A Perfect Night

Yo Gang! Fun show! Bret Stevens is here. Man I love when those spontaneous bit come out of nowhere!

My daughter is turning 11 next week, but I'll be out on the road, so a few weeks ago we agreed that to make up for this, I'd take her out to a "fancy" restaurant for a little daddy-daughter dinner. I picked a spot near us called "Taylor's Steakhouse" that's maybe not the BEST of the best, but a classic dark oak table, grandpa-style steakhouse.

The night before I had a thought though: We could go to the Dodger's game after dinner! There was simply nothing stopping us. I looked on Stub Hub and found reasonable tickets in the bleachers, back behind Centerfield... and picked up a couple but kept it a secret.

We hit Taylor's and Milie was in full "pretending to be royalty" mode, studiously perusing over the big leather menu and opting for a Shirley Temple, Caesar Salad and Fish and Chips. I was able to instill an important life lesson here, when the Fish and Chips arrived they were a bit disappointing. More Fish sticks and chips. I said, Mill, when you go to a steak house, get the steak. :)

As dinner was wrapping up, I suggested we maybe go somewhere else for desert. I had an ice cream place in mind, and then I took out my phone and showed her the tickets to the Dodger's game. Boom. The surprise hit hard - She flipped - We're going to the game tonight???? Huge. I knew it'd hit big, as Millie loves going to games and we haven't gone to one since May. She watches a lot of the games at home with me and knows the players well.

For whatever reason, it was a breeze pulling into Dodger's Stadium. I guess we had accidentally timed it perfectly and there was hardly any wait to get into the parking lot. It was Friday night, the weather was perfect, walking into the stadium was just magical - Everyone was in a good mood. We found out seats and I wondered why I'd never opted for the cheaper bleachers before! These were great seats to watch a ballgame: A great view of every position and a chance to have a homer land in your lap. I didn't even mind the less comfortable bench seating.

In fact, right off the bat (literally) after 2 outs, The Tampa Bay Rays got a dinger off of Bobby Miller and the ball landed into the hands of a dude three rows in front of us, which he dutifully threw back onto the field.

The Rays went up 3-0 on the Dodgers through 5 when Kiki Hernandez tied things up with a 3 run homer. Things stayed run free for a while and we ate plenty good - Some dippin Dots, and a couple of hot dogs...

I checked out the recap on youtube and after that first home run you can see me and Millie!

Into the 9th, we went in a tie game and I was hoping we didn't have to go into extras, because Millie really wanted to see this done show they do on Friday nights, which I suppose has replaced their usual Friday Night Fireworks? Which is fine with me, as I'm not really a big Fireworks guy.

Dodger's Bullpen shut down the Rays over the last few innings and so the bottom of the ninth was set up for the Dodger's offense to produce. a couple of singles and some smart bunting got Will Smith into scoring position. And we had men on first and second with no outs. But a couple of outs later, Will had moved over to third and Muncy was up to pinch hit for Kiki. Muncy, who had been in the IL most of the year but had come back strong the past week. I had a good feeling. Muncy, though with a new pitcher hung back and let the pitcher throw wild and walked to first, loading the bases for Ohtani who was 0-3 but had earlier in the night reached a milestone 40 bases stolen.., he was now 1 home run away from joining some rare air in baseball: a 40/40 season - 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases, a feat only 6 other players have managed to accomplish in MLB history (what is that? 140 years or something?)

And so Ohtani took to the plate with a tie game, bases loaded with 2 outs, and needless to say, we were all on our feet. First pitch, Ohtani swung and knocked the ball high and right towards us and I watched as it JUST arched over the head of the Ray's centerfielder and into the hats and hands of the first row in front of us.  

WALK OFF GRAND SLAM HOME RUN AND RECORD BREAKING HISTORIC MOMENT IN BASEBALL HISTORY!

Not only did Ohtani join that club of 6 other players, he became the one to do it the quickest. Kinda cool to watch maybe one of the best to ever do it, DO IT in real time. 

Oh boy did that place erupt! I high fived all the stranger around me. It was a glorious few minutes of mass joy.

We watched Ohtani's post game interview on the Jumbotron and then worked our way down to field level where they opened the gates for everyone to pile onto the field to watch the drone show, which that evening was designed to be a tribute to The Lakers. It was impressive technology but kinda boring after a few minutes. Millie thought it was very cool, but we headed out, somehow perfectly timing a bathroom stop before massive lines formed.

After an easy departure from the parking lot, surrounded by happy fans we were back home before 11... Just in time to watch the rest of a Leftovers episode to ensure I'd have some weird, unsettling dreams.

What a good night.

Heading to NYC tomorrow! I hope to see MANY of you out there on the road, Central Park FREE Show on Tuesday! Be There!

Peace and Love, T