the history

Arkansas does not have a Major League Baseball team, but a growing boy with a love of the sport has to find a team to follow. My Dad, being the son of a Chicago White Sox fan, one would think following the Sox might come naturally, or having an older brother who finally declared himself a New York Yankee’s fan, but no, all three men have their own teams. My Dad’s team: The Baltimore Orioles

It has been about 25 years since my dad has been to Baltimore for a game, and it’s taken us a while to get to an Orioles game. I’ve been trying to go for over two years. It has taken, pulling strings, booking incorrect tickets, asking favors and pulling strings to finally get this three-day trip finalized.

Let me fill you in on why I have been trying to take my Dad to an Orioles game for the past two years.

One weekend in September 2008 my Dad had two events to attend… in two different states. One was in his own backyard: a big engagement party for one of my sister’s dearest friends, Molly Merry Campbell. The other was my last Dad’s Weekend of college! Knowing he didn’t want to miss the party, my sister definitely did not want him to miss the party, and let’s face it… neither did I… we all attended the party in the backyard with wonderful friends.

Since “Dad’s weekend” had been missed I had the brilliant idea to get my Dad tickets to an Orioles vs. Cardinals game, which if you know anything about Major League baseball, then you know the only time these two teams place is during spring training, or at least that was the case during Spring 2009.

This is the picture from Christmas 2008.

On the baseball my Dad unwrapped was the date of the game and all the details. In January, Dad was looking at the schedule on the Orioles Web site and he noticed that the game I had planned for us to go to was not at Busch Stadium in St.Louis, Missouri, but at the Cardinals Spring training field in Florida. Well that was settled, neither of us could get down to Florida on a Tuesday night for a game.

Attempt 1: failed. Nonetheless, we had a successful trip to St.Louis for a Cardinals vs. Mets game.

Attempt 2: PLAN: break down and buy tickets for a game IN BALTIMORE.

This was no easy task though. If you know my dad, getting him away from work is like pulling teeth. Marilyn Riley, a part-time pharmacist that helps my Dad out tremendously at the drug store, became a part of the scheme. I found a game on a Tuesday in April IN BALTIMORE that could possibly work. Calling Marilyn, back in October or so, I asked her if she had plans for April 26-28, 2010. When she said she didn’t I let out a big sigh of relief and then asked her if she would pencil in those dates to definitely be at the drug store. An added plus was that these are her normal days to work at the store. Marilyn was in! But no one else knew. Neither Mom nor Mickey knew. To pull everything off, I would first have to check about tickets, which wouldn’t go on sale until basically right before Christmas.

Planning was going smoothly. Now, how was I going to “give” my Dad the gift? For some reason we always put a calendar in my Dad’s stocking. Usually it’s some sports-trivia daily calendar or something like that, but Mom had not picked one up yet, so I said I’d handle it. While Christmas shopping in NY I found a calendar of a dozen baseball stadiums, new and old, and their story, etc. I took the plastic off, flipped to April, and highlighted what would be “Dad’s Weekend 2010.”

Since Christmas, it has been hanging up at the drug store, on the wall to the right of the Coke machine. While my uncle, my Dad’s older brother, was visiting New York before Christmas, I filled him in on the tickets to the game. Well, what do ya know! His present to my Dad went together perfectly.

Pictures of Uncle Bob giving Dad his Christmas gift, a Brooks Robinson uniform:

A special thanks to my Mom and Marilyn for running statements while Joe's gone. And special thanks to Jeremy Wolfe to coming to the store Tuesday and helping out.

We all know Joe needs this little vacation!