River Cats

My dad approached us last week with an invitation to an upcoming River Cats game.  A former classmate of his works in their PR department and kindly offered his tickets to our family.  There was no way we could pass up a ball game, especially when it's the A's triple-A team.

We arrived at the park to everyone waiting outside the gates for us, including my dad's friend.  The first thing out of Tony's mouth was, "A's fans?"  The Lime and LaVor were both wearing their A's hats and Tony informed us that Yoenis Cespedis was in the line up for the night (LaVor told me on the drive to the park).

Before heading in, we all thanked Tony for his generosity and before we knew it, he was taking us in the "secret" way and gave us the grand tour.

Our first stop was the Sacramento Baseball - Then & Now mural in the Solon Club.

After 29 years of driving by that bridge, I finally drove over it last night.

The Lime was more interested in checking out the field and asking when the game was going to start.

On the way to Tony's office, I drooled and admired the darling baseball lights they have.  Would that not be the cutest in a little boy's room?!  They also had some that were against the walls. 

The walls of Tony's office were covered with baseball cards of every River Cat that has been since he started his position 14 years ago.  He had hundreds of baseball hats and a ton of bobbleheads adorning filing cabinets and his desk.

I'm not sure how it happened but Tony graciously gave The Lime a baseball and some knuckles.

The Lime came into the hallway to show me and whispered, "I want a bat".  I told him there was no way he'd get one of the bats, too.

After seeing The Lime get a ball, my niece asked for one, too.  Tony didn't have another one but gave her a little bracelet and a River Cat stuffed animal.  Then Tony said that since she got two toys, The Lime needed another one.  And what did he give him?  A little bat.

On the way back downstairs, we passed the Wall of Fame and my eyes instantly went to...

As I was taking the picture, LaVor walked by and said, "What a surprise!"

The Lime has been on a real kick lately about being a catcher and umpire.  I bought him a fireman outfit for his birthday and it included a plastic gas mask.  He used it as such for a little while but it quickly turned into a catcher's mask.  He also insists on wearing his hat backwards when wearing the mask.  Needless to say, he became very excited when he saw this cutout of a catcher AND an umpire.

A few familiar faces played last night: Daric Barton, Jemile Weeks, and like mentioned above, Yoenis Cespedes.

Poor Daric...shave the beard!

The Lime was bummed that his friend, Coco, wasn't playing for the River Cats.  Telling him that Jemile and Yoenis were Coco's friends seemed to solve the problem.

After two baskets of nachos, two bratwursts, one personal pizza, a half eaten sundae, and a bottle of water, we decided to call it a night and head back to our warm house (I forgot to bring a jacket for LaVor and he froze his buns off).

We loved experiencing a game close to home and are so grateful for all Tony did for us.  The Lime has been playing with his bat and ball all day.

Now we're just itching to head back to Oakland.