Today was an awesome day. We got up early and met up with Cayden’s family and drove to the Convention Center for a day of fun. We got there well before the gates opened so that we would be sure to get the Tony Oliva bobblehead they were giving to the first 1000 people through the doors. We knew that Andrew McCutchen was going to be there today but was not scheduled to sign autographs but was going to be at the Skills Diamond. The event happened to be a parent/child ballgame with a rubber wiffle ball. From the previous time Cami partook in the clinic, I knew we needed to sign up right away so we headed to get our waiver stamp and sign up for McCutchen’s time slot. I had absolutely no interest in playing the game but for each kid, they needed a parent to sign up for the parent side. So, for Cami’s sake, I signed up. Everyone ran around until it was time to show up for the clinic. I was soooo nervous. I have not swung a bat in 15 years or so! The kids batted first with Cami being the second batter. She ripped the ball and McCutchen told her “Wooooo! You have a nice swing!”. When it was my turn to bat, I swung on the first pitch Cutch threw me and popped out to second base. Cami ripped a single in her second at bat. When it was done, Andrew signed autographs for the kids. Cami got a baseball signed by McCutchen and a memory of being on his team she will not forget.
We then headed to the MLB tv booth where John Smoltz was signing autographs and taking pictures with people. The line was long the the person running it came up to Cami and asked who she was with. I thought it was strange but Cami responded “Dad, my mom and my brother.” She then cut the line off right after us. It was really cool. Caden was running around and we could not get a hold of him so Cayden took his place. We got three baseballs and a Sports Illustrated signed by Smoltz. He could not have been nicer.
We walked around a little more and Cami made a commercial for Fox Sports North. A little while later we called it a day and headed to Target Field for the Home Run Derby.
We did not get any more autographs the rest of the All Star Week but kind of chilled the final day. We got to the Red Carpet Parade and watched all the players come down the parade and then went to the All Star Game. Some of the players we saw were Robinson Cano, Yu Darvish, Aroldis Chapman, Clayton Kershaw, Mike Matheny, Andrew McCutchen, Yasiel Puig, Giancarlo Stanton, Pat Neshek, Glen Perkins and Kurt Suzuki. Mike Trout tossed Cami a mini foam ball with “Troutstanding” on it. One of the funnier things was when Cayden’s brother Josh yelled to Clint Hurdle to “Raise the Jolly Roger!”. Clint yelled back “Who said ‘Raise the Jolly Rancher?'” I don’t know if he was kidding or not but it was pretty funny.
The All Star Game was awesome. Our seat mates Heidi & Bob got to take the big flag out on the field before the game. To see Derek Jeter make his final appearance and the game end up with the Twins battery of Glen Perkins and Kurt Suzuki was really special. The entire All Star week was awesome and gave us memories we will never forget.
