A Baseball Birthday

My great-nephew, Carson, will celebrate his 10th birthday on Monday. His parents gave him a wonderful birthday party on Friday night in the form of a birthday package at a minor league baseball park. Included in the package was a birthday cake and the opportunity to throw out a "first" pitch. I put that "first" in quotation marks because there were several children celebrating birthdays who each got to throw out the "first" pitch.

Above is Carson with his dad, Dave.

The children (and a few adults) were lined up in order of their ages, youngest first. Here, they're receiving some last-minute instructions from a guy in a hula skirt.

Then they were introduced by name to throw their pitch. After everyone had thrown, each one was given a baseball to keep. Following is a video clip of Carson's pitch.

Somewhere around the third or fourth inning, the birthday celebrant and his guests could go to a small picnic area to enjoy the birthday cake.

Of course, the baseball game itself was part of the fun evening, too. And the home team won!

Here, the opposing pitcher manages to catch one of the home team guys trying to steal second base.

There was always something going on between innings.

A beautiful golden retriever entertained the crowd with a variety of activities including retrieving stray balls, dropped bats, and an occasional frisbee. In the above picture, the dog is delivering a bottle of water to an umpire.

Here, the grounds crew drop their equipment and break into a dance.

Of course, our fellow spectators provided a degree of entertainment, too.

This is a photo of the shirt of a guy who was sitting in front of me.

After the game, a fireworks display provided a perfect ending to the day.

Carson's mom reports that, as Carson was getting ready for bed Friday night, he declared that it had been "the best day of my life."