Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Last night we went to the Ironbirds game in Aberdeen, MD. I honestly was exhausted and kind of grumpy about going... boy am I ashamed now! As most of you know the Aberdeen Ironbirds are owned by the legendary Cal Ripken Jr. For those of you that are not from MD (I know there are a few people reading this from out of state) he is our hometown hero. According to the staff at the stadium, Cal usually only attends one game a year. Last night happened to be that game! From what I've heard he rarely signs autographs/take pictures, but last night was one of those rare moments! After participating in the opening ceremonies of a special event (the Little League World Series) he happily signed autographs and took pictures with kids.

He even posed for a priceless picture with Caleb!

A few minutes later he began walking through the stadium. As he got near our section I yelled, "Cal, would you take a picture with the baby?" He actually turned around! He then said jokingly, "Do you realize how long it has been since I've held a baby?" He grabbed the baby up and let me take a picture! He even held him for a few moments as the crowd said "Aw!"

I've heard gossip that he can be mean, etc. but that was NOT my experience at all. He is wonderful with kids! It seems like his life's purpose at this point is helping kids play baseball. I think he gets agitated with people that are trying to make money off him, and really who can blame him?

The rest of the evening was a little hectic... the kids usually go to bed at 7:30 and the game didn't even start until 7:35! By 8:30 the kids were nuts! Caleb spent most of his evening on Traci's lap (my brother's girlfriend), I told Sean that he has some serious competition! I'm so glad we went!