There are those rights of passage that every boy must go through growing up but there are also thos
e rights of passage that every dad must do as well in the pursuit of the much strived for #1 Dad title! And high on that list is, taking your son to his first bas
eball game. We took Kaden to his first baseball game this past Wednesday. In the tough economic times and the terrible seasons that have plagued the Rangers in recent years, they have really made it quite affordable to go to the games if look into what you are doing. We got half priced tickets on “Ozarka’s half priced Web Wendsdays” ordering online for a Wed. night game. And we chose my favorite time to go to the ballpark “Dollar Dog Night” where the hot dogs were only a buck! They let you bring your own food to the park, so we packed drinks, chips, fruit, and other snacks, so all we had to buy was the American classic ballpark hot dogs!
We told Kaden that we were going to go to the game and he was very skeptical and not that interested. (H
e must know about the Rangers checkered past). Then Angie told him there would be a Horse (the Rangers Mascot: “Capitan”) we could eat Hot Dogs, and get some ice cream: All these things really made him perk up about the situa
tion. We also told him that he could take his glove and possibly catch a ball. And sure enough when we got ready to leave, he wanted to make sure that he had his little blue plastic glove that has Velcro inside for the ball set it came with, so that he could catch a ball.
We packed our drinks & snacks and headed out to pick up the rest of the crew that was coming with us. (Meghan and Becky). On our way to Meghan’s house we found out that they must have talked about baseball or sung “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at Kaden’s school because he treated us to his version when he heard us sing a couple of lines. Although I had been warned about taking a 2 year old to a ballgame, his song gave me a renewed confidence that this was going to be cool.
(THIS IS THE VIDEO OF HIM SINGING JUST HIT THE PLAY BUTTON)
After loading up the rest of the entourage we headed off to the Ballpark. We found parking that was not too terribly far and as we stepped out of the car we started the sweat fest that would not end until we got back in the car 5 hours later. We slimed our way toward the stadium and eventually will call for our tickets. After we got our tickets and moved to the entrance we were very nicely told although we could bring in our own food and drink we can not bring in hard coolers. (like the hand held igloo cooler we packed everything in. ) They did give me a plastic grocery bag that I could use but that did not get my cooler back to the car, so I gave the girls and Kaden their tickets to go on in while I trekked back through the sauna of pounding heat to put the cooler back and pray that we had something better than the plastic Albertsons grocery bag they gave us to put stuff in. Sadly…I did not. I then loaded up the grocery bag with our stuff and made my journey back to the Stadium to catch up with the
rest of my party.
We got there a little early and watched some players warming up while we partook in our refreshments and enjoyed that we were at least in the covered area that was not being directly hit by the sun. No air movement, but no direct sun light. Kaden quickly got a hot dog and some goodies from our bag and started chowing down. After he downed his first hotdog he asked for another. His aunt Meghan took him to get one and because she many times acts as his personal stylist they came back with a pretty sweet Rangers Hat too. Hotdogs & hats could this get any better? Yes it can, Just then “Capitan” the Rangers mascot that is a large horse came out in a truck waving a flag with a bunch of what l
ooked like marketing interns that shot shirts into the crowd with a three man sling shot. Kaden was very excited to see the horse. All of these things put Kaden in a good mood but really almost everything except the ice cream we had promised had come and gone and the first pitch had not been thrown.
Through the first 3 innings Kaden was happy with just searching the crowd trying to see if he could “find that horsey”. However the game was not that exciting. In the 4th inning we
decided that we would go out to center field and look at all of the games, & kid stuff that they have out there. It really is a cool place for the kids, but the problem with it is that you cannot see 1 speck of the game because of a large wall that blocks your view. During the time we are wondering back there the Rangers scored their first 2 runs of the game off of a solo home run, & an RBI.
I decide to go back to my seat so I can actually watch the game, and Angie took Kaden to look at the Gift Shop. (I really
think that her reasoning was more because the gift shop was air-conditioned and not that she really to buy Kaden any Ranger Paraphernalia) But after a bit they joined us in the stands that seemed to become more and more humid and the cover that we were once happy about now became a block to any breeze that could move through.
During the 6th inning I saw the Rangers put two men on and Kaden announces to the stands, “I need to go poopy” I grab him and we rush off to the bathroom. On our way I hear an eruption of cheers, and presume that the Rangers scored again. After getting Kaden in a stall, trying to wipe it down to some what sanitize it and get
him situated Kaden says, “Daddy tell me a story”. In my head I am thinking “WHAT! Do you know that we are missing the game & by the second eruption of Cheers I just heard I am sure they just scored again!” but I knew that it is hard enough for him to actually do his business on the potty & we have been working so hard on this potty training thing, I quietly asked him what story he would like me to tell.
After quietly telling him the story of “Horton Hatches the Egg” in a restroom that was full of guys, the two on either side of us having a loud inebriated cuss word filled conversation about getting their beers up to their seats, we finished up, and headed back to our seats to see the Angles running off the field and the Rangers had put 5 more runs on the board that I never saw.
In the 7th we got to see the Angles make a rally putting 3 runs up on the board and we started looking at the clock. Kaden was wanting to go home and as we saw the clock that goes back and forth between the time and temp read 9:45 and 93 degrees we figured it was time to head out.
We gathered our things and headed toward the car. Everyone was tired and hot so we stopped by Sonic on our way to drop everyone off and then took the crew home. When we left Meghan’s apartment I turned on “1310 The Ticket” to hear the post game show just in time to hear that the game ended in a walk off home run by Hank Blalock putting the perfect ending to what I hear was a great game.
Despite not seeing one Ranger Run the entire game, the pounding sweat drenching heat, and the multiple trips to and from the car and the bathroom I would not trade this amazing right of passage of taking my son to his first ball game for anything!
Angie's Notes on the Evening:
Potty Train
ing is still the top priority on our list even on these outings so while Jon trekked to the car. I tried my best to get Kaden to go, but after 5 minutes of blood curdling
screams, kicking and fighting I decided he can hold off. As predicated, mere moments after we got settled in our seats I hear " Mommy, I need to go potty." I snatched him up and chanted "hold it, hold it" all the way back to the bathroom. He did go put I got to be offiical "aimer" as it is difficult to hold yourself up on the big potty seat and "aim" at the same time. Success!
After we returned to our seats and got to see the horse mascot the game started and he asked every 5 seconds if horsey was coming back, and then asked to see the picture I had taken on my camera of him.
When we took off for the gift shop I'll admit I enjoyed the air-conditioning. However, I did not enjoy carrying the 30 pounds of gear around that I forgot to send with Jon to the seats. Kaden tried to talk me into a bat. I reminded him he had one at home and he said "I look at home for my bat and I didn't find it." Sneaky........ Didn't work though!
We then visited Captain's Corral where the beloved horsey was painted on the wall.
was also a tv with the game going, so we sat here for a bit. It was not much cooler though. After another quick trip to the bathroom, 5 minutes after I had just been there and tried to convince him, again I was guiding "the missile", we had 4 candies, which is the necessary number, and headed back to Daddy.
Kaden stayed dry the whole time including going as soon as we got home. That was from 2:00 Pm until 11:30 PM! Way to go Big Boy!
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