Dunedin Blue Jays baseball: Hot fun in the summertime

The heat index was 109 in the screaming Florida sunshine.

The threat of a pop-up thunderstorm was ever-present.

Nary a breeze provided even a baby’s breath of relief from the heat, although approaching clouds offered hope of reprieve.

All of which meant it was a good day to attend a Dunedin Blue Jays-Lakeland Flying Tigers game at TD Ballpark one recent Sunday at the end of a Blue Jays homestand.

Arriving at about 11:30 for the noon contest, the ever-jolly ushers brightened when they saw a sole baseball fanatic approach the gate, and they proffered greetings with the kind of jovial reception normally reserved for hosts at a house party. Except the beer wasn’t free. (A Sunday special at TD Ballpark offers $2 mimosas at Eddie’s bar in left field. At two smackers apiece, they are practically free, though, and the bubbly potables offered a bit of refreshment badly needed in this broiling dog day of summer.)

Passing through the concourse, the amiable hotdog, peanuts and beer vendors offered their own hellos, but it was time to find a seat behind home plate. Entering the seating bowl, the Blue Jays blue seats were the temperature of a heating pad set to its skin-scorching highest click.

But even in the sun, a seat behind the plate offers a unique perspective that allows fans to feel they almost are part of the action. So the chance of a little heatstroke made it worth taking a chair in the front row of Section 208.

By 11:45, there were three hardy souls in the stadium, each having found a seat in the shade under the grandstand roof as the grounds crew watered the infield and placed the bases. It would be one of those days when the sound of the stadium’s HVAC would offer ambient noise. It was so quiet that it seemed polite to silence cell phones, lest an at-bat be interrupted by a ringtone featuring The Who’s “Baba O’Riley.”

It would indeed be embarrassing to be shaken out of a heat-induced torpor behind the plate when the phone announces a call with, “Out here in the fields…” followed by a called third strike taken by the startled hitter. Oops.

After three innings it was time to head to left field for a visit to Eddie’s and sit with the half-dozen people lounging in the outdoor, roofed tavern area. Inside, seeking one of those mimosas, a few more stragglers enjoyed their drinks in the air-conditioning inside while ESPN broadcast one of its inane talk shows. Thankfully, the squawk boxes were silent.

But while Eddie’s offers a fine view of the game’s proceedings, it’s in left field. So why not travel to the outfield area where two boys waited in vain for a home run ball? When you’re in left field, or right field for that matter, you get a sense of the enormity of the emerald playing field.

It’s easy to lose track of the game out there. The ball hitting the catcher’s mitt seems only to be a rumor for a split second as the sound waves travel the 333 feet from plate to outfield wall. Scorecards can be scrambled as the mind considers the vastness of the field and other distractions such as ospreys flying by. In left or in right, there’s a sense of detachment from the goings-on on the field unless a long fly ball is lofted toward the fences.

Wherever you’re sitting, a trip to TD Ballpark on Sundays is a special way to begin the week. The quietude of the proceedings where you can hear players chattering and birds crying, and the HVAC thrumming is a relaxing way to spend a lazy day.

For the record, this contest eventually lured 164 heat-resistant Blue Jays loyalists to the ballpark as the home team lost 10-4.

The Blue Jays are in Dunedin for a brief homestand that ends Sunday, Aug. 6, against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.

So, you’ve got a chance this weekend to take in a lovely Sunday contest.

Just remember to silence your phone.

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