Sammy and I were excited to continue our tradition of the "boy's trip", of course to catch a few baseball games out of town. We were excited to go back to Spokane to watch the Indians play again. Sammy was thrilled to get to see Clark Murphy and Ben Henry play. We got the royal treatment when they let us on the field before the game to meet and get autographs from the players. Sammy loved to see Clark and Ben even though it took a few moments for him to recognize them, he asked me "I thought they played for the Rangers and they have different numbers", he didnt understand the difference between minor and major league and that they all wear the same uniforms during spring training. The trip was even more fun with Unlce Mark and cousins, Ashton and Alden, joining us for all the fun. Sammy brought a bag of starburst for the bullpen and had a lot of fun sharing the candy with all the pitchers. The best part of the second game we attended was when Sammy sat with me the whole game and watched and cheered for his baseball friends. I cherish every moment that I get to spend one on one time with my kids and to have Sammy enjoy the same things I did when I was a kid is awesome. Growing up I loved to go to Firebird games and meet players and get their autographs and now Sammy loves it too! It is a joy to just watch him and wonder what he is going to say when he meets someone new for the first time.
We finally made it to Missoula to see a game, we made a full day out of it. We stopped at a local pond and did some fishing, visited the Montana Smoke Jumpers Museum and then made it to see the Osprey. I was surprised at how small the stadium was, it probably seated 3500. My nephews and brother in law made the trip with us and made it a lot of fun. Of course the first thing the boys spotted was the mascot, Ollie and they had to give him a high five and a big hug. We sat out in the grass on the first base lane and the kids loved it, spending most of the time rolling down the grass burm and playing with the other kids that were there. Sammy ran down to the bullpin to say hi to all the players and of course ask a million questions. He had his picture taken with Donald Lutz who is the first baseman for the Billings Mustangs and the Osprey pitching coach Gil Heredia who I watched when I was kid, when he was a pitcher for the Phoenix Firebirds. Missoula is probably the most beautiful city I have visited in the northwest and can't wait to go back. We had a great time and looking forward to next years trip, we will be going to the 2011 MLB Allstar game.
Sammy and I enjoyed catching a few AZL games this summer, watching a few Ranger and Dodger games. The kids loved running around the park watching the games and chasing down the foul balls. The Rangers had a great season one game short of playing for the championship! Looking forward to watching these guys in Spokane next year!!!
