Three Children Enjoy Historic First MLB Game

On Memorial Day, Call To The Pen contributor Benjamin Chase took his three children to their first MLB game where they experienced baseball history.

There are few things better in life than sharing the game of MLB baseball with someone. There may not be a better thing at all than sharing baseball with a child.

So when a family trip to Minneapolis expanded over Memorial Day, a day certain to have a day time game and not interfere with bed times, I sought out tickets for our three children aged 5, 4, and 2.

Even when the game is not in season, I’m writing, making contacts, and reviewing previous season’s game footage, so since the kids arrived in January, they’ve been treated to a steady dose of baseball on the television, whether it was watching, rewinding, re-watching, and then repeating in slow-motion on a minor league game, or watching a significant game from a previous season as part of an article idea.

The oldest will enjoy his first season of T-ball this year, and each have found their Braves shirts to be one of their favorite shirts to pull out to wear (not that I mind that). Baseball has certainly become part of their daily life in our house.

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The Game

When purchasing the tickets, the goal was to have good seats, be out of the elements, and keep the price reasonable. The left field bleachers at Target Field ended up being a perfect spot, where our seats were six rows back, a perfect view of the field.

While the weather called for spotty showers, the overhang that covered the bleacher section would keep us dry and if the sun were to come out in full force, we’d feel the heat, but not the worst of its rays.

Of course, when purchasing the tickets in February, I couldn’t have predicted that a Twins/Astros match up at the end of May would feature two first place clubs, and not only that, but feature a starting pitcher vying for an All-Star game start in Ervin Santana.

Houston’s Brad Peacock got the start for the Astros, and through 3 innings, the pitchers dominated the show, facing just 19 hitters combined – one more than minimum combined, as Santana gave up just a double to Jose Altuve and Peacock was perfect.

In the top of the 4th, Carlos Correa drove a Santana pitch for a home run that was a no-doubt ball off the bat. Carlos Beltran followed with a bloop single that fell between shortstop Jorge Polanco and left fielder Eddie Rosario. Rosario sailed a throw over first base that caromed off of the bleachers, a two-base error, putting Beltran on third base. Santana uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Beltran to cross the plate.

From there, Santana was in cruise control, tallying 7 innings on a season-high 114 pitches, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) and striking out 6, lowering his ERA to 1.75 on the season.

Peacock was dominant through 4, with only a single by Joe Mauer on his resume. In the 5th, things fell apart, however. Max Kepler opened the inning with a double, and Polanco followed with a triple. After recording two outs and a walk to catcher Chris Gimenez, Peacock allowed a single to Brian Dozier to allow in the 3rd run of the inning, ending his day. After the bullpen eventually allowed Dozier to score as well, Peacock’s final tally was 4 runs allowed over 4 2/3 innings with just one walk and eight strikeouts.

The Twins sent 10 men to the plate in the 5th inning, scoring 7 times and taking a commanding 7-2 lead. After a Robbie Grossman home run made it 8-2 as the ball was handed to the bullpen to close out, it was fairly easy to assume a Twins win. After all, the Astros were 0-659 in their franchise history when entering the 8th down by six or more runs (per the Elias Sports Bureau).

However, this play in the 6th inning would prove costly:

While the catch was quite impressive, center fielder Byron Buxton suffered an injury to his finger on the play and would leave the game. That would put backup infielder Ehire Adrianza in the outfield for the first time in his major league career. It would prove costly as he misplayed a ball that should have been the 2nd out in an 8th inning that would see the Astros score 11 runs on three Twins relievers, sending 14 men to the plate. The lead then changed hands on a play to center field that Rosario couldn’t handle in center, having shifted over to cover the position when Buxton went out. While obviously not a guarantee, Buxton’s superior defense in center likely would have allowed him to make the catch.

The Twins were coming off a 15-inning game with the Tampa Bay Rays the night before, so their bullpen was quite diminished, having to call up multiple relievers for the game, including Drew Rucinski, who allowed three runs in the 9th inning. Heck, the game was so rough for the bullpen that the final out was recorded only because Carlos Correa mis-timed his jump over a grounder that hit him, declaring him out for the 3rd out of the 9th inning, on the 8th batter of the inning!

The three runs allowed by Rucinski were the final of 14 allowed by the Twins bullpen, a new franchise record.

Kids’ thoughts

So, what exactly would a 5, 4, and 2 year-old have to say about such a game?

Well, the 2 year-old quickly found herself pretty tired. In fact, from about the start of the 3rd inning until Miguel Sano smacked his home run in the Twins’ big 5th inning, this was her state:

The 5 year-old was curious if the tarp was something they brought out every game after the 7th inning stretch. In his defense, this particular instance lasted less time than the average 7th inning stretch:

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We’ve reviewed my score book (something I keep for every game I attend) of the game, and they’ve all three enjoyed talking about the plays that make up the marks on the page. It will hopefully be something we can do again soon, though for now, the focus is on preparing for T-ball!