Play hard and have fun

This weekend was our annual baseball weekend with our grandson, Will, and his friend, John Clark.  They came up to Auburn, and we attended all three baseball games for the weekend series between Auburn and the Kentucky Wildcats.

There are not a lot of rules for this weekend.  We eat wherever they choose.  We do not have to go to bed early or get up early.  They usually try to eat something every inning which gives me indigestion just thinking about it.

All three games were high scoring, with one team or the other scoring at least three runs in the first inning.  We saw some good pitching, some long home runs, and some great and not-so-great fielding with Kentucky committing four errors in the first game.

The first game Auburn won by a score of 12-5.  Their 12 runs and 15 hits were both season highs against an SEC opponent.  It was a great way to start the weekend.

The second game was a turnaround, with Auburn committing two errors and Kentucky scoring three runs in the first inning.  After they added two runs in the second inning, the Tigers held them scoreless for the rest of the game.  While Auburn made a strong comeback attempt, they fell one run short as the Wildcats evened the series with a 5-4 win.  

Despite the disappointing loss, the Auburn players graciously gave autographs to the youngsters waiting at the exit from the locker room.  Will and John Clark each have a shiny new baseball with twelve autographs from members of the Tigers baseball team.   

Sunday’s game was probably the highlight of the weekend.  Due to a commitment for one of the boys back in Dothan, we had to leave the game at 3:30 p.m.  

We decided to go to Waffle House at 10:00 a.m. before heading to church for the 11:00 a.m. service.  We got all dressed for church and headed for the Waffle House nearest our house.  Unfortunately, dozens of other people were ahead of us when we arrived.

I made an executive decision to take us to nearby Byron’s for breakfast rather than wait in the WH line.  When we arrived at Byron’s the line went out the door and snaked down by the bathroom.  With Plan B also not working, we drove to another Waffle House.  

Same story with the long lines, but thankfully no one wanted the four seats at the “low bar”, and we moved ahead of a dozen people.  Thinking God was looking after us since we were trying to make it to church, we ordered only to have to wait probably 30 minutes for our food.  We realized halfway through our meal that we would never make it to church, which did not seem to disappoint the boys all that much.

We headed back home to change from our Sunday clothes and headed for the ballpark.  Will and John Clark stood at the railing in the Hall of Fame Club right behind home plate for the first few innings, where they were prominently featured on television as the cameras zeroed in on the batter at the plate.

Eventually, they joined us in the Broadway Club for some more food and drink.  Despite having to leave early, they got to see the major part of Auburn’s 11-0 run-rule victory.  It was a great win as Auburn took the series.

Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn once said the following about baseball.  “Remember two things: play hard and have fun”.  On this particular weekend, these boys played hard and had fun, and so did we.

o0o

Dan Ponder can be reached at [email protected]