The day couldn’t go by quick enough. Since the minute my flight was cancelled, I was counting the seconds. I checked the weather; no rain in the forecast. Actually, it was an absolutely beautiful day out; this was going to happen…. THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!!!
If you haven’t been reading along the past 2 weeks, quick cliff notes version: my son will be playing a baseball game in the same park I played at growing up. I mean, I spent half my fricking childhood in this park playing baseball; the memories that I have from those days are countless. And now, my son will take one of those very same fields; unbelievable. I was so hyped up; I was reminiscing at the dinner table before leaving for the game. My son didn’t get it; I told him he will get it one day. There are many moments that will happen throughout our life that we will never forget, some really bad, and some really good. THIS is one of those moments, a really good one, and to think, I was going to miss this!
We left a few minutes late; I couldn’t wait to get to the park. It took a little more than 30 minutes to get there, heading opposite of traffic half the way, and right in the smack dab middle of it the second half. We finally arrived. We walked over to the diamond that he was playing at; the same one where I hit that memorable home run in the playoffs. We set up camp behind home plate; we took some pictures. My parents walked over of course; I had wished my brother and sister could be here too, to see this very moment. Like I said, who would have ever thought this? Maybe this is more common than I think it is; maybe many people get to see this happen. Now I will too.
He walked in his first AB; he reached on a dropped third strike in his second AB. His team was absolutely dominating, scoring 10 runs in each of the first 2 innings. I couldn’t believe Harrison Park was this bad. When we played there, we were a fricking powerhouse; that league was so deep, so many kids that played ball at a high level. And now this? That’s secondary today, just like whatever my son’s stat line on the night would end up being. It’s happening… there he is… MY son… playing on the same field that I played on 35 or so years ago. Un, fricking, believable.
As if this wasn’t enough… my son was going to pitch the 3rd inning! I didn’t expect this. I pitched! Now he’s pitching?!?! Here..??!! As I watched my son warm up, I felt like I was about to have an out of body experience; this was surreal. I have to thank the coach; I did, and I will, again. Oh yeah, did I mention that I played ball with one of the coaches as a kid, on this very field? He knew; I appreciated it so much. My son hadn’t pitched yet, but up 20-0, and being here, he threw him out there; so awesome. He walked the first kid; he walked the second kid. Who cares; I don’t care if he doesn’t get one fricking out. This will still go down as one of the greatest moments of my life, I’m not F-ing kidding. But when he struck out the next 3 kids to end the inning and the game, completing a 28-0, combined no-hitter victory, I felt myself floating above the field; tears were in my eyes… they’re coming back right now…
Where do we go from here? Well, for starters, my son has a ton of baseball games over the next couple months; I need to reschedule my trip to New Jersey too. We have concrete work and fencing being done at the house. Life is busy… life is good. It’s moments like this… that you really feel… not just on the surface, but deep in your core, this is what life is all about. I wish everyone these moments; I’m so thankful that I got to experience another one on this night on the corner of 19th and Damen…
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