Family Values

I am a Cleveland Indians fan, as I'm quite sure I've mentioned before. I've introduced both kids to baseball by taking them to see the Columbus Clippers at the beautiful Huntington Park. I've introduced them to the Tribe watching STO in the evenings. Happy has really taken to both baseball in general and the Indians specifically. He can look at a player on the TV and tell me the player's name, and cheers for the player to do well (e.g. "Hey, it's Michael Brantley! Get a hit, Michael Brantley!"). So I decided it was time to take Happy on a pilgrimage: we went to Progressive Field for his first live game.

All in all, I think Happy had a good time. In the bottom of the first inning, Jason Kipnis hit a home run, which really thrilled Happy until the fireworks went off. We were sitting in the bleachers at the time, and they exploded just behind us. Happy is terrified of loud noises, so he got really freaked out. After that, he'd root for our batters by shouting, "Get a LITTLE hit!" because if they got a big one, the fireworks might go off again. It got to the point that every time the ball was hit in the air, he'd gasp, cover his ears, and cower. I felt bad for the poor guy. We made it in our seats through three, then went to the Kidsland for a while before leaving around the middle of the fifth.

I kinda wish we'd have been able to stay longer. But, someday I know he'll outgrow his fear of noises, and we'll go back. And maybe by then, the Indians will be playing better. Oh yeah, and maybe they'll have stadium mustard at the condiment station under the bleachers. I owe the Indians a really stern email...

UPDATE: Oh, and if anyone from the Indians happens to wander by this blog, your suggestion form is ridiculous. Not being able to handle parentheses, dashes, apostrophes, commas or even NUMBERS for crying out loud, is completely inane. I'm sorry that the comment I left for you looks like it was written by a third grader, but I was left no choice.