My #6 Top Summer Memory happened just a few weeks ago during one of my favorite pastimes…watching the Baltimore Orioles play ball.  I am a diehard O’s fan and, living in Virginia, it’s relatively easy to get to their stadium.  Even though postgame traffic and my blood pressure don’t compliment each other, it’s still worth heading out to a few games each season.

I had the pleasure of going to Camden Yards to watch the Orioles play their cross-town rivals, the Washington Nationals, this summer.  With me were my father-in-law, Mr. Gregory, and my son, Tyler.  Tyler always likes to get to the stadium early to soak in the atmosphere.  And by ‘soak in the atmosphere’ I mean eat as many hotdogs and bags of popcorn as he can.  In his defense, he took a lot of pictures with his iPod this time around too.  Forty-three to be exact.

We ate our hotdogs and popcorn, bought our souvenir T-shirts and eventually made our way to our seats.  We enjoyed three innings of major league play before Mr. Gregory mentioned that he could really go for some Boog’s BBQ.  And I didn’t blame him.  It is some of the finest dining on the east coast.  For those of you not familiar with Boog’s BBQ, it’s affiliated with former Baltimore Orioles left fielder and first baseman, Boog Powell.  He has a BBQ stand stationed on Eutaw Street, located within Camden Yards, just outside of the stadium.  If you’re a true O’s fan, you can’t go to a game without getting a sandwich here.  I also love the Yard’s hotdogs topped with crabmeat and mac & cheese, but now I’m getting off topic…and hungry.

I whole-heartedly agreed with Mr. Gregory that Boog’s BBQ would hit the spot.  We were sitting behind the catcher on the third base side of the field.  Boog’s BBQ is located behind right-center field, so it’s somewhat of a trek.  Always trying to stay in my in-laws’ good graces, I generously offered to go fetch our sandwiches and bring them back to us.  I figured this would buy me some insurance for the next time I did something stupid.

About ten minutes into my hike to Boog’s, I heard a sound that I’m all too familiar with.  The crack of the bat.  The hushed anticipation of the home crowd.  And finally, forty thousand fans screaming while fireworks explode in the night sky.  Yep.  I had just missed a homerun.  I would later find out that the Orioles’ third baseman, Manny Machado, had stroked one deep into the crowd behind the left field wall.

The reason I say that this sound was all too familiar is that this night would mark the fourth Orioles game in a row I had been to where I somehow managed to miss seeing a homerun.  By no means does this carry the same clout as Cal Ripken’s consecutive game streak, but it’s a streak I can call my very own.

So why would missing my fourth homerun in a row make my Top Summer Memories list?  It’s because of how I view it.  I could look at this as having the worst luck any baseball fan can have.  Or I can embrace and enjoy the steak in which I’m currently involved.  It’s the proverbial ‘glass half full or half empty’ scenario.  Do I whine and moan over missing SportsCenter highlights of games I paid good money to attend?  Or do I boast about my streak of missed homeruns that I doubt anyone else can top?

One choice makes me miserable and encourages me to wallow in self-pity.  The other option turns the situation on its back and elevates it to a (albeit somewhat weird) sense of achievement.  I don’t have any control over missing these homeruns, so why should it bother me?  But I do that way too often in other aspects of my life.  I dwell on situations that didn’t go my way that I ultimately had no control over.  There’s no point in this.

We can’t always change our circumstances, but we can always change our perspectives.  I know some of you may be reading this and thinking to yourselves that enjoying a homerun-missing streak is a little excessive, but it works for me.  It’s my equivalent of Seinfeld’s ‘Serenity Now’ mantra.

And on a final note, even in what we perceive to be unfortunate situations, there are almost always silver linings to be found.  For instance, even though I missed four homeruns, the bottom line is that the Orioles had hot bats in those games and actually hit four homeruns.

When it’s all said and done, it’s our perspective, not our circumstances, in life that help us overcome and achieve.  I consider myself one of the luckiest guys in the world.  And I tell people that.  What I don’t tell them is that most of my luck is bad.  I just choose not to perceive it that way.

I’m planning on catching at least one more O’s game this season.  I’ll keep you posted on whether or not the streak stays alive.