Baseball
Joel got four free tickets to last night’s Springfield Cardinals game. It was military appreciation night… unfortunately he was away for Army training and couldn’t go with us. Um… thanks!?
We invited a friend of mine to join us and had a wonderful time. We got our first foul ball which was incredibly exciting. 
Seeing the young soldiers reminded me of why I want to be a chaplain. Sarah made a few friends. These future MPs represented the Army well. I’m very proud of them. They ate an INCREDIBLE amount of food. I’m going to need a huge snack budget when I become a chaplain…
Joel’s definition of Rest and Relaxation: Baseball. On one of the first days of R&R we went to Kansas City for a Royals game. On Mondays military families get in for free. We also took in a couple of Springfield Cardinals games.
Sarah talked Joel into cotton candy and lemonade at the KC game… Jeremiah just waited patiently and asked if he could have the ten bucks instead of snacks. That’s my boy!
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Jeremiah and Sarah just ran to me exclaiming, “We saw a cardinal!”
Jeremiah said, “It landed right outside on OUR deck.”
Sarah said, in a very excited yet mythical voice, “When a red cardinal comes to our house that means Papo Bolivar is coming back to the baseball game!”
Jeremiah shook his head showing his disbelief. I motioned to him to keep his doubts to himself. Let the little girl dream.
P.S. Papo Bolivar played for the Springfield Cardinals during their first season. Sarah was two and in love with Papo. After 2005, Bolivar left Springfield with no forwarding address. He’s not playing pro ball anywhere. Even the sports writers wonder what happened to him. I doubt anyone misses him as much as Sarah does though. She talks about him almost daily.
I took this photo on June 18th. It reminded me of a photo that Jami once posted:
We’ve gotten over 10 1/2 inches of rain since we got back to Springfield 16 days ago. Over three inches fell today… while we were at a Springfield Cardinals Baseball game. The game was eventually cancelled. We didn’t get to see a single pitch. But Jeremiah enjoyed a slice of pizza while wearing a plastic poncho and watching the grounds crew remove the infield tarp…. and then put it back.
It’s that time of year again… Can’t you feel it? Surely you haven’t forgotten?
Today is opening day for the Springfield Cardinals!
We may be 1,000 miles away, but we won’t miss this game. Jer and I are listening online. And watching the webcams like the obsessive geek fans that we are.
Friends and longtime readers know how much we enjoyed and obsessed over the Springfield Cardinals during their inaugural season. I’ve written about them at least 39 times. My latest Cardinals related post laments the fact that we won’t be able to attend a Cardinals game on my birthday. We’ll still be in South Carolina.
How about a temporary substitute? Ladies and gentlemen, let me announce the inaugural season of the Greenville Drive. Greenville, SC is 103 miles northwest of Fort Jackson. They’re building a new baseball stadium and promise to have it ready for opening day. The Greenville Drive are a single A team affiliated with the Boston Red Sox… and they just happen to have a home game scheduled on my birthday. The kids will be excited to see that their home color is red… but unless there’s a player named Papo Bolivar, Sarah will not be satisfied.
P.S. This would make a nice birthday present….
