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t i p6 weekender saturdayuly42 1997 stux god never intended baseball to be played in a concrete palace one more chance thats what it comes down to as ive agreed to return to the cavernous un inviting confines of torontos sky dome for an upcoming ball game between the home town jays and the cheese heads from milwaukee the last time i graced this boring ball yard was in the spring of 1994 when the boston red sox set a record for most look for your mmmeat flyer in todays paper and remember sale starts sunday runs scored by a visiting team in the first inning the sox took a 100 strangle hold before the befuddled blue birds even came to bat watching paint dry would have held my atten tion more than seeing this particular nonevent wind its way to a merciful conclusion i would have gone home to bed but for the fact i was part of my wife susans school group and we were trapped there until the bus driver returned for us at games end i used to suffer happily through the blue jays early days at exhibition stadium soaking up those lovely sunsets and taking in the night air the sense of being outside where god intend ed baseball to be played made the jays fre quent onfield futilities that much less disturb ing but the move to their current hightech con crete palace in the steamy heart of the befouled from where i live bruce stapley city found me staying away with a vengeance to me playing ball indoors in an eerily syn thetic atmosphere highlights the essential lack of appeal of what has become a sport for pam pered prima donnas sight lines in the domes affordable seats are skewered so as to prevent fans from knowing just where the ball is going when it is hit and food and beer prices are a joke even the jays seem to have developed a phobia for the place losing more games than they win there so when a friend phoned to tell me he had instore pharmacy hours mon fri 9 am 9 pm saturday 9 am 7 pm call 8521206 reactin antihistamine everyday low price this allergy season bufferin asa johnson johnson first aid kit 35 value 18caplets 325 mg 50 caplets perfect for the car or the cottage food plus 8521212 store hours mon fri 8 am 9 pm ff sat 8 am 7 pm sun 9 am 6 fm 4 been given a pair of 25 seats for the jaysmilwaukee game later this month my first response was to come right back with that old gag used for so many years by long- denied maple leaf fans what was the second prize four tickets to a jays game we bandied it about over the phone for a few min utes my friend is just as jaded with the excesses of big league sport as am i but we finally decided that because we are fairminded individuals wed agree to give the jays and their massive mausoleum one last chance in a way i feel like charlie brown staring down lucy as she holds the football for what always turns out to be just another act of trickery itll probably rain with the closed roof eliminating any chance we may have had of casting a glance upward at the approaching night sky between pitches the game will undoubtedly be a turkey a tiresome affair featuring a bunch of guys in natty uniforms standing around scratching themselves while theres always the prospect of a topless sighting in this the summer of bare breast overkill anyone sitting there swilling beer sans shirt would likely be just another male of ill breeding making matters worse my sky dome sojourn will come v the aftermath of next wednesday nights stouffville doubleheader pitting the visiting new zealand youth softball team against the hometown betz pools midget boys and the uxbridge bandits mens squad with former hometown boy scott evans one of this countrys premier fastball pitchers throwing for the betz brigade the night promises to be much more enthralling than watching millionaire carlos garcia of the jays try to edge his paupers batting average over the 200 mark besides the price is right i can grab an ice cream cone on my way to the park and i wont be fuming afterwards as i sit in a post game traffic jam going nowhere something tells me im going to be a hard sell at the sky dome july 24 tom floor service old floors made like new installed sanded refinished repaired stained 24 hours service over 10 years experience quality work low prices free estimates phone 41 6 7223806 beeper 41 6 3770965 broken windshield f free gas bbq i i plus i i we pay your deductible i on most insurance claims akers fluto gloy joofciwjo3 free mobile service uxbridge bowmanville oshawa port perry port hope pickering cobourg brighton campbellford