Dodger Night

Every year, there's a "Mormon Night" at Dodger Stadium. They usually have tickets available through the church for a "discounted" price (this year was $11 a seat) to sit in the outfield and watch the game. We've gone in the past, but, just as it was this year, the games are always in the evening and it's typically too late for us to take the kids. This year, however, my two older kids are finally old enough, we felt, to sit through it that late at night. Truth be told, we probably could've done it sooner, but, hey, we're not exactly huge baseball fans.

Nevertheless, I took the two oldest children and we drove to Dodger Stadium just after dinner. Earlier in the day, we had them watch "How to Play Baseball" -- a Goofy movie from 1942. Armed with their newly gained knowledge, I also educated them on the drive. By the time they got there, they knew the various ways that one can get "out", the names of the bases, and how many players are on the field at any time. They loved the concept of "stealing" a base. They still couldn't name the player's positions, but that's all right -- they could at least follow the game.

So we got there, and, well, just watch the video to find out what my daughter thought about it ...


Leaving the game, however, I asked her how she liked it, expecting her to say she was bored (since she sprawled on the bench about half the game and regularly complained about how far away the play was), but she surprised me with an emphatic, "I loved it!" I asked her why she loved it, and she told me that after I bought her the insanely overpriced hot dog ($5 for the World ... Famous ... Dodger ... Dog!), she "just started watching and I realized it was fun!"

I was shocked, but pleased. Previously, she was devastated when she found out that we weren't actually going to be playing the game, but just watching the game. We won't be buying season tickets, but I'm grateful that she learned that it can be fun to be a spectator. In fact, it was really cute to see her holding up our little cushions that we took with us that has the Dodger logo printed on it, and cheering for the team. Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost 2-1 to the Diamondbacks, but it was still a great experience. Being the first baseball game they will remember that they attended in person, I'm grateful that it went well and that they eventually learned to enjoy themselves and the atmosphere.

P.S. I'm glad that we actually made it to the game because I managed to misplace the tickets to the game for weeks and actually only located them the day before. I was so happy because that's a lot of money to spend only to lose the tickets, plus I was really looking forward to the game!