Game #4 - Cubs vs Reds with the luckiest kids in the world

Today started out the same as yesterday. We got up, had breakfast and then headed out to Goodyear to watch the team practice. There weren't as many players there this morning as half the Reds were in Las Vegas for a split squad game. The good news was that most of the players that played yesterday in the Rangers game were the players that went to Vegas. So we got to see many of the guys today that we didn't get to see yesterday.

Practice was uneventful although Ryan got a couple more baseballs. At the end of practice, he got signatures from Paul Janish and Brandon Phillips. They were very courteous to those that were there. Here's Brandon signing with Ryan waiting to get the ball back.



The Reds vs Cubs game started at 1:05 pm MST. We got there about an hour early and grabbed a hot dog. Ryan was able to get Chris Heisey and Brandon Phillips to sign a ball (yes, he had Brandon sign twice today).




Our seats were once again, outstanding. First row behind the Reds dugout. Ryan is never going to want to go to a baseball game again and sit in the upper deck! There weren't many Reds fans so we stuck out a bit in the crowd (as you will be able to tell later).



At the end of the first inning, Edgar Renteria caught a fly ball for the 3rd out. As he's running back to the dugout, he points over at Ryan and said "you gonna catch it?" He then flipped the ball to him. So that's two game balls in two days.

Later in the game, as the Reds were coming off the field, Yonder Alonso flipped another ball to Ryan. Except he flipped it too far to the left. So the 43 year old with the quick hands had to take over and dive to catch it (ok, I had to stick my hand out). That's two balls today.

Toward the end of the game, with Miguel Cairo at bat, he swings and breaks his bat. The bat head comes flying right at us. Ryan ducks and I jump up. The bat hits right behind me and lands at my feet. I pick it up thinking we had another souvenir. But then I realized it hit the guy behind me in the hand. His hand immediately began to swell up. I'm sure it was broken. So I gave him the bat. He deserved it more than we did.

Then toward the end of the game, Billy Hatcher flipped another ball to Ryan. Did I mention we had great seats and were one of the few Reds fans at the game?

The Reds won the game 7-6. After the game we were standing around talking with another couple from Cincinnati when someone came out of the dugout and handed the Reds lineup card used in the game to Ryan. Then one of the stadium workers came up and asked if Ryan wanted to go out on the field. Of course he said yes.




Seriously, how can you get more lucky than that?

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