A day at the Ballpark

On July 4, my family and I traveled to Springfield, Missouri, to watch a Springfield Cardinals game... these Cardinals are the double-A affiliate (farm club) for the St. Louis Cardinals, and they are having a pretty good year... they won the 'first half' title!

First of all, let me say that I can't imagine coaching or managing a team which, by its nature and purpose, changes players regularly throughout the year... anyhow, subject for another time...

It was a delightful evening! We ate at Zio's Italian eatery (always awesome!), then went on the the ballpark for the game. We got there early (they were giving a ball cap to the first 2500 customers), and so did about 10,000 of our closest friends! As soon as the gates opened we got in pretty quickly and found our seats...

The Hammons field is extraordiary and beautiful! The parking is closeby and the stadium is comfortable and just the right size (seats about 25,000) for this double-A team. We settled into our fabulous $7 seats (about 12 rows from the field along the 3rd base line!) and watched the Cards host the Midland Rockhounds... it was a blast... there were 4 or 5 home runs (all by the Cardinals), and they won 10-2...

They had advertised that there would be a fireworks display after the game and, as promised, (right after the final out) the lights went out and the show began...

It was SPECTACULAR! As we sat in our seats and watched the 'bombs bursting in air' directly over our heads, I noticed the players for both teams had come out of their respective dugouts and sat on the field to watch the show... so there they were, a bunch of 20-something young men... living the dream of playing professional baseball, watching a fireworks show which commemorates a time in history when a bunch of other 20-something young men were fighting for their lives and the freedom of others...

and I couldn't help thinking that many of these baseball players have friends who, at that very moment, were hearing the same sort of noise over their own heads... in the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan... fighting for their lives and the freedom of others...

It was quite a night! A fun, touching, wonderful time...

May God Bless those brave men and women who, at this very moment, are risking their lives to make others free.