The Lunatic Fringe

Okay, so maybe this might be a bit particular to those of us on the Peninsula, but it hit me a bit hard when I heard about it.

Malibu Grand Prix and Castle in Redwood City will be closing this Sunday.  Among other things, it had mini-golf, bumperboats, an arcade, and of course, batting cages.  Driving up 101, you’d always recognize the iconic castle along the freeway.  It was one of the best places to go as a kid, because just about any kid could find something to do and there wasn’t a whiny wet blanket bringing us down because they were upset.

The batting cage wasn’t anything too special, but it was one of the last open batting cages in the area, where when you hit the ball hard you could actually watch it fly.  Sure, it may be violating an unwritten rule to do that in a game, but in a batting cage it’s the most fun.

Of course, when I’m swinging, I might do that once in 20 pitches.  And that one would probably go foul.

I spent a lot of time as a kid going to that place and having a lot of fun, not just at the batting cages, but all over.  These days, the arcade is disappointing considering the lack of joystick games left in it, and all I’ll really do is partake in an almost sarcastic mini-golf game and blow of some steam in the cages..

Maybe I should have gone more often as an adult.  The kid in me is going to miss it.

If you know of any good batting cages, let us know in the comments.  Especially if you know an outdoor one where you can watch your home runs fly.  I’ll want to know of any new ones…

And ones that don’t mind that I’ll make Cody Ransom look like a cleanup hitter.