Labor Day Weekend: Part 2

Sunday night was a very special treat for our family.  On Tuesday I got the call from one our regional folks to represent BB&T at the upcoming BB&T Night at The Bats.  I graciously accepted.  We arrived at the park a little early so my family and I could get on the field to watch me throw out the first big pitch.  I'm not certain Michelle was overly impressed at the opportunity but me, as a guy, thought it was pretty darn cool.  I was very excited and not nervous at all.  I got a lot of great yells at the park and text messages before the pitch to build my confidence.  I got "don't throw like a girl", "don't bounce it", "$10 if you hit the mascot", "don't pull a John Wall first pitch" and "I hope you throw a good pitch" (mom).  I went with the heater and wasn't sure how my arm would react because I didn't get to warm up.  The ball went right down the middle of the plate and I got "that's one of the best pitches I've got" from the catcher.  My brother in law Brad got it on video and posted it on facebook if you care to see the pitch.  This would have made the evening in itself but there was more to come.  Emily and Morgan were given the opportunity to be the junior groundskeepers for the game.  We got to hang with Buddy Bat down near the field entrance for an inning waiting for our groundskeeping duties.  At the end of the 4th inning, the regular grounds crew ran on to the field to rake the dirt and right after them went Buddy Bat, Emily, Morgan and one other younger boy.  They ran with their small brooms in hand to first base and Buddy Bat gave them the instructions to sweep off first base until it was clean.  They then took off to 2nd base with the other boy out front followed by Buddy Bat; Emily was a few steps back and Morgan a few more steps back.  Morgan was running holding onto her shorts afraid they might fall down from running so fast.  They cleaned off 2nd and ran to 3rd in the same order they ran to 2nd.  After cleaning off 3rd base, they got to step off the side of the base and rest for a second while much of the crowd gave them a very cheerful ovation for their hard work.  They then made their way to the backstop and the Bats manager stepped out of the dugout and gave them each a baseball.  We then had to rush off the field so the game could start back up and we went back near the locker rooms and got some pictures taken with Buddy Bat and he signed their baseballs for them.  One side quick story:  Emily and I went to a Bats game earlier in the year and I made the mistake of mentioning that maybe if we get lucky, we'll catch a foul ball and we can take a baseball home.  Emily pretty much left the game in tears when we had to go home empty handed.  So she was glad to get a baseball this evening, very glad!  We were initially worried the girls would be shy about running on the field especially after an already tiring weekend but they did great.  I was soooo proud of them.  We were also worried about the rain because it was all over the forecast but our perfect game didn't see rain until the very last out of the game.  And the cherry was the fireworks show that we watched from undercover after the last out.  We got to see many friends at the game including a bunch of folks from my family.  It was really a perfect evening and one I will very much cherish.