A night of firsts

Whenever the topic of baseball and babies came up, Alex's dad was adament that Alex would be five years old when he went to his first baseball game. "Old enough to appreciate it," he said. I think Alex's big brother was five when he accompanied dad to a game for the first time. Five is a nice age - definitely old enough to know it's a special event. I wholeheartedly agreed. How much of the game do you see while simultaneously entertaining a bored toddler, anyway? Not that I see much of a game anyhow...I have a very short attention span at the ballpark. By the fourth inning, I'm ready to go home. Thank goodness for things like beer runs, and expansive outfield sections to walk around. Last year I discovered that if I spend the fifth inning out and about, I can trick myself into believing I'm just starting a new game when I return for the last three innings. But I digress.

At four o'clock Friday afternoon a co-worker stopped by my desk to see if I'd be interested in two tickets to the Giants game that night. Foolishly, I called hubby to see if he wanted them. (Did I think he'd say no? What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn't thinking...) We weren't doing anything else, sure he'd like to go. So he grabbed some finger foods and warm clothes, and he and Alex picked me up at work and we were off. Alex was 19 months old when he attended his first baseball game. Alex was 19 months old when he had his first ballpark frank. (He LOVED it.) Alex lasted exactly one batter beyond the hotdog and was then ready to be out of his seat. Alex and mom did alot of walking around the park. By the third inning, Alex was done with walking around and ready to go home. Mom was ready to go home. Even Dad saw the wisdom of going home. By the time we actually got home, it was an hour past bedtime and Alex was tired tired tired.

Yup, Alex should have been five before he went to his first baseball game....but instead we didn't make it out of the first month of baseball season before making an evening of it at the ball park. You can convince yourself of just about anything (my 19 month old won't act like he's too young to be there) if you try hard enough.