Myron and the Miracle Baseball Pt3





Myron Noodleman



     The two youngest were thrilled when we got to the stadium.  Even our teenager was somewhat happy, though I knew she wouldn't admit it.  When we got to the stadium and got our tickets we all got a pleasant surprise, Myron Noodleman was there.  I had never heard of him until the week before, but we had treated the kids to a Rome Braves game and he had performed there.  Myron is the "Clown Prince of Baseball."  He is hilarious, and the kids absolutely LOVED watching him. We didn't know he was going to be at this game, but were pleasantly surprised.  We also found out that kids got spirit cards that night, which is a big part of the story.

     We got to our seats in the first row of general admission right behind home plate, bought the required peanuts, popcorn, and colas, and settled in for a night of Myron and baseball.  The young kids had gotten to meet the mascots Looie and Blooie, got their autographs, and were having a great time.   That's when things started falling apart.

Looie and Blooie

      If you have ever been to a minor league baseball game you know that the real excitement is between innings.  Myron was doing his thing, and of course there were the giveaways.  The announcer was going through the crowd, and stopped just a few rows in front of us.  He said that the first child that comes to him with a Spirit card and gives him a high five wins a $25 gift certificate to Academy Sports.  Matthew just happened to be standing right in front of me, so I hand him his spirit sign and tell him to run down there.  Normally he would ask "why," but this time he just did it, and won the gift certificate.  When he gets back to us we are all celebrating, except our youngest daughter.  She was upset because she wanted to win it for us.  I explained to her that he just happened to be there, and that seemed to calm her a little.
       A few innings later I look up and see Myron Noodleman coming down our row, giving high fives, shaking hands, and clowning with the crowd.  The kids light up, as they get to meet Myron.  He comes down to us, talks to the kids, and starts to move on.  We are sitting on the end of the row, so when a few people come running down to get there picture taken with him, we are suddenly in the middle of a huge crowd.
       In all of my 43 years, I had never had a foul ball hit to me.  I look up, and sure enough, here comes a ball right at me.  I am the only one who sees the ball, as everyone else is watching Myron.  I try my best to reach over Myron Noodleman to catch the ball, but when it hits my hand it bounces out and down the steps towards the field.  I look over at the kids, and my daughter is ecstatic.  I know what she is thinking, and sure enough she asks for the ball.  I tell her I didn't catch it, but she says she saw me catch it. I have to explain to her that I dropped the ball, and now she is devastated.  I have to admit, I was pretty devastated also, because I felt, as Dad, I had really dropped the ball, by dropping the ball.  Little did I know, the night that was spiraling downhill so fast was about to take a dramatic turn.