Free baseball

Most readers of this fancy blog know that I am a huge baseball fan. My team of preference is the New York Yankees. But truth be told, if there is a baseball game -- any baseball game -- available to watch, I'm in heaven.

Case in point: This past Tuesday, on an unseasonably chilly night, my son Joey and I went to the Hyde Park Little League fields to watch the championship game of the league. His team was eliminated from the playoffs, but he wanted to check out the game because he had friends playing and watching. I was glad to oblige, and it was a great game! (Side note: I will admit that I parked my car strategically in a spot so that I could watch the game from the front seat of my car, in the warmth, while listening to NY Yankees pregame on the radio).

Fast-forward to Thursday: Thanks to the generosity of the parents of several graduated seniors, my old pal and coaching partner Phil Kelly and I went to the Big Ballyard in the Bronx to watch the Yankees play the Texas Rangers. It was a great game, and it went 12 innings. Free baseball! The Yankees won on a walk-off hit by Brett Gardner.

We took the train from Poughkeepsie right to the Stadium. It was warm and humid, great baseball weather, and we had a wonderful day in Section 315.

I had had this date circled on my calendar for months as the day that Derek Jeter would get hit number 3,000. He is on the DL, so that didn't quite work out. But again, there was green grass, sunshine, hot dogs and beverages -- all shared with a great friend. All is good.

Thanks again to my senior families, whom I will miss greatly. The gift will keep on giving, as future trips to the Stadium are in the works for later this summer.