BEST GAME IN THE WORLD (AND I GOT TO CHEER!)

Okay, maybe not the best game cause we lost ... but I got to be a fan today! (as opposed to an unbiased reporter).

First and foremost, yes, I dyed my hair brown. Woke up this morning, said to myself, "I think I want to dye my hair brown," called the hair salon and two and a half hours later, Laura Lane became a brunette after spending a good 10 years as a blond. 

Second of all, tonight was the best going away party EVER! I brought 20 of my friends and my amazing family to Dodger stadium to celebrate my going away in a ridiculously incredible suite that a friend of mine gave me for the night (food included!). 

It also doesn't hurt being friends with the amazing people at the Dodgers organization. I ran into one friend as we walked in who told me I could bring two of my friend to the field for batting practice (I regretfully declined since I didn't want to hurt anyones feelings). And then I ran into another friend walking upstairs and 10 minutes later he brought everyone in my suite free Dodgers hats. It was perfect.

Despite the 7-6 loss to the Giants (I really thought they were making a comeback), it was an entertaining night that included Joe Torre getting kicked out the game, Casey Blake getting unusually upset after the second bad call by the umps of the night for him and Andruw Jones actually hitting the ball and getting on base (WTF?)!

My best (okay, only) present of the night was a box of wine, crackers, Perrier and other goodies from my friend Maddy with a note that read, "For your first picnic in Central Park." I almost cried. 

It was an incredible boost of self-esteem to be at my first game where there is absolutely no question I knew more about the team than any of the other 20 people in the room. You see, normally I'm in the press box surrounded by the stat-smart press core who have about 25 years of baseball reporting experience on me, that far outdates my age and knowledge of the "good ol' days." However, I was proudly giving my friends more info than even I realized I knew about every batter, pitcher and player in the game. 

"You've met all of them?!" one of my friends asked me. "Who's # 7? He's cute."

"James Loney," I replied. "I just did a story on him the other day actually. Real nice guy. He hit a homerun in the last game too." 

I have to give a few of my not-so-sportsy friends credit for pretending to be interested in the game (most of them actually were interested), but seriously, there is no excuse to not know the words to "Take Me Out To The Ball Game." I mean, really! At least they caught on by the second round. Here's some more pics from the night: