Noah's Big Day at The Yard

Man, I'm setting us up for dissapointment next weekend.  Last weekend, Noah got a Daddy day to go see the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.  This weekend, he got another Daddy day to go see the O's game.  At this rate, he's going to expect like, a personal appearance from the Backyardigans next weekend or something...

In any case, I had this day circled on my calendar for the past two months.  I knew Noah really wanted to catch an O's game, and I felt like I really owed him after I got to go for Andy's bachelor party.  So looking around at games, I noticed that today's game vs the Royals was "Kids Run The Bases" day.  Literally, for no cost, no membership, no nothing, any kid 14 and under runs the bases post-game.

Yes.  Yes please.  Yes a MILLION TIMES PLEASE!  I knew that would just make his head explode, so I decided it had to be this game.  But, I did the sneaky thing of not telling him.  That way 1) if he acted up, I could just not do it without a tantrum and 2) if the thing was not setup well, I could just not do it without breaking a promise.  I'm jumping ahead, but the 1st one was blown about 10 minutes into our visit, by a friendly, chatty stadium employee.

In any case, here's how the day went, with things that Noah loved bolded for effect of just how awesome I think the day was for him:

We drove down to catch the Metro down to Baltimore.  We were slated to pickup the Light Rail for the rest of the way to the stadium, but for 3rd time in 3 tries, that train was just super late.  So we walked instead.  Got to the gates and I went to take Noah's picture with the Babe Ruth statue.  Slight problem: I forgot my SD card.  Crap, of course I remembered everything but THE ONE PIECE MY CAMERA NEEDED.  In my luck, the stadium store did hapen to sell 4 GB SD cards, so crisis averted.  Once inside, I bought him a Kid's Program.  While we were figuring out what to do, I noticed outside of Boog's BBQ, sure enough Boog Powell was there, signing autographs.  Noah was heavy before the game on "Can I get another autograph?", and Boog Powell is a pretty notable guy.  So I ask him if he wants one, and of course he does, so voila.  Noah got an autograph and a picture with Boog Powell (which in his head became Paul Boo).  After that, he remembered the Orioles playground we saw last week when walking through Camden Yards, so he went there for some playtime. 

After awhile, we headed back to see if they were doing BP today, which they weren't due to the late game last night.  So we headed to our seats instead.  Along the way, we walked through the statue court which has statues of Jim Palmer, Earl Weaver, Frank Robinson, and as of yesterday, Eddie Murray (Before end of year, they will also unveil Cal Ripken Jr. and Brooks Robinson).  Noah was okay with that, but I got the vibe he didn't care much.  So we sat down and Noah liked our seats.  In as much as it was a seat in a ballpark, and one where he had a "footrest" (Row 1 of Lower Reserve, so just a guard rail in front of us).  At that point, we decided to get food.  He wanted a hamburger, so I got him Gino's.  I decided to get Boog's BBQ, like I usually do.  When we were trying to find a spot to eat, a friendly stadium attendant suggested we head up to the CF perch, which is new this year and I figured it'd be packed, but sure enough there were a few stray seats.  And the view was AWE-SOME.  You could see right down into the bullpens where the starters were warming up.  Same attendant was the one who asked him if he was ready to run the bases.  So, that suprise lasted a bit.  But it helped me to keep him grounded for the whole game.

So, food done, we headed to our seats.  The one thing he didn't like was our seats were in some sun, so his legs kept getting hot.  About two innings in, we got to see Manny Machado smack a home run, and then he got to dance. After that, his tolerance (and mine) was wearing thin, so we decided to take a walk around the stadium.  We went to fan assistance and got him a First Game certificate.  It wasn't really his first, but the usher who said no BP was going that day was friendly and chatted us up and suggested I go get him another one, even if it wasn't really his first game.  So we got that and then we headed back to the playground area.  That was really some sort of kid's central area, because they also had Pitching and T-Ball cages so Noah got to do those.  And then he played on the playground more, of course.  After some time there, we walked back to the seats again to try to finish the game.  We saw Nick Markakis hit a homerun too, so that was pretty neat.  After the top of the 8th inning, Noah was about done with sitting, so we took another walk.  Decided to go ahead and get him a souvenier, and I managed to talk him out of the bat.  He picked a suitable alternative, a big Oriole Bird flag.  We took that and headed towards Gate D for Kids Run The Bases.  While standing around watching the end of the game, a stadium employee took notice of Noah, standing there well behaved and waving his flag, beaming happy.  He walked over and, with my okay, casually slipped him a baseball card.  Ozzie Smith (a little huh? because it's an O's game, but hey, it was pretty neat and Noah LOVES the baseball card now)

We got to see the win and JJ save it, and then I decided to ask where we needed to stand for Kids Run The Bases.  Turns out, you go OUTSIDE the stadium.  And that's when I saw the line...It wrapped from home plate area, down the 3rd base side of the stadium, then across the outfield nearly to Left-Center field.  And that wasn't the end of the line eventually, that's just where we got in line.  But, once they cleared the stadium and set up everything on the field, the line moved rather quick.  They had it setup for maximum efficiency, parents on the left side of the aisle going down, kids on the right.  Kids got onto the diamond at 1B, ran all the way home to where the parents would be waiting, and then all walked out to the 3B side to exit the stadium.  And that kid LOVED running those bases.  Even if about 5 minutes later, he asked me if he ran them.

