This has been a quiet year for birthdays; we've skipped the big parties and done family celebrations. Mike's birthday was not going to be any different. We planned to eat together Thursday night and have brownies (with a candle, for of course there would be singing and blowing out of fire). I took Christian to school, came home and went for a walk, and then started cleaning out our van (Now that I think about it, that could have been a birthday present. Except I am the one who drives the van, so it would be a present for me, so never mind.)
After Mike freaked out and demanded,"Who are you and what have you done with Christina," and I confirmed that I was, in fact, his wife and the mother of his children, he then told me that he had done something kind of crazy.
I was intrigued. And a little worried.
He told me that he had randomly checked his email and the administrative assistant for the senior pastor had just sent a message to staff regarding free tickets to the Texas Rangers game that afternoon at 1pm. He had immediately responded with,"We'll take them!"
The best part? They were for seats right behind the dugout.
The kids have experienced this before, but I never have. I think I was more excited than anyone else. (Have I mentioned how much I love baseball?) Mike and I hurried to get ready, he went ahead to pick up Christian from school early, and I met him at the church with the girls, some water bottles, and the camera. Because I'm not going to sit RIGHT BEHIND THE DUGOUT and not take pictures!
I will tell you ahead of time this post is going to contain a lot of photos. You can look at them if you wish or not. But if you don't, you will miss my clever and witty commentary about our day, and how sad you will be if that happens!
All righty then.
Our parking space (which came along with the tickets) was just as good as our seats...we were a stone's throw away from the stadium.
The game had started by the time we arrived, and our team was on the field.
Early on, the two teams were tied with two runs each. When I was growing up I thought baseball was boring, and I get how some people would think that...but now I am totally fascinated with the sport. I was very surprised to learn (I knew nothing about the game before Mike started taking the kids, and in fact thought a "ball" was when the batter didn't swing, and said things like,"Runners batted in.") that the game is pretty much in the hands of the pitcher and that the pitcher has such control over the ball (theoretically) that the way the ball is pitched determines if and how the ball will be hit. Of course, stars align at times and the batter is able to connect with the ball and get it in that sweet spot where no one is able to run to get it, or to hit a homer.
Seriously, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I like to throw things out there like,"It was a two-run double," or " Swing, battuh, battuh, swing!"
Just kidding. I don't really say that last one. At least not out loud.
I love how the players all have unique batting styles. Ian Kinsler shakes his bottom a little when he is up at bat (I'm sure he would appreciate that description) and he is one of the few team members who wears his pants in his socks. I love it.
He crowds the plate, which somehow makes it hard for the pitcher to throw strikes, but instead results in balls (and then a walk to first). On this particular time up he hit a base run. Or he got a base hit. Whatever.
Elvis Andrus is fun to watch...he has a great smile and he does some fun things on the field. Not like cartwheels or anything, but we've seen him make some great plays: jumping up higher than you would think is possible to catch a ball and then drop down right onto the base, leaping forward and landing on his belly, having caught the ball that was four feet away when he threw himself through the air.
Kinsler came home on Andrus' hit. (That's a run batted in. NOT a runner batted in.)
Kinsler received a high-five from manager Ron Washington.
Nelson Cruz is Christian's favorite player (when Cruz is doing well...when he's not then Christian picks someone else). He is one intense guy. (I mean Cruz, but Christian is as well.)
Here are Michael Young and David Murphy hanging out at the fence in the dugout. We had two seats in the row just behind the dugout, and then two in the second row back.
See? Pretty cool.
Although several players made it to first base or even further than that
the score remainded tied at two runs each.
Completely irrelevant to how many runs they were scoring is just how great Andrus' smile is.
Julio Borbon...he has done some good things both offensively and defensively.
Alexi Ogando was the starting pitcher. It is unreal the way pitchers' bodies go when they throw.
There is a lot of support for the pitchers. If there are a couple of pitches that get away, and are balls instead of strikes (which can load the bases in no time) it's like it's hard to get out of that zone.
Who knows what they were saying. It's top secret. But they always smack the pitcher on the butt after their huddle.
Josh Hamilton was the American League MVP last year, and is a highly valued player, but he was injured mid-April and won't be playing for another month.
We have all enjoyed watching Adrian Beltre. He is a good hitter, and he is entertaining as well as competent at third base.
Mitch Moreland is a versatile player. He is a solid hitter, and he's been pretty great in the outfield.
This is what I look like when there are brownies on the counter.
Minus the helmet.
Mike Napoli plays first base, and is one of the catchers. He's new to the Texas Rangers, but not to baseball. I like his name.
Isn't that what is important in baseball? Remember Saltalamacchia? Just yell that out a few times and see how much fun it is.
In between innings the crew came out and cleaned up the base paths. The players chatted it up.
Ian Kinsler even threw me the ball.
Not really. And it's a good thing, since I had the camera up to my eye.
I took a lot of pictures. Because BEHIND THE DUGOUT!
Eppley came in for a brief period of time and we never figured out why they took him right back out. He was doing well (I think he was striking out the batters left and right. Okay, just right. He's a righty.)
While he does have exceptional pitching skills, he could also have a bright future on Dancing With the Stars.
Look at those lines!
This was a sweet moment I caught between Mike and Eliana. She has fun at the games
but goes back and forth a lot. From his lap to my lap to Michaela's lap to the seat next to me to Mike's lap to my lap to Mike's lap and I think you get the picture.
Of the three kids, Michaela is the one who is most into the game.
Never fear. The bottles you see do not belong to either Daddy or daughter. Their neighbors deposited the empty beverage containers on top of the dugout. Maybe I'll have Mike Photoshop them out one day.
After several hours of sitting in the sun and watching all this exciting baseball and climbing from front row to second row and getting up and down, Eliana conked out.
Christian was ready to go after the third inning, but he hung in there until the end.
The score stayed 2-2 until the very end, and sadly the Rangers lost it. Their pitching was wonky (ball after ball loaded the bases) and then "the surest hands we've got (Ron Washington said)" either kicked the ball when he tried to pick it up or some other crazy thing happened (this was Adrian Beltre) and he just missed it completely. There were stolen bases, and bad throws, and extra runs. It was terrible to watch, because they had done pretty well the rest of the game.
As Washington has said,"That's the way baseball go."
(I think that's the way life go, too.)
Even though they lost we had a good afternoon and we left the ballpark in order to meet up with our sister-in-law and nephew (Mike's oldest brother's oldest son) who were in town looking at a college and were free to have dinner with us. I, of course, left the camera in the car and have no pictures of this fun event. It was great to see them and the meal was a wonderful ending to a fun surprise day.
I feel quite often that our family receives a lot of unmerited favor. By that, I mean that we are often the recipients of unexpected gifts, both material and nonmaterial. From the graciousness of those around us to fun outings like a spontaneous trip to the ballpark, we are blessed. I think Mike had a fun birthday, and we did also celebrate at home with those brownies Saturday afternoon. We had to sing, after all!
Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 9:34PM 
