donate that ball to the park. If you do it will always be here for you to see. Maybe we can even put your name next to it.

"I wish I had brought my camera, "the father smacked his head.

At that my ears pricked up.

"I have a camera. I'll be happy to take some pictures for you. I can email them to you later. "

"Really? Would you do that?"

"Sure".

So I became the photographer. I took a about 5 pictures of the woman holding the ball in front of a sign showing how many homers Bonds had. The I took one of the family. Then the vendor came over and wanted his picture. All the while the security guard was waiting.

"Its up to you to decide. But once you leave this park, unless you have that ball authenticated it will be worthless." Someone came by and said that they thought the ball could be worth $20,000 someday after Bonds was in the Hall of Fame. The young woman seemed completely overwhelmed.

"I want to give it to my older brother who is in Costa Rica right now. He would be so happy."

The family had a huddle. After about 30 seconds. I heard, "Frank, what do you think we should do?" I was surprised. These people were very nice. I joined the huddle.I told them they should get it authenticated first and then decide. So that's what was decided. We told the security man.

"OK. Come with me." The family followed him. I stood there watching .

"Frank. What are you doing? You're with us."'

The security man led us out of the stands and down into the bowels of the stadium.

" Hey who's that guy." (pointing to me).

"That's our friend, Frank. He's our photographer."

The security man gave me a dirty look.

"Ok. Come on Pho-ta-gra-fer. But I should ask you for your press pass. Now pay attention y'all. Not many folks get to see what you're going to see now."

We went through a few guarded checkpoints and then we were in the corridor leading to the locker room. The younger brother was in esctasy. Hey there's Millard. Look there's the assistant coach. And then.

"Oh my God look it's Barry." I looked over and sure enough an enormous muscle bound man in a leather jacket was walking towards us.

The security man said to Barry, "Here's the woman who caught the record-breaking homer. He stopped and shook her hand. I took a picture .The great athlete shook hands all around.

"You're taking care of it all , right?" Bonds said.

The security man nodded.

"Cool" And he was off.

We continued walking to the dugout where the Giants Vice President was waiting. It was littered with empty water bottles , pumpkin and sunflower seed packages opened and unopened.

"Now look. I'm not going to try to fool you. We want that ball but we don't want to put any pressure on you. You can do what you want to do. You can decide later. The important thing is to authenticate that ball now."

They talked on and on. The brother was as high as a kite.

"Frank, take my picture here. Look this is where the manager sits. Image hitting a home run and then coming out and tipping your hat.wow"

Finally, the talks were over and we left the dugout area.

We all walked out together and got on the streetcar together.

"So what did you agree on." I asked.

"We decided to hold onto the ball. They authenticated it for us. I want to show it to my older brother before I decide. The Vice President said that they would give us playoff and season tickets next year if we want or bats and balls signed by Barry. Or maybe we'll just hold onto it for a while. But if they give us the tickets, Frank you're coming with us. We need a photographer."

We were about to get of the street car when the young woman exclaimed, "Oh my God! Who won the game?"

"We did," the father smiled. "We did."