Last night, Jeff took Ben and I to the Home Run Derby at Chase Field here in Phoenix, AZ. We had a fabulous time. I have always wanted to go to the Home Run Derby and the All Star Game and both have been on my list. We chose the Home Run Derby because we thought Ben would enjoy that more at 9 years old. Our son is one of those kids who sleeps with his baseball glove if that tells you his love for the game. We had just gotten new phones and I had some dental work so Ben was beside himself that we were running late. Funny because as I recall, we got there 2 hours early while the American and National Teams were practicing for the All Star Game.

Ever since visiting Wrigley Field three years ago while visiting my girlfriend Michele, I have been a Cubs fan. It was fun to wear my hat and the first mascot waiting to greet us was Cubby Bear. It was a great start to the night for me, and Ben was supposed to be holding my purse but couldn’t help but jump in for the picture at the last minute. I felt bad for Cubby Bear as it was so hot and muggy last night. Sorry Cubby. And yes, the Cub fans were well represented.

After we picked up our tickets from Will Call, I was trying to snap some pictures of Ben when a cubs fan said, “You need to be in the picture. I’ll take it”. I switched my camera to automatic and I was pretty happy considering the gentleman appeared blind as a bat with his coke bottle glasses. Thanks Cub fan for the group shot and for reminding myself how I need to embrace the camera more.

This was the first picture taken with my new iphone 4. I laugh at this picture because I didn’t know it took and I had just had dental work so the right side of my face and tongue were still swollen. I was messing with the camera while Jeff and Ben scoured the masses for food. Wow, did they eat a lot!

Seriously, Jeff and Ben ate. And ate. And ate. Jeff had a grilled chicken sandwich and garlic fries that smelled beyond heavenly. Jeff wanted to get mini chimichangas but thought that Mexican Food would be serious torture for me with trying to eat better with my Project Health.  Jeff was right- it would have been torture. Ben ate a pizza. Then Ben ate another pizza. My grocery bill is seriously going to be outrageous. Note- start extreme couponing now.

I ate a hot dog (no bun) and had some peanuts. I love hot dogs and made the classic mess with the peanuts- just part of the experience of Major League Baseball. I think I was giving a heart attack to the OCD lady sitting next to me as I was tossing the shells on the ground but that’s ok.

The Diamondback’s Justin Upton was chosen for the All Star Game but the National League Captain, Prince Fielder, chose Rickie Weeks to play in the Derby and start the game instead of the home crowd favorite, Upton. So every time Fielder or Weeks came up to the plate the crowd was ruthless and started booing. Then to make matters worse, Weeks didn’t do very well and the crowd started shouting “We want Upton” over and over and over. I actually felt bad for Rickie Weeks.

But the stars of the show were Adrian Gonzalez of the Boston Red Sox and Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees. They were animals. Just ridiculously talented. So they both advanced to the finals where you couldn’t have asked for a better rivalry with the Red Sox vs the Yanks. And in the end, Robinson Cano won. What made it even more special was that Robinson Cano’s dad pitched to him through the entire Derby and when Robinson won he ran out to the mound and jumped on top of his dad. It was awesome. I was a little verklempt.

It was a fabulous night- just the three of us. The atmosphere was electric and I loved to see the fans decked out in the different jerseys, smells of food, camera flashes, and the sound of the bats and the crowd when a player hit a home run. I loved putting my heavy camera down at times and just taking pictures with my iphone- almost liberating. And my favorite memory was leaving the stadium with Ben and Jeff having their arms wrapped around each other all the way to the parking garage. Life is good.