Road Trip: Embracing fatherhood by the inning

A PHOTO GALLERY is included at the bottom

Leading off

PNC Park, Pittsburgh. 

When my seven-year-old son Kavaun "bunted" his way on base in tee-ball because he could beat an infield throw I knew he had fallen in love with the game.

Baseball is one of the bridges I have to Kavaun's heart. We listen on the car radio, watch on TV and when we're lucky we make it to Comerica Park in Detroit, his favorite, to see our Tigers a few times each summer.

Baseball, with all of it's quirky conventions and traditions, is becoming our shared language. In the last few weeks we have talked about hitting for the cycle, throwing the high heat and the suicide squeeze. The kid is a sponge. 

Baseball has been the backdrop to every summer of my life since I was Kavaun's age so I get his curiosity about a game with so many obscure customs. Recently on our list of discussion topics about the game: The jinx of mentioning the no-hitter and the fact that the winning team celebrates on the field after every single win with high-five lines and special hand shakes. 

I understand that the interests of children come and go and since our passions are intersecting now, I am taking full advantage. I planned a weekend he will always treasure.

Beata bought Kavaun the MLB Passport Book

for our trip. The book includes all kinds of 

gameday information for Kavaun to record in

addition to getting a stamp to validate our stop

at each ballpark. He loves this book.

Our three day adventure included 900 miles in our rental car, three baseball games - one with Kavaun's other favorite team, the Cubs. We packed a cooler, ate turkey sandwiches in the car and added 27 innings to our growing list of sporting events shared together.

We hit "The Jake" in Cleveland for a Friday night game with the Yankees, then it was off to see the Triple-A Columbus Clippers at home Saturday before taking in a Sunday 1:30 game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh against the first place Cubs. Both major league games had standing room only seating on gameday so I was happy I planned ahead and got tickets. We were gifted Pirates tickets and a place to stay in Pittsburgh with family and that added to our incredible experience.

This weekend was different than our other adventures as fans because we weren't going to the games because of the teams. We were going to experience the ballparks together.

Baseball gives its fans permission to sit quietly, eat, talk and do whatever fans choose to do at their leisure. We soaked it up and carried over our satisfying pace into long car rides, treats and the kinds of simple moments that by themselves seem ordinary but add up to memorable days. 

Like the game of baseball, our twenty-seven innings together were relaxing and measured by simple pleasures like cotton candy and discussing the sac fly. Shade breaks, hot dogs and the huge scoreboards tracking other games gave us plenty to see and do.  

The Line-up

CLEVELAND INDIANS - July 8, 2016 

Rivals of the Tigers, First Place in AL Central

Progressive Field, Cleveland.

AKA "The Jake" as it was called Jacobs 

Field for its first 13 seasons. We moved 

down a few sections for this photo.

• Our weekend stadium tour started at "The Jake" in Cleveland and we were among the first 100 fans in the stadium at 5 pm which gave us time to catch batting practice. An Indians employee working on the field saw Kavaun standing behind the right field fence watching in awe as big leaguers took BP and he tossed a ball up to him from the field level. Naturally, it made Kavaun's day and we got to spend the next hour or so just hanging out and touring the stadium. 

• For about 30 minutes, Kavaun stood along the short fence on the third baseline begging for baseballs and autographs and watching big leaguers whose names he knew stretch and get ready for game 87. Eventually, we had to make our way up to the highest point of the stadium in Row W on the first baseline. It was a gorgeous night and a steep climb up to a beautiful view.

• Our rival Indians drilled the Yankees 10-2 which did not sit well with Kavaun initially. The post-game fireworks were almost as impressive as the five home runs Cleveland hit. Mike Napoli hit a 463-foot bomb to leftfield which we admired. The nearly sold-out crowd was rocking and that made for a fun evening with the fans sitting around us. 

• Kavaun did play-by-play announcing for parts of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. The people sitting next to us got a kick out of his style. I think he fashions himself after Dan Dickerson (Tigers Radio Network) which makes me smile.  

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS - July 9, 2016

Triple A Cleveland Affiliate (used to be Yankees 1979-2006) 

First Place International League West

First Mate Krash. The other 

Clippers mascot is Lou Seal.

• Huntington Park was cozy and pretty cool. The Clippers welcomed their rival the Indianapolis Indians (second place) for a 1:15 make-up game. As the first of a double-header, the crowd was thin.

• We had seats in the first row on the first baseline right next to the Clippers bullpen. The pitching coach gave Kavaun a ball and we preceded to watch the Clippers get crushed 14-4.

