Sunday afternoon at the park, taking in some baseball

**Pre-game catch on the field. Photo/Nate Mapplethorpe**

For me, there’s nothing comparable to watching live baseball. It’s a simple, meditative pleasure. It’s also a sensory experience. Bats crack, leather snaps, crowds rise to cheer. Fresh grass, hot dogs, popcorn, beer.

You get the picture. I’m not writing a poem here.

And each season, I take in a first game, and I take in a last one before baseball hibernates for the winter. Such are the cycles of life.

On Sunday, April 14, I took in my first game of the season at Delta Dental Stadium to watch the New Hampshire Fisher Cats square off with the Somerset Patriots, the AA affiliates of the New York Yankees.

I’ve been attending Fisher Cats games for 20 years, since the franchise came to Manchester in 2004. With the stadium only a 10-minute drive from our house, my kids grew up going to Fisher Cats games, and we continue to go. I can’t tell you exactly how many games I’ve attended over the years but the number is formidable.

But on Sunday, I took in my first game in a slightly different role.

I can’t remember exactly how it originally came up, but one night I was out with Manchester Ink Link’s publisher Carol Robidoux, and the topic of baseball and the Fisher Cats came up. I remember expressing an interest in writing some feature pieces on the team—the organization and its personalities, the park and its idiosyncrasies, the fans and minor league baseball culture.

I’ve had some experience writing about the Red Sox—both Boston and Worcester—in the past, and Carol liked the idea.

Fast forward to Sunday at the ballpark, and instead of buying a grandstand ticket, I was picking up my press credentials at the box office, ready to take in a matinee with idyllic blue skies and mild temperatures—at least for the first pitch.

As I walked into the stadium—press badge and lanyard around my neck—fans had swarmed the field, kids and adults, and were tossing baseballs back and forth to one another, alongside players for both teams doing their pregame warm-ups.

View from the pressbox. Photo/Nate Mapplethorpe

It turned out that this was a promotional event, sponsored by Eversource. The electric company hosts a reading challenge in New Hampshire schools where kids who read a certain number of books are awarded free tickets to a Fisher Cats game and allowed to play pre-game catch in the outfield.

As an English teacher, I approved.

I managed to not get beamed in the head by an errant ball then made my way upstairs to the luxury suites and found my way into the press box, which is directly above home plate.

In the press box, I introduced myself to Chris Jared and Ian Unsworth, who along with Fisher Cats legend Bob Lipman, call the games for a live stream broadcast that can be accessed on the team’s website.

Lipman was calling an SNHU lacrosse game and not at the stadium on Sunday, but I got to chat with Chris and Ian, two sharp young men who made me feel every gray hair on my head.

Chris then pointed me in the direction of the press area where I sat down and got out a pen and scorecard.

But I wasn’t scoring the game to look busy, nor was I planning to write a recap. I simply enjoy scoring live baseball games, and for that purpose, you can’t beat the view from the press box.

The Fisher Cats brought their bats on Sunday afternoon, mashing four home runs—including two dingers from their lead-off hitter Alan Roden—in a 13-9 win over Somerset.

Around the seventh inning, however, as I stared out at the crowd, I got the itch to be in it. I’ve been in a few press boxes in my days as a writer and a reporter, and they are typically the best places to see the game, but nothing beats being in the crowd with my fellow baseball fans for the final out.

So as soon as the crowd finished singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” I packed my stuff, tucked away my press badge, bought a cold beer and headed for the grandstands to finish watching the game.

Clouds were now covering the sky, and the temperature had dipped, but as left-handed reliever Jimmy Burnette caught Patriots’ right-fielder Grant Richardson looking at a fastball for the final out, I stood and cheered with the rest of the fans still in attendance.

I am thrilled to bring everyone some insight into the Fisher Cats this season, and I certainly enjoy being part of the press covering the team. But I will always be, first and foremost, a baseball fan.