Four Games in Four Days

When I first moved down to Florida I was able to feed my love for baseball in the month of March with all the Spring Training baseball I could fit in 30 Days. I was single and I worked nights so all I really had to do was wake-up in time to make it to my destination for this to happen. I shared photos and stories of how great it was with my northern friends and all of them said how great it sounded and would need to plan a trip some day. Well this weekend (23 years later) one of them finally decided it was time to make the trip. My closest and oldest friend Joe finally decided it was time.  Here is a little journal of our trip.  

Day One was a trip to Tampa to see the Yanks and Tigers on Monday night. It was cold and got down to 49 degrees which would not have been too bad had I paid attention to the tickets and saw it was a night game. So when we got to Tampa at 11:15 am and none of the parking lots were open we kind of wondered what was up. We needed to figure out something fast and we figured a double header would be a great way to start the weekend. We decided to drive over to Dunedin since we had a few hours to burn. The scalpers wanted $50 for a $14 general admission ticket, too rich for our taste so we headed back to Tampa and made the best of it.

A little batting practice on one of the side fields and then into the big park to see the “stars” Watching Miguel Cabrera is just a wonderful experience these days. I watched him hit when he was younger and with the Marlins and it was impressive but now it’s just unreal. He makes it look so easy and effortless. My buddy Joe is a Yankee fan so he got to see Jeter dink a few hits and it made his day.

Day Two had us staying local and seeing the Pirates and Ray’s. I had the whole family with us for this one so we spread out a blanket on the right field berm and soaked in the sun. My son Ben is a ball hawk when we attend baseball games and just has the best luck at any and all parks. This day would be no different than any other. I decided to pull out my phone to document our journey with a picture on facebook of the parks facade, as I looked up from typing Ben was standing in front of me with a baseball in his glove. I asked why he brought a ball with him and he said “I didn't, a player just threw it to me” we were not there a minute and he had one already.

A short time later one of the Ray’s attendants asked if Ben was my son and if he wanted to meet the Rays Manager Joe Madden? We of course said yes and were lead to an office and Ben was given a wristband for after the game.

In the first inning the Pirates scored six runs and put the game out of reach rather quickly. This was not the only excitement as Ben caught a foul ball as well. After the game Ben made is way down to the field and got one of his two balls signed by Joe Madden after which the grownups headed to Prime, our favorite local steakhouse for an awesome dinner with our friends. Not a bad second day.

Day Three was a trip to Bradenton and an opportunity to step back in time with a visit to McKecknie Field. This has always been one of my favorite parks, major or minor and I was excited to share it with Joe. It was another beautiful day and the Red Sox were in town to match up minor leaguers with the Pirates.

Ben went right to work and once again had a player toss him a ball only minutes after our arrival. A second one came along shortly after. Mike Carp signed one of the balls and NL Manager of the Year Clint Hurdle signed the other. The park is a throwback with an almost courtyard setting sits outside the first base line stands where all of the concessions line a grassy plot with picnic tables.  It was another great day as the Sox pulled out the 4-1 win.

Our fourth and last day was a trip to Clearwater to catch the Braves visiting the Phillies at another of my favorite parks. At first we started on the third base side of the park but there is not much access to the players on this side of the park and Ben seemed to think the Philly players were not very friendly so we headed to the other side of the park hoping our luck may change. On the way over one of the concession workers spotted Ben as we were walking by and asked if he could have a word with him? He said he was a retired teacher and if Ben could answer a question he would win a prize. Well that was the first ball of the day we had and we were off to an unbelievable start.

Very quickly Ben had convinced a player to toss up a ball to him and then the guy even signed it for him. Shortly after Ryan Dumont came out after hitting and tossed Ben a ball, which Ben dropped back onto the field. Ryan came over and tossed it back to him after some very deserved ribbing for missing the toss. Ryan has a few new fans.

It was at this point we decided to bring that nice man in the concessions back his ball so he could give it to another kid that may not have had as much luck as Ben had but we had to hit him with our own trivia question, “the only player to play all nine positions in the same game was born today, what is his name?”  The guy missed the answer but we gave him his ball back anyway.

After a while we worked our way out to centerfield to find our place on the hill to sit. Ben made his way to the wall and started chatting with Ben Revere the Phillies Centerfielder and earned himself his fourth ball of the day.

Sharing the last few days with Joe and my son was a true pleasure and I look forward to doing it again someday. Now its time to get back to my workouts and back to my meal plan, I dread getting on the scale tomorrow to see where I am starting from. 

The answer to the trivia question? Burt "Campy" Campaneris.