Pure joy!
The view from our seats - Ben's hairstyle is the result of him applying his own sunscreen.
Ichiro Suzuki getting his 2000th career hit!!
Congrats to an amazing athlete.
Sam giving Auntie some love after she gave him a blue ring pop.
Tired boy.
The A's mascot, Stomper.
A happy crew after an A's win!
Ben running the bases with Auntie.
Sam was so worn out he missed his chance to go down on the field.Mid-morning on Sunday, September 6th, we got ourselves decked out in our Oakland Athletics team gear and piled into the car. Uncle Pete dropped us off at the BART station in Walnut Creek so Auntie Beth, Ben, Sam and I could ride the train to the game in Oakland. Uncle Pete continued on to Oakland in the car so we would have it to get back home. He was accompanied by Ben's new Build-A-Bear puppy who was also decked out in an A's t-shirt and safely buckled into Ben's car seat.
Ben and Sam enjoyed using the tickets to open the gates to the station. We waited just a couple of minutes and our train arrived. I think in both boys' eyes all trains should be steam engines like the ever popular Thomas the Tank Engine but they didn't seem disappointed in the least to be riding an electric train instead. Ben loved looking out the windows at the buildings streaming by and was intrigued with the tunnels. After a handful of stops we had to switch trains to continue in the right direction to Oakland. In no time at all we found ourselves in the masses headed to the Coliseum to take in the ball game between Oakland and the Seattle Mariners.
We met up with Uncle Pete at the gate and were handed blue and white baseball caps that were replicas of the 1920's Philadelphia A's. We continued on and located our seats on the second deck, just to the left of home plate. We were pleased to see that despite being in the sun when we arrived, by game time we were completely shaded and left to enjoy the game without the need for continuous sunscreen application. As the national anthem was sung and Sam took in everything I could see that he was going to enjoy his first ever major league baseball game.
The first batter of the game came to the plate and you could feel the anticipation of the crowd. It was Ichiro Suzuki and he was just one hit away from his 2000th career hit. Let's just say that we saw history in the making as Ichiro took a swing and the ball sailed into left-center field. He was able to make it to second base and was rewarded with a standing ovation from Seattle and Oakland fans alike. Always courteous and humble, Ichiro removed his batting helmet and waved to the crowd in appreciation. It still gives me goosebumps just remembering it. What a memory for the boys!
After a couple of innings and a couple of cheese pizzas devoured by the boys, Auntie Beth, the boys and I headed to Stomper's Fun Zone where Ben and Sam took their fun zone passports from one activity to the next to earn a prize at the end. They got to take some swings in the batting cage, throw some pitches, kick a soccer ball toward a goal, and get temporary tattoos. After all these tasks both boys were rewarded with Oakland A's backpacks.
We returned to our seats after missing a couple more innings and found Oakland and Seattle were tied at one run apiece. Seattle scored another run in the sixth inning but it didn't seem so bad considering that Oakland was able to keep six total base runners stranded on the bases.
The boys enthusiastically sang along to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch and were overjoyed when Oakland was able to get multiple base runners in the bottom of the seventh inning. It was only appropriate that Hairston, 4th in the lineup and the cleanup batter, came up to bat with the bases loaded. He unleashed on the ball and brought in four runs with his grand slam!!!! I know I was excited but it was magical to see the happiness of a true baseball fan written all over Ben's face!
The rest of the game was rather uneventful except for Sam and I bumping into Stomper, the A's team mascot, when returning from the bathroom. I was bummed that Ben wasn't with us and that I didn't have a camera to catch the moment. Luckily, Auntie and Ben returned from their outing to get a bit more to eat and were able to catch up with Stomper right as the game ended. Oakland put it in the books after just 2 hours and 20 minutes with a score of 5 to 2.
Like many other families with kids at the game we made our way down to the field so the boys could join other kids to run the bases. We had to wait long enough in line that Sam fell asleep in his stroller and missed the fun but Ben and Auntie ran together and came back to Uncle Pete, Sam and I full of smiles.
As we made our way to the car loaded down with hats, backpacks, pennants, and shirts for the boys we were all exhausted but content because any day in a ball park is better than a day almost anywhere else.
Ben and Sam enjoyed using the tickets to open the gates to the station. We waited just a couple of minutes and our train arrived. I think in both boys' eyes all trains should be steam engines like the ever popular Thomas the Tank Engine but they didn't seem disappointed in the least to be riding an electric train instead. Ben loved looking out the windows at the buildings streaming by and was intrigued with the tunnels. After a handful of stops we had to switch trains to continue in the right direction to Oakland. In no time at all we found ourselves in the masses headed to the Coliseum to take in the ball game between Oakland and the Seattle Mariners.
We met up with Uncle Pete at the gate and were handed blue and white baseball caps that were replicas of the 1920's Philadelphia A's. We continued on and located our seats on the second deck, just to the left of home plate. We were pleased to see that despite being in the sun when we arrived, by game time we were completely shaded and left to enjoy the game without the need for continuous sunscreen application. As the national anthem was sung and Sam took in everything I could see that he was going to enjoy his first ever major league baseball game.
The first batter of the game came to the plate and you could feel the anticipation of the crowd. It was Ichiro Suzuki and he was just one hit away from his 2000th career hit. Let's just say that we saw history in the making as Ichiro took a swing and the ball sailed into left-center field. He was able to make it to second base and was rewarded with a standing ovation from Seattle and Oakland fans alike. Always courteous and humble, Ichiro removed his batting helmet and waved to the crowd in appreciation. It still gives me goosebumps just remembering it. What a memory for the boys!
After a couple of innings and a couple of cheese pizzas devoured by the boys, Auntie Beth, the boys and I headed to Stomper's Fun Zone where Ben and Sam took their fun zone passports from one activity to the next to earn a prize at the end. They got to take some swings in the batting cage, throw some pitches, kick a soccer ball toward a goal, and get temporary tattoos. After all these tasks both boys were rewarded with Oakland A's backpacks.
We returned to our seats after missing a couple more innings and found Oakland and Seattle were tied at one run apiece. Seattle scored another run in the sixth inning but it didn't seem so bad considering that Oakland was able to keep six total base runners stranded on the bases.
The boys enthusiastically sang along to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch and were overjoyed when Oakland was able to get multiple base runners in the bottom of the seventh inning. It was only appropriate that Hairston, 4th in the lineup and the cleanup batter, came up to bat with the bases loaded. He unleashed on the ball and brought in four runs with his grand slam!!!! I know I was excited but it was magical to see the happiness of a true baseball fan written all over Ben's face!
The rest of the game was rather uneventful except for Sam and I bumping into Stomper, the A's team mascot, when returning from the bathroom. I was bummed that Ben wasn't with us and that I didn't have a camera to catch the moment. Luckily, Auntie and Ben returned from their outing to get a bit more to eat and were able to catch up with Stomper right as the game ended. Oakland put it in the books after just 2 hours and 20 minutes with a score of 5 to 2.
Like many other families with kids at the game we made our way down to the field so the boys could join other kids to run the bases. We had to wait long enough in line that Sam fell asleep in his stroller and missed the fun but Ben and Auntie ran together and came back to Uncle Pete, Sam and I full of smiles.
As we made our way to the car loaded down with hats, backpacks, pennants, and shirts for the boys we were all exhausted but content because any day in a ball park is better than a day almost anywhere else.
I just finished making an actual scrapbook/photo album of the baseball game for the boys. If you want to see it, just come for a visit!
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