"Baseball Night With Dad"

    This past Wednesday night my Dad and I went to see the Phillies and the Arizona D-Backs at Ctizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia. The tickets were a birthday gift from my parents for my 50th back in June. My family has always been pretty big baseball fans. We had season tickets for many years when I was growing up as a kid and went to a lot of games. But as time went on we went less and less and when the Phils moved into the new stadium my parents transferred the tickets to another person because the financial part of it seemed a bit too much. So this game on Wednesday was the first game I had been to in quite a few years and it was really the first time I had the chance to experience the new ball park.

Having dinner while watching batting practice

         We really had a good time as we went down to the park early to have dinner and watch batting practice. The stadium has so many cool places to visit but certainly the first thing on the agenda was food. We considered a few options but settled on a "no brainer". Hoagies... A Philly classic! We ate our hoagies while watching the Phils take batting practice. The weather was great in the afternoon sun and I was totally feeling the excitement about being there. After we finished our dinner we explored some of the shops.  I had decided several weeks ago that I wanted to buy my Dad a Phillies shirt. He had worn one to the game but it was old and I thought it would be great to see him in something up to date. He picked out one of the popular red shirts with the players name and number on the back. Dad picked out Chase Utley's number 26. He also bought himself a ball cap and quickly ducked into a bathroom and put on his new gear. He was like a little kid and we took some great pictures as we made our way around to the many shrines at the stadium.

Dad sportin' his new shirt and cap

Cliff Lee on the mound

The game was great! We got lucky to see Cliff Lee pitch who is one of the Phils top weapons on this very talented team. It was a pretty close game through 6 innings but in the 7th the Phillies blew it wide open with some great hitting. The final score was 9-2 and the Phillies continue to push forward  in what hopes to be a memorable season. My Dad and I had a great time. We talked about a lot of things and especially some great baseball conversation. We indulged in some yummy foods that make the baseball experience unique. I can't begin to express what a great night it was. We had the chance to share in one of America's great past times, revisit our younger days as a family, and stop time for a night to be together and create a lasting memory. Thanks Mom & Dad for a great birthday present.