After that, we waited to catch the Light Rail where Noah got to sit on funny folding seats in the waiting area (yes, that was part that he liked a lot too) .  And then, he got to ride both Light Rail and the Metro home.

So count it...12 things he loved doing today.

Couple side notes:

1. It's worth noting that this is probably the first time in...10-15 years that I've attended a professional sports game (that counted) and the team I was rooting for ended up winning.  I've been to preseason games that the Ravens won, but never a regular season game they've won.  And the last 3-4 O's games I went to, they lost.  So go figure, my losing streak finally ended!

2. Finally got to pickup my tumbler from Andy's Bachelor Party (It was supposed to be the giveaway that night but a vendor issue delayed shipment, so everyone got a coupon to pick one up in July or August instead)

3. I noticed while waiting in line, a service road that went along the stadium.  Up ahead, a Cadillac was sitting there and a guy got out, looked almost like he was a valet.  I saw an older lady get in the passenger seat and it started to drive off.  I made a comment aloud like "I guess they have valet parking here" and wondered if it was a player guest.  Nope, it was Peter Angelos.  And he looks even more villanous in real life.  Kind've sorry I missed seeing him walk to his car.  I can't complain about him for today's experience, everything was really great today.  But that man has just tightened the screws on a baseball team that while frustrating, still holds a very dear candle in my heart.

Ravens Training Camp...at the Stadium

I'm going to preface this by saying...I miss Westminster Training Camp.  It was just a couple blocks from my house, so I could literally walk up whenever I wanted to go, not have to deal with parking, etc.  And get a killer look at my favorite sports team in the world.  I understand why the Ravens chose to move it to their own facility, but I still miss it.

Given that, I took Noah to the public stadium practice yesterday.  We'd tried this in 2010 (Had a flat tire the day before) and 2011 (Shannon had to go to the hospital for a blood clot), so 2012 was the first one we'd been able to do.  This would be our only chance to see the Ravens this year, as I had to choose to skip preseason games due to stuff upcoming in August.  So I was looking to see how good an experience we got.

From Noah's perspective, yesterday was probably like "kid in a candy store with unlimited pocket money" awesome.  We rode the train to get there.  Rode the Metro to get down there, then walked to the Stadium because for the 2nd time in a row, Light Rail was crazy behind.  While walking there, Oriole Park was open so we walked through it.  When we got inside M&T, I beelined for the home bench side (going on a tip from a message board friend who said that side was most likely to get autographs).  We got a group of seats in the 5th row, so I thought we were in good shape to get an autograph.  More on that later.  Anyway, the view of the action was pretty great.  And the Ravens definitley utilized the stadium atmosphere to their benefit.  Jumbotron video montages, loudspeaker announcers, a broadcast team that did various interviews through practice, and the practice itself was 2.5 hours long.

Here's where I'll bitch and moan.  I was really trying to get Noah an autograph of a player.  I said I didn't care which one, I just figured he would explode at the idea of getting any Raven to sign his football.  So at various times during practice, players who had a moment or so off would come over and sign.  A couple guys did so around our section, but by the time you saw the guy coming over, there was a SWARM of people cramming into the section to find any room to get stuff over.  So we never got one that way, and as practice was winding down, I said "I guess I'll just get into the aisle and get as close as I can", figuring that eventually, the people ahead of me would get an autograph and clear out.  After awhile, a stadium official came up and told "the group" that we couldn't stand in the aisle, due to fire marshall rules.  Noah and I moved out.  And then we watched as NOBODY ELSE MOVED A DAMN STEP.  And the guy sat there talking with them for a few minutes, then walked away.  Yeah, great.  Let's give three cheers for people who followed the rules.  So of course, when someone else came over to sign things, we ran over and missed it entirely, due to the people who never moved.  The other thing that screwed us over?  The people at the front were just COLLECTING autographs.  Like, they were trying to get as many Ravens as possible to sign their stuff.  So once someone signed their stuff, they stayed there.  Meaning we never got any closer.

After awhile, I was getting super pissed and just started shouting "4 year old here, wants ANY autograph".  One of the said collectors decided to be decent and handed Noah's football over for me, and back once the autograph was done.  I never even saw the guy who signed it.  So I had to ask who it was.  "Cecil Newton, Cam Newton's brother"

...

Okay, of the 90 people on the Ravens roster, I could probably rattle off about 75 of them.  Cecil Newton was one of the 15 I had no idea was on the roster.  But whatever, I said any autograph and we got one.  After that, I had no desire to wait around any longer so we left.  I know players stayed for a long time signing, and so I bear no ill will to them.

My complaint/suggestion...Ravens, you need to structure the autographs.  At Westminster, you had a specific spot where kids could line up and the players would go right there to sign for them.  Stadium practice should have the same deal.  You don't even need to limit it to kids.  Just have a spot where people can line up after practice, you go in, get an autograph, and then you MOVE THE F%$# ON!  If you want multiple, get back in the damn line.  Yeah, Noah was happy, but imagine how much cooler it would've been if he had SEEN the guy who signed his autograph.

My takeaway for the future...I need to get there earlier, and find ANY front row seat, whatever section/side.  Then just dig in and hold my ground.  The other thing?  I need to remember Noah is only 4.  He's starting to understand this football thing, but again he doesn't really care much about who signs it.  It'd be nice if he saw the guy sign it though.

All in all, it was fun.  But I still miss the close quarters of Westminster and the expanded opportunities to interact with players.