America's Past Time

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The first step through the tunnel to catch a glimpse of the field is awesome. PNC Park in Pittsburgh is a true gem. It's just a beautiful park that was perfectly designed.

We were fortunate to be in great seats.

I'm talking tremendous seats. We were in the second row just 15 feet from first base. My beautiful wife did a great job of planning the trip and grabbed the seats along with help from Sam.

It's a great place to see a game. Joey Votto is one of the best players in the game and he was doing his thing less than 20 feet away.

The game looks simpler from that vantage point. We could gauge the speed of the pitches, we saw how quickly the players move around the bases. There was a throw from the deep outfield to the plate that made us all just shake our heads.

Yet the game was secondary to the memory that we made on Monday night.

The boys brought one glove in order to grab a foul ball (none came close) but Sam also brought a clean hardball just in case there was a chance that one of the players came by to sign autographs.

The Reds Todd Frazier stopped by. Sam was able to get the ball to him and he signed it quickly.

"That was awesome," Sam said. "I'm going to root for him to get a hit."

Frazier got three hits, going 3-4.

Then it was Jake's turn. The Reds all-star 2nd basemen made it to the rail just five minutes before the game was to start. The last autograph he signed was Jake's. Watching from a little ways away I saw Jake say something and then Phillips laughed out loud and touched Jake on the shoulder before heading away.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"I told him three homers or I'd be highly disappointed."

Phillips also went 3 for 4. In his first at-bat he went high off the right field wall for a double and the boys laughed.

The game came down to the last inning. It was tied at 5 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The entire night had been fun, but did we really need extra innings?

We didn't get it.

The game ended with a single to right and a play at the plate.

The home team (the Pirates) won and the fireworks went off.

Phillips and Frazier walked off disappointed, but I'll root for them from now on because they made my boys smile.

"It was a great game," I said as we hustled off. I asked Sam and Jake to stop for a photo near the bright green grass with the backdrop of the beautiful stadium behind them, but true to their nature they both looked straight down at the ground and wouldn't smile for the photo.

They thought it was funny.

Two dorks at a baseball game.

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