A day at the ballpark with Dad
There may be no greater “day-out-with-dad” sport than the game of baseball.
All across America and the world, fathers trek to the ballpark — sons and daughters in tow — to watch grown men play a kid’s game at the highest levels.
When we were too little to catch a glimpse of the diamond through the masses of fans, they hoisted us on our shoulders. When our stomachs panged for stadium delicacies, they bought us a hot dog or burger or some other strong-smelling dish. They taught us who the players on the field were, why they darted around the bases, why they play a game that our fathers played as kids, and how to keep score of it all.
Oftentimes, our dads are the ones responsible for cultivating our childhood infatuation with the Nation’s Pastime.
That’s what happened to me back in 2004, when the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres gathered to play on a warm June day. It was my first-ever professional baseball game, and I watched it live with my father. We toured Monument Park and watched the players warm up on the field. As the game went on, my dad, Frank, taught me all the names and stats I needed to know over pizza, fries, and ice cream. When the Yankees walked off in the 12th inning, he hoisted me up so I could see the on-field celebration.
Needless to say, seven-year-old me was hooked on baseball that day, and it’s been that way ever since.
In many ways, the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Staten Island Yankees will gather to do the same thing the Yanks and Padres did back in 2004.
Just like there will be at stadiums around the globe, there will be fathers, children at their side, passing down the traditions of a day at the ballpark. They’ll soak a game and, afterwards, have the chance to play catch on the field. There will even be a postgame “Watch Dig,” where the fathers can dig for designer watches buried under the infield dirt.
There will be kids whose love for baseball begins and grows, just like it has for me ever since that June day at the ballpark.
So on this Father’s Day 2018, if you have the chance, spend some time enjoying a ballgame with the men taught us to love the sport that they, too, grew up watching.
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Today’s game: Cyclones at Yankees, 1:30 p.m.
RHP Nicolas Debora (0–0, -. — ) vs. RHP Roasny Contreras (0–0, -. — )
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— Dom