• A great minor league ballpark, but after coming from attendance nearing 40K in Cleveland Kavaun thought is seemed small. He mentioned it more than once. 

• Along with his critique of the starting pitcher ("He's getting crushed." "He's doesn't get anyone out." "He'll never make it to the Indians"), Kavaun mentioned we should have gone to the nightcap and not the day game. When we checked the score Sunday on our way to the ballpark (8-2 Clippers W in front of a sellout crowd that night), he felt vindicated. He was thinking about baseball while I had to worry about a three hour drive. We would not have arrived in Pittsburgh to stay with family until after 1 a.m. had we done it Kavaun's way. Instead, we took our time and got to Pittsburgh by 7 p.m. 

PITTSBURGH PIRATES - July 10, 2016 

Playing at the beautiful PNC Park against the First Place Cubs

He wanted another Cubs hat, but they 

did not have a youth hat. Kavaun decided

a Pirates hat to remember our day would

be just fine. He is holding the game ball 

we got in the ninth inning. 

• Did I mention that PNC Park exceeded the hype? Wow. An incredible venue to watch a game. We sat right behind the Pirate dugout about 10 rows back. I was closer to the action at PNC than when I attend most high school games.

• We saw a great game and a Cubs W made it exciting for Kavaun. The 6-5 game had a little bit of everything - back and forth leads, home runs and even a couple plays at the plate. Kris Bryant, one of Kavaun's favorites, had the game-winning hit for the Cubs.

• Heading into the bottom of the ninth, Pirates third baseman David Freese threw a ball into the stands and I caught it for Kavaun. His third ball in three games! We have attended maybe ten baseball games together and I think he has come home with a ball six times. Lucky kid!

• Kavaun got a Pirates hat to remember the day and to add to his hat rotation at home - Tigers, Orioles and Cubs. When he plays games with his buddies or when he plays and announces games solo, he uses the different hats as part of the production.

• I will let the photos tell the story (below), but without a doubt the PNC experience was the highlight of the entire weekend. In addition to an incredible park, the game day atmosphere, the people and the setting of the part in relation to the rivers and the city is extraordinary. I will definitely go back to PNC Park. 

The Closer 

Kavaun loves the game. More importantly to me, he is passionate about the things he enjoys and that is admirable no matter where his interests in life take him.

Baseball has been the source of a lot of fun for

Kavaun. I have countless pictures from his first

two Little League seasons. Kavaun is animated.

Taking his age into account, I think he enjoys the subtlety that makes baseball great. He keeps stats and the rules and language associated with the game intrigues him. Thanks to the 162-game season he is getting a taste of the slower pace baseball offers and losing and he is beginning to grasp that winning streaks happen to everyone.

The nuances that make certain players merely good while others are special piques his curiosity. Kavaun talks about Jake Arrieta's stuff (Cubs) and notices Trout's (Angels) RBI totals. He gets mad when the Tigers bullpen blows a lead or when the Cubs lose a series to a sub .500 team. He asks me why people hate the Yankees and he can't believe it's been more than 30 years since the Tigers won a World Series (we watched final game v. the Padres on Youtube together).

There are more than 2,400 major league games each season and baseball binds generations of fans together with nostalgia. Baseball has a dependable appeal steeped in the slim possibility of something happening that has never happened over the course of more than 200,000 games. The lure of the rare perfect game or seeing someone hit for the cycle looms over a bunch of otherwise ordinary games.

Kavaun often says to me after the first hit given up in a ballgame, "There goes the chance for a no-hitter." I smile every time he says it because it reminds me that for a seven year old boy the possibility of something special always exists. Another nostalgic reminder of my youth I suppose.

We loved PNC Park and the final stop on our

road-trip proved to be worth the wait. An 

awesome game day experience and a Cubs W.

Maybe it's the nature of a game that is without any time limits, is played outdoors and is associated with traditions and unwritten rules that also appeals to fans like me. All of the obscure things - the infield fly rule, the 108 stitches on every major league ball or the unintentional intentional walk also makes an awesomely boring game interesting to fans like us.

Baseball makes room for all kinds of fans as long as they aren't in a hurry.

I loved playing ball and this game continues to be the backdrop to events and relationships that bring joy to my life. I am mindful that I will not always be able to hoist Kavaun up on my shoulders for the seventh inning stretch, but I expect we'll always be smiling when we join the crowd to sing, Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

For now, baseball reminds me to simply enjoy the pace and to find joy in the ordinary moments that make up the seasons of fatherhood.

Twenty seven pictures below - one for each inning ...