The Peanut Man

"Peanut here!  Peanut here!" That is the familiar sound of a Dodger and family tradition. Growing up my family shared season tickets to the Dodgers with some other families in our stake, so I was able to go to games fairly regularly. We had great seats on the middle (Loge) level just about even with the Dodger's on-deck circle. This also meant that we were in the section that Roger "The Peanut Man" Owens worked. We'd watch the game, but we'd also keep an eye on the sections to our right--the side he always came from. Once we'd spot him there was no going for Dodger Dogs or bathroom breaks until after he passed for fear of missing out.

Why is he the Peanut Man? Its all about the toss! Roger has an impressive repertoire. I've seen all sorts of tosses: behind the back, under a leg, hook shots, long distance, and even from our level to the one above it. One of the best parts was if it ended up being a bad toss, Roger would ask that you pass the peanuts back to him so he could throw again and get it right.

We were given great tickets to the game last night against the Giants last minute. Dodgers vs. Giants always makes for a more full crowd and a fun atmosphere. We decided to take Winston even though it would be well past his bed time. He was an absolute champ! The people next to us ended up getting up from their seats early in the game and never returned, so he got his own seat for much of the time. The Dodgers won an exciting game, and to top it all off we got to cross paths with Roger. Go Doyers!

Highlights of Winston's night:

• Climbing from Mom's lap, to Dad's lap, back to Mom's, back to Dad's, over to the empty chair, back to Dad's lap... you get the idea. He actually sat pretty still for most of the game, but loved it when we'd let him climb back and forth.
• Making friends with the people behind us
• The Wave! He sat in the seat by himself, and when the wave would come Kate would raise both his arms for him. As the wave passed he'd keep his arms up with a big grin on his face--all three times.
• The 7th inning stretch. I actually missed it while getting food--bad timing--but according to Kate standing up and singing with the crowd was a big hit.
• Sitting all by himself telling elaborate stories- probably about baseball :)

Highlight of my night:

• Parking so close (thanks Mr. MacLeod)
• The Dodgers winning
• Catching peanuts and introducing Winston to Roger:

Highlight of Kate's night:

• Laughing at her husband getting geeked-out over some peanut dude

Roger was incredibly nice. He tossed a bag behind his back, down about 10+ rows right into my open hands. I didn't have to move them at all--right on target! As we were taking the picture I told him how I'd been catching peanuts from him for over 20 years and pointed to our old seats, which he got quite a kick out of. He crouched down in the aisle and chatted with us for a bit. He asked about Winston being our first child, told us about his and his wife's families, gave us a bookmark that had information about his biography (The Perfect Pitch), and then cracked a peanut joke for us.

It is hard to pinpoint what I was so excited about exactly. Part of it may be that I hadn't sat in Roger's section in years. I think mostly it comes down to experiencing and reliving some very fun childhood memories and having a chance to share them with people you love. Thanks, mom and dad, for helping to create them; thanks, Kate and Winston, for playing along.