Number One Son and I went to our first Twins game in about two years. Two years ago we took Ethan to the Metrodome and didn't have very good seats. He enjoyed it alright, but the game was a little long for him and we left early. Lady Di was getting antsy around the second inning.Ethan's second game of his life was at noon, so we weren't quite so tired at the end. We got there a little early and browsed the Twins vendors. Ethan got his favorite Twin's shirt. I got a new cap. And Emery got a pink baseball pennant. She was a little disappointed about not being able to go, but she was brave and didn't cry.
I won tickets to the game from a raffle at work. These were the best seats I have ever had for a game. It was nice to actually be able to see and recognize players instead of squinting though binoculars trying to indentify the moving grains of rice from the nosebleed seats.
The only thing Ethan asked for at the game was a soft pretzel. He got his pretzel along with a DomeDog, Sprite and M&M's. He deserves to get a little extra once in a while.
The game started and it didn't look good. After the first half inning, the Twins were behind 4 to 0. After 3 innings it was 5 to 1. Then the Twins staged a comeback to win 8 to 5. It was exciting. We got our money's worth for this game. We got to see four homeruns. One of them was hit by Frank Thomas for the Bluejays for his 500th career homerun. He got a standing ovation even though the Twins were losing at that point. The Twins hit 3 more homeruns. We got to see a couple double plays, a diving catch by Torii Hunter, and the Toronto manager getting thrown out of the game for debating an umpire's call. Ethan even got to see his favorite player pitch in the 9th inning.
It was just nice to see Ethan following the action and being interested in what was going on in the game. In the past, he would have been more interested in the electronic scoreboard or reading the ads in the outfield. This time he cheered at the right times and asked appropriate questions about baseball. I really enjoyed our time together. He said he would even like to go to another game this year. I hope we can find the time to schedule another trip to the ballpark.
1 comment:
This sounded like a lovely day. My Chopper wrote a beautiful story about the powerful effect watching sports can have on a little boy with Autism. It is called Goal and won 3rd place in a competiton over here as well as being published in the Autism Support Network Newsletter. I remember watching the audience welling up in tears at the end of the story and just feeling so proud of Chopper for increasing Autism awareness in such a unique effective way. It is called Goal and is about a 9 year old boy named Ollie who goes with his dad to a Football (Soccer)game. If you would like to read it, email me and I will send it to you.
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