The last two days, Michael and I spent the evenings at our home ballpark - Chase Field. We got to enjoy the All-Star Futures game on Sunday afternoon. That was pretty nice. Basically, all of the best minor league players from the USA and players born outside the US faced off against each other in a game. The cool thing is we got to see some of the players that will likely be playing in the major leagues within the next year or two.
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| The players being introduced |
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| Bryce Harper was the #1 pick in the draft last year for the Nationals. |
Then, after that game was over, we got to check out the Celebrity Softball Game. The teams consisted of retired major league players such as Ozzie Smith, Luis Gonzales, Mark Grace, Ricky Henderson, and Rollie Fingers and some current celebrities (some of who we had never seen before) but others we knew like locals Larry Fitzgerald, Jordan Sparks, Nick Jonas, Jenny Finch, and Erin Andrews.
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| Michael |
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| The mascots during the celebrity softball game |
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| Rollie Fingers |
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| Fred Lynn |
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| Nick Jonas |
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| Jordan Sparks |
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| Mr. Cub - Ernie Banks |
Yesterday, we went to the Home Run Derby. That was very cool! We got there early to see the players warm up and then we watched the Derby. Robinson Cano of the Yankees beat Adrian Gonzales from the Red Sox in the finals. But, man did they hit some huge shots! Prince Fielder crushed one 457 feet off the scoreboard in right field and Cano just kept crushing bombs to right field. Here are the photos:
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| Michael trying to get some autographs |
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| Michael got a ball signed by Jenny Finch - nice! |
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| The man who gave us our first World Series title - Luis Gonzales |
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| We took the train into the ballpark |
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| Michael outside of Chase Field |
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| Michael and the Detroit Tigers mascot - Paws |
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| Michael and I with Mark Grace |
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For some reason, Michael wore his St. Louis Cardinals hat from the trip
and Randy Johnson had to cover it up. |
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| The Orioles mascot |
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| The players warming up before the home run derby |
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| Paul Konerko - Go Sox! |
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| Michael checking out the Derby! |
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| Big Papi - David Ortiz taking his swings at the Derby |
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| Me and the main man. |
Tonight, our trip officially comes to an end as we will be at the All Star Game itself. As a kid, I always dreamed of going to an all star game. I'm glad that not only will be able to do it, but that Michael will be with me and that it will be the last thing we do on our trip. Our seats will probably cause a nosebleed or two, but they are in the park behind home plate in the upper deck which is all that matters. We'll have a full post on the game tomorrow.
As I've mentioned, there are still a few things we will be posting on the blog over the next couple of weeks. We've got about five more videos to post and I've got a couple of special things planned as well. Keep checking us out and commenting. We really appreciate it.
