Spring Training - Cactus '14 (part three)

The Boys of Summer - Second Base, sequel to the award-winning first documentary, began principal photography on March 13, 2014. We need your help. Please visit our kickstarter page and share it with your friends and family.

 The cream pie was sweet, sweet redemption. I hatched the thought for doing just this earlier in the week, but had no idea if Josh Reddick would go for it or not. It turned out as well (click for video) as – perhaps better than – I could have hoped.

I also forgot to mention that I got a foul ball for Giuseppe while we were waiting for Josh. This was a big deal, in particular, because at the last two minor league games here in Las Vegas, I failed to get a ball for Giuseppe when it looked like we had a shot. This led him to believe (in his hysterical three-four year old mind) that he would “never, ever get a baseball!”

We didn’t even worry about going to Surprise for the game – the experience of the foul ball, the pie in the face and our memorable conversation in the park all by ourselves (click for video) were plenty for the day. We went back, enjoyed the pool, then had a nice family night out.

Day Three started off much better than Day Two. Our scheduled interview with DBacks AJ Pollock took place exactly as we hoped. Many thanks to DBacks PR chief Casey Wilcox for setting us up. AJ couldn’t have been nicer and his story about his relationship to Parkinson’s is worth hearing (link to video will be added soon – check back!).

Today was the day to finally see a game. Happily, it was the Oakland A’s and this time at the park close to our hotel. Mom wasn’t feeling well and Annamaria needed a break from the kids, so it was just me, Dad, Giuseppe and Francesca. We got there just as the game was starting, which was fine. We were there to enjoy the experience than watch a game traditionally. Let’s be honest, having a two and four year-old has you doing exactly nothing traditionally.

I was able to drop dad off close to the park so he didn’t have to walk so far. We got into the park and immediately saw our seats were filled by another fan. That’s always a bit annoying. Rather than make a thing out of it, Dad and Giuseppe took the row just one down from what should have been ours, then Francesca and I went for snacks. By the time we hunted down Francesca’s pretzel, Giuseppe was looking for me. Thankfully he hadn’t dragged Grandpa too far. By some great blessing, there are picnic tables in deep right field just above the bleachers. We sat at one to eat – avoiding cramming together on the bleachers. It was perfect. The kids got pretzels, nachos and even cotton candy thanks to a very generous Grandpa. I got to keep one eye on the game and the other on our tribe. I also shot some fun pictures and video.

Not only that, but Brandon Moss and Josh Reddick went back to back with home runs in the bottom of the first. Reddick’s shot was 450 if it was a foot – an absolute bomb pulled down the right field line and bouncing far into the practice field next door.

We made it to the third inning in an extremely slow game before Giuseppe and Francesca had enough. On the way out, we did find one last surprise for Giuseppe – which can be seen here (link to video will be added soon – check back!).

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