Take me out to the ball game...

Clay here. Last night’s events have inspired me to BLOG for the first time.

Last night I asked Koen to go to a Mariners game so the two of us ate dinner and drove over to the ballpark. The M’s have fallen out of contention so of course attendance drops significantly and there are lots of parking spots and open seats. We arrived at the park and bought a ticket for one since Koen is under three years old. We had to take the escalators all the way to the top and Koen could not keep the smile off his face. He was so cute with his little Batman backpack on. It contained 'stacios', his Spiderman glove and a sweatshirt. He was ready for the night.



We walked to our upper deck seats and he sat on my lap for the first two innings. I was pointing out the pitchers and hitters and trying to explain what was going on in two-year old terms. Once he saw the Moose down in the lower section though, it was over. We then moved over a couple of sections to an area that was wide open. It was fun to be the only two occupants of a section. We screamed and threw stacio shells just for the fun of it.



Time came to take the elevator downstairs to the main level. We turned the corner and who was standing there right in Koen’s face? Mariner Moose. Koen froze up and his jaw dropped. He then hid behind me and clutched my inner thigh. I tried to get him to say 'hi' to Moose, but it wasn’t happening and I wasn’t going to push it. So I gave Moose a high five and we moved on. As soon as Koen felt safe he said, “daddy, he’s bigger than you are!”. Yes, with antlers he was probably 6.5 or so.

Seat upgrade time. We walked down to row 10 or so off of 3rd base along with all the other people that didn’t pay to be in that section. Griffey hit a two-run home run and then Koen and I ended up on jumbotron waving for an excruciatingly long time. How long does camerawoman want me to wave and smile at her?



Koen yawns at 8:30 and I knew we should get going but not before we watched the bullpen warm up. Koen and I play catch inside the house almost every day and he likes pitching so I wanted him to see a real life pitcher and hear the snap of a 95 mph fastball. We moved over and Koen got the chance to watch Shawn Kelley warm up from 5 feet away. Koen was truly mesmerized as he hung onto the chain link fence and watched his every move. John Wetteland (Mariners bullpen coach) saw this 2-year old with his Batman backpack hanging on the fence and walked over and gave Koen a baseball. Of course Koen wouldn’t look at him or say thanks but I knew he was thinking it.



As we were walking out of the ballpark, I looked down at my little guy and he had a baseball in one hand and daddy’s finger in the other and all I could do was smile. This was one of those moments that not all dads need or plan for but I was there in the moment and took it all in. I will remember it forever.

As soon as we got to the car and I got him buckled in, he said “you’re a good daddy, dad” followed by “ I love you, daddy”. This is what it’s all about.

Love/Hate relationship

The Seattle Mariner's (our favorite baseball team...and favorite summer past time) really suck this year.  And I'm not just saying that.  They are in last place for the entire league...dead last.  Sweet.  We went to a game anyway.  We gave C tickets for Father's Day.  They played the Toronto Blue Jays, and you know the home team sucks when nearly the entire stadium cheers against them.  I guess the stadium wasn't that full to begin with, and there were quite a few Toronto fans there.  At least I hope they were the Toronto fans booing at the Mariner's.  If not, the Mariner's have big problems.

It was fun nonetheless.  The outing began with a shared popsicle, melting at the speed of light in my kitchen.  Yes, it was yet another scorcher.  K was already having a really good day, so this made it even better.  Then we headed off to the ball field, picked some seats way up and out of the way of anyone who might be annoyed by a busy 1 year old.  And he was busy.  I'm not sure how much of the game C and I got to watch.  We spent most of our time managing the boy. 

"Don't stand on your seat"

"Be care not to trip over the aisle"

"Don't eat the peanut shells off the ground"

and on and on...

K had most fun point out all the airplanes that flew over head (I liked that a lot too).  For a while, we'd try to draw his attention to the ball as it was pitched.  But from that high up, you're lucky to see the players running the bases, let alone the tiny ball flying at 95 mph.  Oh well.  We'll keep coming, because we love it!