Ozzie called, the boys aren't allowed back at the park

You would think that a trip to U.S. Cellular field would put some smiles on our faces, especially Sammy's. But the scoreboard below tells of a long game low lighted by unstellar play and even worse pitching.
It was in fact the worst loss the Sox have ever had. In over 100 years of baseball our boys saw their greatest defeat. The boys actually had a great time for their first trip to a big league game. The game was long and they were ready to leave by the end but they thought it was awesome. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Lombard the night before the game. They have glass elevators and the atrium was highlighted by a pond holding the biggest goldfish I have ever seen. We had an awesome complimentary breakfast. I'm not talking some run-of-the-mill continental breakfast with cereal, muffins and toaster waffles. I'm talking real waffles made on an iron, build your own omelets, pancakes, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit. You know, the works. We went back to the room for a rest and then hit the pool for a quick dip in their warm pool. It was a little too warm for my liking but the boys didn't seem to mind.


After swimming we went back to the room to get ready for the big surprise. We kept the game a secret from the boys for two weeks and getting dressed in Sox gear wasn't a big enough hint because they had no idea where we were going. They dozed off on the expressway and didn't wake up until we hit the 35th st. exit. When Benny woke up and saw all the banners hanging from the lampposts he finally figured it out. "Are we at the Sox game?"
Sammy had his Carlos Quentin shirt and Benny his Mark Buehrle shirt. We had to buy Benny a hat at the stand outside the gate to kill time and kill some jealousy. Sammy actually wears one of the ones I don't wear anymore. We finally got him to tighten the velcro on it a little so it doesn't fly off at the slightest hint of wind. You can't tell though, can you?



Once we got in the gate we made a B-line for our seats to show the boys how great they were. Renee got a great deal, actually below face value, on some seats 26 rows behind home plate. I guess the trick is to go to a day game before school lets out. They don't even check your tickets to make sure you are in the right seats. They weren't really impressed by the seats that much. The Twins were having batting practice and Benny wanted to go catch a home run. I couldn't break it to him that he probably couldn't catch a ball that was flying for 380 feet so Renee and he went out to the bleachers to try. Sammy and I stayed around the dugout and got those great pics of A.J. and Jim. The boy standing next to Sammy got an autograph from Jim Thome while I stood by and wondered why I didn't have a writing utensil, or a light colored hat for Sammy, or a light colored shirt for Sammy to get Big Jim's autograph. Sammy was in awe and speechless and didn't realize that daddy screwed up so all was OK. He did however sit in the seat directly next to the dugout and announce that he wanted to sit there for the game. A fan nearby reminded Sammy that that was the mayor's seat and he was going to have a hard time getting that seat. I quickly distracted him by saying that we should go to the bleachers to find Benny and Renee.

After a quick stop off for a beer we spotted Benny and Renee in the bleachers and headed down for them. As we were walking down a ball bounced off the seats about 3 sections over and I knew I had a chance to track it down. Without letting Renee know we were in the vicinity, I took off after the ball and scrambled around with two 12-year-old to find it. I found it in one of the seats that was folded up and held it up to show Sammy. A group of onlookers starting yelling at me to give the ball to one of the kids. I pointed to the boys and said I was with them and the group understood that I wasn't an a-hole after all. I just wanted a souvenir for my own kids. One of the onlookers was a little skeptical and watched me all the way over to the boys to make sure I was really with them. When I showed it to Benny he was angry that he didn't catch it. Sammy didn't care though, he thought it was awesome and held on to it for the remainder of the game and argued with Benny when he finally decided it was actually pretty cool.

Is it me, or does it look like I smuggled something under my shirt?

Overall it was a great day. We just have to remind the boys that if Ozzie ever lets them come back to the park, we probably won't have seats as good, daddy probably won't bring home an official MLB baseball, and the Sox probably won't lose.......that bad.