{"id":1064,"date":"2012-07-20T07:55:59","date_gmt":"2012-07-20T11:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/"},"modified":"2012-07-20T07:55:59","modified_gmt":"2012-07-20T11:55:59","slug":"play-ball-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/","title":{"rendered":"PLAY BALL!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_816\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-816\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-816\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2012\/07\/IMG_13681-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"So many farewells!\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2012\/07\/IMG_13681-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2012\/07\/IMG_13681-624x468.jpg 624w, https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2012\/07\/IMG_13681.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-816\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">So many farewells!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cSave money for travel\u201d and \u201cPlay Ball!\u201d were two exclamations heard in equal parts at our July cluster meeting, a mixture of fond farewells, parting advice, and a great game of American baseball.  Saying goodbye to 11 departing au pairs was sad, but it was made little bit easier by chocolate cake and watermelon, then a fantastic game of American Baseball.<\/p>\n<p>Americans never think about how strange a sport baseball is until they try to explain it to those who have never played it or watched a game.  Running from base to base and having to stop sometimes, but not at other times, is odd.  \u201cThree strikes and you\u2019re out\u201d is arbitrary. Distinguishing a strike from a ball is arbitrary.<\/p>\n<p>Still, everyone showed amazing athletic skills, including strong batting, excellent speed covering most of bases, and great catching.  The opposing pitchers were formidable.   Chloe Haggard pitched consistently hittable balls even while injured and Kathi Lange was frightening in her windup and was even part of a key double play midway through the game.<\/p>\n<p>With lightening in the distance and darkness falling, it was time to end the game.  However, it is clear that our au pairs are ready to play more ball!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/s1211.photobucket.com\/albums\/cc438\/BestofBoston\/Baseball%20in%20July\/\">More Pics Here!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cSave money for travel\u201d and \u201cPlay Ball!\u201d were two exclamations heard in equal parts at our July cluster meeting, a mixture of fond farewells, parting advice, and a great game of American baseball. Saying goodbye to 11 departing au pairs was sad, but it was made little bit easier by chocolate cake and watermelon, then  <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,1],"tags":[12,14,24,37,57,64,112],"class_list":["post-1064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cluster-meetings","category-fun-things-we-do","category-uncategorized","tag-activities","tag-acton","tag-au-pair-in-america","tag-boston-area","tag-concord","tag-cultural-exchange","tag-lexington"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>PLAY BALL! - Best Of Boston<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PLAY BALL! - Best Of Boston\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cSave money for travel\u201d and \u201cPlay Ball!\u201d were two exclamations heard in equal parts at our July cluster meeting, a mixture of fond farewells, parting advice, and a great game of American baseball. Saying goodbye to 11 departing au pairs was sad, but it was made little bit easier by chocolate cake and watermelon, then Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best Of Boston\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-07-20T11:55:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2012\/07\/IMG_13681-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melinda Brooks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melinda Brooks\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/\",\"name\":\"PLAY BALL! - Best Of Boston\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2012\/07\/IMG_13681-300x225.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-07-20T11:55:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-07-20T11:55:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/#\/schema\/person\/992f8497780d8b4f4a74417a2e499d19\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":768},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2012\/07\/20\/play-ball-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PLAY BALL!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/\",\"name\":\"Best Of Boston\",\"description\":\"The place to find out about Au Pair in America in the Boston Area &amp; Cape Cod\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/#\/schema\/person\/992f8497780d8b4f4a74417a2e499d19\",\"name\":\"Melinda Brooks\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218855f5174342d225fe94db6b88bc3c53ac18f5cf404405b0085d004bfbc15?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218855f5174342d225fe94db6b88bc3c53ac18f5cf404405b0085d004bfbc15?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melinda Brooks\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/author\/bod00\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PLAY BALL! - Best Of Boston","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PLAY BALL! - Best Of Boston","og_description":"\u201cSave money for travel\u201d and \u201cPlay Ball!\u201d were two exclamations heard in equal parts at our July cluster meeting, a mixture of fond farewells, parting advice, and a great game of American baseball. 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