I can't believe it has taken me a couple weeks to write about this. It was SO exciting. I told a lot of people how great this was for Calvin, and for my nephew, Will, but if we're being honest here. I was as excited as anyone. I'm a sucker for baseball and especially, as I've mentioned before, the TWINS. Okay, okay, I'll tell you the story of what happened.
My brother got us tickets for a Twins game. We usuallly go once or twice a summer and this would be the Twins vs. the Tampa Bay Rays. Typically we take Calvin and Will because our other two kids would rather stay and play with their cousins anyway. So...fast forward to the week before the game. My best friend from when I was a little girl in Illinois, Laurette', came to the resort with her family. We had a great week, and we mentioned we would be going to a game at the end of the week. Here's the crazy part. Turns out that Laurette's pastor is Ben Zobrist's dad. In case you're not a baseball nut (what is WRONG with you?) Ben Zobrist plays for Tampa Bay. She said she would send him a quick email to see if we could hook up at the game and maybe get an autograph. We were super excited at the idea of this. Long story short...this awesome pastor/dad got us passes to go on the field!! Seriously!! We hung out while the Rays had batting practice and Ben came over and talked to the boys. He signed a ball for each of them. Then toward the end of their practice he came over and gave them his batting gloves. What a classy guy. He was so kind to the boys and besides being a great player, he's a great role model.
Funny story here. When we headed back up to our seats later I took the opportunity to talk to the boys about the fact that not only is Ben Zobrist a good baseball player, but he's a Christian and he knows what's important in life. A few minutes later they were wearing the batting gloves and Will said, "Man, these are still kind of sweaty" to which Calvin replied, "Yeah, but it's Christian sweat!" Funny boys.
One of the security guards came over and gave them a handful of gum from the dugout. They thought even this was awesome. Let's face it...it was.
I can NOT get him to stop making this face.
When the Rays headed in, we were allowed to wander over to the Twins dugout. They said we could stand there as long as we didn't yell at any players. Drew Butera came out right away and signed a ball for the boys before he signed for some other fans.
It was Joe Mauer sideburn night and Drew managed to get an extra pair from a fan. He quickly went down to the bathroom to put them on. Pretty funny.
Mr. Mauer himself. SO awesome.
I didn't get a picture of it, but at one point Ben Revere came up the steps and threw his batting gloves to Calvin and Will. Calvin LOVES Ben Revere, so he was super excited.
I'll spare you, but I actually have a picture like this of every player.
When they finally made us leave the field we were alone and had a great time in the halls heading back up to the main level.
Oh, and we ran into this guy. Who's that? Oh, just Robby Incmikoski. Wanderin the halls all by himself. Again, if you are not a huge Twins fan (I'll never understand it) Robby is a TV announcer for the Twins. Pretty Sweet.
Heading into the "Press Only" elevator.
Such a great time. My heart was racing well into the 4th or 5th inning. We all had a blast and I can't tell you how thankful we are to Mr. Zobrist (and Laurette' for emailing him!). It was certainly one of my favorite days EVER!!
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