Back from Spring Training

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We got into Austin last night around 10:15pm after a flight from Tampa to Dallas and then the drive into Austin.  The boys fell asleep on the drive home and we put them to bed.

Thursday night, we drove up to Dallas.  It was a long drive because of construction, but nothing too bad happened.

Our flight to Tampa was at 12:55pm the next day.  The boys were very good on the flight.  When we got in we rented a car and drove to Bradenton.  The boys were a bit cranky and hungry by that time so we picked up pizza at Joey D's Pizzeria.

The next day, we had to drive to Sarasota.  I forgot my computer charger and had to run to Best Buy.  From there we drove to McKechnie field.  We had brunch at Popi's which is right outside of the stadium.  Evan refused to eat there though.  When we finished, we went into the stadium. The boys insisted we go to the store first.  Noah got an Andrew McCutchen t-shirt.  Evan got a Roberto Clemente t-shirt.  They both got an Andrew McCutchen Lego figure.  I was not aware they made one, but apparently they did.  When we finished, the old Pirates pitcher-turned-broadcaster Steve Blass was signing a book he had written. Evan insisted we stand in line and have him sign a baseball.  He seemed genuinely happy to see the boys and talked to them a bit.  Then Evan wanted to get autographs out ont the field.  We stood on the first base line near the Pirates bullpen.  Evan got several autographs including a Pirates star from when I was a kid, Mike Lavalliere.  Unfortunately just as Andrew McCutchen was nearing Evan, he was called away.  Evan seemed perfectly happy with the autographs he did get.  Also, one of the coaches threw a ball to Evan.  At first Evan reached out for the ball but the coach said "I want to see you use your glove" and made Evan catch it.

On Sunday, we went miniature golfing in the morning.  Noah won us a free game in our first round.  They have something called a "mystery hole".  If you happen to get a hole-in-one on that mystery hole, you win a free game.  In the second game, both Evan and I had great games.  Evan got three hole-in-ones and I actually was one-under-par.  I think it was my best game of miniature golf ever.

Then we drove to Sarasota to see the Pirates play the Orioles.  As we were walking outside of the stadium to go into the stadium, the Pirates' bus pulled up and the entire team got off.  They all walked right by us on the sidewalk and most smiled at the boys and said hello.  All three of us were fairly mesmerized.  In the stadium, the usher was super nice to us.  He got two balls from the field and gave one to each boy.  In the 6th inning he moved us down to the front row.  It was a really nice time.

On Monday, we drove over to Pirate City.  That's the Pirates' training facility.  We got to see a Pirates pitcher recovering from Tommy John surgery working out in front of the coaches.  We also saw many minor leaguers.  Each boy got a ball there.  Then we drove over to the stadium, again had a meal at Popi's (Evan ate this time) and went into the stadium.  Once again, we had to stop at the store and the boys both got a Pirates' hat circa 1971.  Those were the hats that Roberto Clemente wore.  Evan told me he wished Roberto Clemente was there.  And once again, we went out to get autographs.  This time, Noah stood with Evan and got some autographs.  Noah had pretty much given up by the time Andrew McCutchen came back, but Evan got him this time.  He was super excited.  We stayed until the end of the game.  The Pirates won in walk-off fashion.  That's what the boys love.  They were ecstatic.  They were jumping up and screaming and cheering.  They loved it.

We drove back to Tampa in the rain on Tuesday morning and then got on the plane.  Again, the boys were good in the flight.

In Dallas they played football with Grandma.

Today, Noah went to school but Evan had spring break.  Rachel and Evan went to HEB in the morning.  When they picked Noah up they went "sledding" in the park again.  Both boys had a good time.  Rachel said Noah was going super fast for some reason.

This evening we took a walk.

The boys are finishing up a shower and we're about to put them to bed.

Until next time...