Thanks Dad

This week has been full of some special moments that you can only enjoy as a son and then as a father.   It will also be a little bittersweet because this week also should have been the 45^th birthday of my best friend who was taken to soon.  The one common thread that completes this circle is baseball.

American sports history is full of stories where father’s play catch with their son’s in the backyard and I am happy to be one of those lucky kids who is just a small chapter of that history book.  Not everyone is as fortunate.   Not only did my dad teach me the game of baseball, he took me to my games, he took me to major league games including treks across the state of Missouri to see my beloved Red Sox take on the Royals (when the Royals were good by the way) and of course to games close by at Busch Stadium.    Although basketball was his sport, he knew plenty about baseball and I thank him for the love he instilled into me. 

From there I took it upon myself to also learn the history of the game and most importantly learned the little details of the game itself by playing all of the time.  I even collected baseball cards before it was big business which also taught me great math skills,  I turned that love of baseball into a nice career of working in baseball when I couldn’t play any longer. Some of my fondest memories come from those sixteen years of working in baseball and moving from Illinois to Iowa to Kansas to Ohio to North Carolina/South Carolina to Florida to Iowa and now Maryland working my way up the ladder (and few other odd jobs in between).    Saying I was fortunate would be an understatement.  I worked for teams that won championships, as well as teams that were horrible.  I saw players who became stars and phenoms when they were teenagers in the minors.   I worked for coaches who used to be MLB players that I watched as a kid and my final job was working for Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson.  I even became friends with a future Heisman Trophy winner who spent his summers playing baseball.    

None of the above was said to brag about my fortunate job perks, only mentioned to show the impact that baseball has had on my life.   This week I was able to take Sam to a post season game between the Nationals and Cardinals which by itself would have been enough.  Especially since the kid loves baseball too.  He is also a magnet when it comes to getting baseballs, pucks or footballs at sporting events and yes he was given a baseball by Cardinals pitcher Joe Kelly.  That one ball made the pain of an 8-0 loss for the Nats seem not so bad to seven year old. Father and son enjoying an awesome October afternoon at the ball park, is pretty special.  

Well it’s get better, because tonight, I get to take my Dad to the deciding Game 5 of the same series between the Nats and Cards.   Baseball has allowed me to have access to certain things and also to games that we were not able to go to as a kid and tonight is just one more way to say thanks to my dad for my love of baseball and for always taking me to the game I have loved for forty plus years.   As a neutral fan, it really doesn’t matter to me who wins tonight because it’s all good, but this Red Sox fan will be pulling for the Nats much to the chagrin of my Cardinal loving family and friends.   To see him excited about going and texting his friends that he will be at the game tonight makes me smile.    

Jonny Ray, I wish you were still around for many reasons, because if the Nats win tonight, you and I would have been hangin out at Game 1 of the NLCS on your birthday.  Keep up those Cubbie conversations up there in the sky with Santo and Caray.   Thanks to fellow Illinoisan Jayson Werth for giving us a Game 5 to attend! 

By the way, Joe Kelly's number for the Cardinals is #58 which also happens to be Sam's hockey number....(insert Twilight Zone music)

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