Baseball has been one thing my dad and I can always agree on. He’s the reason I’m a die-hard Sox fan and also why I can carry on an intelligent conversation about baseball. I love the fandom, and I love how it brings my dad and I closer together (here’s an old post from a past blog that goes into that a little deeper!). This year, my dad would be out of town on Father’s Day (with my mom, celebrating my Aunt’s birthday in Mexico!). So I asked him to come to a baseball game with me the week before so that we could celebrate early. It just so happened that the Red Sox were in town that week finishing out the series with the Braves. I knew it would be the perfect way to spend time together and he seemed just as excited about it when I invited him.
|
We went down early to try and catch some of batting practice, and were lucky to walk right down to the field level and watch some of our favorite players. We didn’t get to watch for long, because it seemed like the grounds crew cut them off early. There was a storm on the way so they wanted to get the field covered quickly. While the players were being shuffled back into the dugout, I was able to get a few good pictures of some of my favorite guys on the team like Hanley Ramirez and of course David Ortiz. We stood near the dugout for just a few minutes longer and my dad was able to catch the attention of one of the coaches. He tossed us up a ball from batting practice and my dad caught it and gave it to me right on the spot. It was one of those really special moments that I’ll always remember, and I’ll always have that ball that was played with by some of the most respected players in the MLB (my dad has an impressive collection of signed baseballs himself, so now I'll be able to start my own!).
|
Sure enough, it did start storming, so we headed for cover. We had a good bit of time to kill before the game started, so we walked up to the club level for food and drinks. We each had a SweetWater (the new standard for ballpark beer, in my opinion). We've been long time fans of SweetWater, so I'm happy the Braves have a solid partnership with them. I'm excited to see how it'll shine through at the new Braves stadium in 2017.
|
My dad got a classic IPA and I got the Take Two Pils, a pilsner that I’ve had before and really love. We grabbed some pizza and talked baseball over another beer before we headed out to watch the start of the game. I don’t think we ever sat in our actual seats (shh!), but we sat in at least 5 different sections, taking in all of the different angles of the ballpark and seeing the game from a lot of different views. My dad told me how when he used to watch games at Fenway he’d do the same thing. He’s sat in every section at Fenway Park except for the Green Monster seats (which were added later on). One day I hope I’ll be sitting up there with him.
|
It was the fourth game of the series, and the Braves had won two of them. I was really anticipating the pitching matchup, Buchholz vs. Miller. I had seen Shelby Miller pitch plenty of times during the season, and neither him nor Buchholz had been very consistent, so it would make for an interesting game. There was plenty of action, but the first run came in the top of the 4th after Brock Holt hit a triple and thens scored off of a ground out by Big Papi. The Sox scored 3 more in the 6th off a combination of errors and sac flys. The Braves managed to score a couple of runs in the 6th too, but it would be the last scoring inning for them. After one more score in the 7th, the Sox held out and were able to seal the 5-2 win in Atlanta.
My dad and I just before the Sox won the game.
|
It was an awesome game! And I even got to see my favorite player, Mike Napoli, come in and pinch hit for Big Papi. It was such a fun night, and the best way I could imagine to celebrate Father’s Day. I don’t think I’ve ever gone to a ball game just me and my dad, so it was a really special memory for him and I. Can't wait for the next one!
|
RSS Feed
