Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Perfect (Game) Attendance

If you follow me on Twitter, or just happen to have noticed one of the widgets on the right hand column of this blog, you are probably aware that I am a big professional baseball fan.  Specifically, a fan of my hometown team, the Seattle Mariners.

However, as big a fan as I am Mrs. LIAYF, Lukas, and I don't get out to the ballpark very often.  In fact, before up to the point, we hadn't been attended a game all season long. That all changed on Wednesday when we, along with my parents, took in an afternoon game at Seattle's Safeco Field.

We picked the Perfect game to attend.



That's because The King, Felix Hernandez, pitched the 23rd Perfect Game in Major League History, and the first for the Mariners!  It was absolutely amazing to watch.  We were standing and cheering loudly the whole 8th and 9th innings, and erupted in euphoria after the final out.  We were even high-fiving complete strangers, but it didn't matter since, for a franchise and city aching for good news, this was something worth celebrating.

If you want a condensed version of what we saw (minus the time in line for Pulled Pork sandwiches, beer, and lemonade of course) you can see all 27 outs back to back in this video:


As a baseball fan, this has to rank as the best moment I have ever witnessed in person, barely edging out Ken Griffey JR's 8th homerun in as many games, at the old Kingdome on July 28th, 1993. Yes, for a sports fan, this was like finding the Holy Grail.

But what made it even more memorable, was the fact that I got to share it with those I love.  Especially Lukas, who at the tender age of 5 can now say that he has been witness to history.


I have no doubt that he will remember this day forever.  Especially since I will be reminding him of it so often. He will probably eventually be sick of me saying "Remember that time we went to the 23rd Perfect Game in baseball history?  Did you know that that was out of approximately 400,000 games played? Yeah, we were there."

Hopefully not though, since he was able to cross Attend Perfect Game off his bucket list before he even understands the concept.

How about you readers?  What is the most memorable sporting moment you have witnessed with your kids?

8 comments:

Mrs. M said...

That is awesome - great pick of games!!!

Hey Monkey Butt said...

we've gone to baseball as well as Hockey games with ours and so far she loves the Hockey game. Nothing of importance happened at any event though. that's really awesome!!

daniel said...

I am insanely jealous. I almost went to that game. August and Dela are at day camp, gone until 5:30 all week. I really wanted to take Ciaran (my 5 year old) to the game, and the time was perfect. Hernandez is his favorite player too. My oldest came in from college, his flight arrived right in the middle of the game. I would have to miss it. Ciaran loves watching Hernandez pitch, and I was hoping he would be back in the rotation for this upcoming weekend. Wow. I'm glad for you.

ericdbolton said...

I didn't see the game.. I saw the highlights and I got emotional. I grew up playing baseball and felt extremely excited for hernandez to accomplish this. plus he came from San Antonio (that was extra).

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Teri - It was. Looking for another one tonight. Wish we were going.

@Monkey - Would love to get Lukas into watching Hockey games. We may be getting a team here in the next couple years.

@daniel - would have been great if you were there. @BrickWade was there as well.

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Eric - I hope you will be following along tonight. Can lightning strike twice?

momnextdoor said...

Absolutely amazing! How unbelievable that you were able to be there in person for that! Wow, just wow!

As a Yankee fan, I have had the pleasure of watching a couple of perfect games on TV but to say you got to watch one in person is just...WOW!

Rachael said...

When I was younger, my Dad used to take my sister and I to Baseball games. When we were really little, we lived in Michigan and would color and eat Domino's pizza in the stands. My heart will always be in the Metrodome with the Minnesota Twins though. My Dad lived in Fargo, ND for 13 years and we would drive to Minneapolis for the weekend and go to a game and a museum or whatever. I'm not really into sports as a general rule, and don't have many favorite athletes, and I can say that Kirby Puckett is one of the only athletes I've ever been able to get excited about. At one game, I saw him hit an inside the park home run, and watching him run the bases was the best thing I've ever seen at a live sporting event. It was like a freight train. I tried looking for any kind of video today, but instead found myself tearing up over a tribute video on YouTube. I was very sad when he died, and I can't imagine any other sports figure I'd actually cry over. It is amazing that you got to share this with your son, what an amazing and awesome experience! When he grows up, he will always remember his times at the Mariners games with you and they'll be special to him too.