Just Another Game

I have chronicled some of my son's baseball career in this forum over the last year.  His ardor for the game has cooled, but he still likes to play.  Tonight, he had the chance of a lifetime.

His High School team played a varsity game against Bremen at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium in South Bend.  He didn't play in the actual game, but the opportunity to take infield and play in a professional stadium is a joy most kids who play baseball will never feel.

It's not his first trip on the field.  He has run onto the field twice with South Bend Silver Hawks players and heard his name over the PA as part of a starting line-up, part of the Field of Dreams promotion.  He won a contest to throw a first pitch, which he almost air mailed over the minor league pitcher who was just happy he didn't short hop one.

It's not just baseball.  He played regular season hockey games in the Joyce Center at the University of Notre Dame.  He learned how to work the boards at Notre Dame hockey games and filled half a bucket with pucks.  He gave away as many as he kept to little kids.  He got a batting practice ball hit by Ken Griffey Jr. at his first major league game at Wrigley Field.  On another visit, he ran the bases at Wrigley Field.  He has an autographed hockey stick from Ian Cole, who is in the NHL.  He caught not one, but two foul balls in his first visit to Comerica Park.  He gave the first one a good school friend, who brought him along.  The second one was thrown to him by Harold Baines first base coach of the Chicago White Sox.  He has tons of autographed Notre Dame hockey stuff, NHL players all over the place.  He even got autographs from Kenny Schrader, a Nascar driver who will drive anything with wheels.

When he was six, I took him to the College Football Hall of Fame football clinic.  He ended up in a three point stance, nose pointed at the ground.  Barry Sanders got in a three point stance about eight inches from his nose and said loudly, "Eyes forward, son!"  Wish I had a picture of him nose to nose with a guy Hall of Fame defenders wished they get that close to him, just once.  Joe Theismann, seeing the Notre Dame shirt, took extra moments and showed him how to throw a football.  Why didn't I bring the camera.

I know it sounds like bragging, but each of the above are true.  I saw every one of them.  I don't know if he realizes how special each of these experiences are.   Hope he realizes how special it is that Dad saw each one.  I would have loved those experiences as a kid.  I hope he did, too.

So...am I off base?