Here's what I think: Seventh Inning Stretch

Am I the only one that didn't know that during the seventh inning stretch you're actually supposed to stretch?

I attended my second ever I-Cubs baseball game this weekend with some rather unfortunate weather. I seem to have bad luck in attending the games, last time we showed up to buy tickets to find that there was standing room only and okay baseball's just not that interesting to have to stand through. So thinking ahead we bought tickets online and were excited to spend the fourth of July weekend at a ball game! Unfortunately, the day was soggy and continued into the evening delaying the 7:05 start time.

We arrived to Principle Park early in order to find seats and make sure everything was on track. When we made our way into the stands to find our seats I discovered that our seats were not together! Not sure why we didn't look before that point but seriously why would they sell you two seats in different rows of the same section? You go online, click two tickets, you would think those tickets would be seated together but whatever. It turned out that the dreary weather worked in our favor and our section wasn't full so we were still able to sit together.

When we took our seats they were soaking wet, so naturally we used our pant legs to dry the seat rather than letting our bums soak in all the water, as we finished wiping them down the usher told us that they had towels that we could use. Really? Where were you 30 seconds ago before I got my pant leg drenched? Oh well, not such a big deal.

Despite what it sounds like we actually did have a really great time. Rain and all. One of the most enjoyable parts of the night was making fun of the beer vendor whom you could hear shouting from anywhere in the park.

So it comes to the 7th inning and a little cartoon baseball pops up on the big screen to indicate the 7th inning stretch. I, like an idiot said, "Oh, you're actually supposed to stretch?" My boyfriend looked at me incredulously and said "What did you think that meant?" Hmmm. Good question. What did I think that meant? I guess I'd never given it any thought but it had never occurred to me that you actually get up and stretch.

I did some research using the ever reliable and oh so credible Wikipedia and found that the origins of the 7th inning stretch are unclear. A popular theory for the origins of the stretch is that President William Howard Taft, also famous for getting suck in a bathtub during is presidency, at a Washington Senators game in 1910 "felt sore in his backside" and decided to stand up and stretch. The rest of the spectators in attendance felt obligated to join the president in stretching.

Having only been to one other minor league game and no majors I'd like to think that it is acceptable that I was unaware of the meaning of the 7th inning stretch, but admittedly it's a little sad.