Wow, whadayahavtadotagit this job? I get asked that question just about every home game the Frisco Roughriders play. The Roughriders are the Double A farm club for the Texas Rangers, and they play their home games in the Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas. The Dr. Pepper Ballpark is one of the premier minor league ballparks in the country. It was built with the fan in mind. There is not a bad seat in the place, unless you consider sitting so close to the action that you dare not miss a pitch for fear of catching a hit ball with your nose, a bad seat.

The ballpark has several private suites, four dining areas available for founder’s club ticket holders, and five or six party decks. The main dining area for the Founders Club members serves some amazing food. The prime rib is to die for. The suites and party decks offer a choice of food and drink that is ballpark oriented, and tasty. The park also has a play ground area, and bounce houses for the kids to enjoy.

I work on one of the party decks. It’s a great job, if you don’t mind meeting new people, renewing old acquaintances and sweating a lot during the hot, often times humid, North Texas summers. These decks accommodate between twenty- five to over one-hundred guest, and I am there to make sure they are phat and happy.   

Now, to be more specific, and help explain why I get asked that question just about every home game. I work on one of the smaller party decks. The deck  was added after the ballpark had been opened for a couple of years, and it has proven to be a very popular place to be. The deck is now called The Leslie’s Pool Zone. Yup, the ballpark has a swimming pool! It’s located in right center field. I am Grumpy the grill guy.

I grill burgers and dogs for my guest on the pool deck,, and yes it may be the best place it the ballpark to watch a game and enjoy fellowship. We have a great time on the pool deck. My guest can watch the game in 100 degree weather and never break a sweat. They get to eat one of the best burgers “I ever had in my life,” and visit with friends and clients in a nice atmosphere away from the other eight-thousand  other guests at the game.

Now maybe you can understand why my guests think I have a great job. Having let you know a little about the setting, I want to tell about a man I wish I knew. My guest had arrived and had already had a burger or dog. They had already been in the pool, and were enjoying the game from the comfort of the pool as they leaned their arms against the edge of the pool deck looking in toward home plate from right center field. Two men came up and asked for another dog, and as I reached into the grill to get them, they continued their conversation. All of a sudden the man speaking interrupted himself in mid sentence, stood silent for a second, and then said, “Look at that paint.”

The other guest and I followed his gaze to try and see what he was seeing. From our vantage point along the outfield fence, maybe fifteen feet about the warning track, we were looking at a beautiful green outfield. As we continued to pan from there we recognized the different color uniforms of the opposing teams who were on the field. Next as we looked further away and up a little there were fans sitting in the stands, all in different color clothing, behind them and up a little more were the colonial styled building that house the private suites, and each suite had guest sitting on their own private patio deck.  However what the two of us discovered was that his gaze was still further away and higher.

There is was, on the horizon to the west. The setting sun. The sun had gone below our line of sight and was obscured by the ballpark buildings, but what the sun was doing was absolutely breathtaking. It’s rays were being reflected off the clouds in the distance. The colors were shades of red, pink, orange, and yellow. The skys were vivid and alive. The scene was thought provoking, and thank provoking. “Look at that paint.” In the middle of a baseball game, in the middle of eight-thousand people, in the middle of hunger for hot dog, in the middle of his own spoken words, this man was stricken by the beauty of the moment. The beauty of God’s setting sun.

Psalm 19

 ¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
       the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (NIV)

I don’t remember the man’s name, and I wouldn’t recognize him if he walked into my house, but I will never forget him, or the impact his words have on me. Those words remind me on occasion to look at the paint…of life.

Till next time.

Grump