One in the books

When it comes right down to it, the biggest reason we went to Saturday's game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Rays was to hear the Barenaked Ladies perform after the '90s Night game.

Even after the hour-plus-long show by the Toronto-based band, the biggest thing I'll take away from the game is Colin's effort to score an entire game. Sure, it was fun hearing the band's hits If I Had $1000000, One Week, Old Apartment, Brian Wilson and Who Needs Sleep, but for the kid to satisfy one of our goals for the 2010 Summer of Baseball -- learning how to score a game -- was decidedly more cool.

Having had to work until five minutes before the 4:05 p.m. start, I didn't join Momma and Colin in Section 308 until the top of the second inning (The paper's offices are a good 10- to 15-minute walk from Tropicana Field). He'd scored the first inning without a hitch, even writing the players' last names in cursive.

It didn't take long, though, for me to realize that he was in this game for the long haul. Usually, we go for a two-inning walk during Rays games, checking out souvenirs and other amenities at the Trop. This time, however, he took a pass.

Inning by inning, he kept score, remembering to write a backward "K" if a player struck out looking, telling me if a double play was 6-4-3 or 4-6-3 and asking about fielder's choices and getting an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

As much as hockey forms a strong bond between us, it's quickly becoming apparent that baseball, too, will be a fluid line of communication for this father and his son. I couldn't be happier.

Plenty of energy

One would think after four full days of ice hockey camp, with all of the skating, passing and shooting drills as well as daily off-ice conditioning sessions, that Colin might not have enough energy to sit through nine innings of Florida State League baseball, let alone work a team ball.

Well, nothing could be further than the truth. Not only did Colin make it through all nine innings, but he loaded up his fifth team ball of the 2010 Summer of Baseball, getting 19 autographs from the Daytona Cubs before last Thursday's game against the Dunedin Blue Jays.

Chris Siegfried, Matt Matulia (coach), Rebel Ridling, Kyler Burke, David Macias and Luis Flores; and

Smaily Borges, Brett Jackson, Christopher Archer and Dae-Eun Rhee; and

Tom Pratt (pitching coach), Mark Reed, DJ LeMahieu (shown above, signing the ball), Jose Valdez and Mike Perconte; and

Jake Opitz, James Leverton, Ryan Flaherty and Junior Lake (we believe).

David Macias was also kind enough to give Colin this broken bat, even returning to the Cubs' locker room to find the souvenir.

Funny moment

Beyond the team balls, broken bats and baseballs we pick up at Florida State League games, there's often a moment that makes our outings much more memorable. Last week's came when the Daytona Cubs visited Dunedin for a Florida State League game.

Brett Jackson, Chicago's No. 1 pick in 2009, drew a lot of attention from the handful of autograph hounds at Dunedin Stadium. Of course, Colin was among the group, working his fifth FSL team ball of the season. He made sure, too, to add Jackson's autograph to his effort.

It wasn't that, though, that provided the memory. It was Jackson's farewell, so to speak, that drew chuckles as he handed the ball back to Colin.

"Here you go, stud," he said.

My bad

As part of a break from hockey during Colin's first hockey camp last week, we planned to take in a Tampa Yankees-Dunedin Blue Jays game last Wednesday. Well, it didn't happen.

After camp closed for the day Wednesday, Colin and I joined rush-hour traffic and headed north to Dunedin. About 45 minutes later, we pulled into Dunedin Stadium. The parking lot was empty, the ticket windows were closed and the gate was locked shut.

At first, I thought I'd mixed up who was the home team. Once I got home and checked my schedule, I discovered my mistake. The game started at 11 a.m., not 7 p.m.

After blowing off the Tampa Yankees a few weeks ago to get an autograph from Hockey Hall of Famer Phil Esposito, Wednesday's trip was to be our last chance to get a team-signed ball from them. Now, we'll try to get one July 29.

An old friend

A trip to Dunedin Stadium to watch the Dunedin Blue Jays, the Advanced-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, wouldn't be complete without a visit from D-Jay, the Florida State League squad's mascot.

Special thanks to Miss Laura, one of my colleagues at the newspaper, for taking this picture of Colin with D-Jay during Karate Kid 2 Night against the Clearwater Threshers earlier this month. In case you're wondering, that's Colin, on the left, clutching a bag of Cracker Jack

We'll be busy

With three games scheduled for this week -- actually, three within four days -- you'd think we'd be busy enough. Ha! I wish that was the case. No, we're not content enough to take in two Florida State League games as well as a Tampa Bay Rays game.

Starting in about an hour, Colin hits the ice, taking part in his first-ever summer hockey camp. For the next five days, he'll work on his skating, stickhandling, shooting, passing and conditioning at the Pinellas Police Athletic League camp in Clearwater.

On Wednesday and Thursday, after spending nearly four hours on the ice, we'll head north to Dunedin to watch and hopefully get team balls from the Tampa Yankees and Daytona Cubs of the Advanced-A Florida State League. On Saturday, a day after Colin's hockey camp ends, we'll watch the Arizona Diamondbacks play the Rays. After that game, the Barenaked Ladies (one of my favorite bands) will perform.

Sounds like a full week to me.

Hey, we remember you

It was a bit weird, in a sense, viewing the Clearwater Threshers as the visitors. Over the past few summers, we've taken in quite a few games at Bright House Field, the home park of the Philadelphia Phillies' Advanced-A squad. This time, though, it was different.

Rather than hang out along the left-field seats in Clearwater, Colin took his customary spot near the visitor's bullpen at Dunedin Stadium, home of the nearby (it's only 6 miles away) rival Dunedin Blue Jays, Toronto's Florida State League affiliate. It's no surprise, either, that the outcome was the same -- plenty of ballplayers willing to make a kid's day.

All told, Colin snagged 16 signatures for his fourth team ball of the 2010 Summer of Baseball campaign:

Cody Overbeck (that's him, above, signing for Colin), Korey Noles, Kevin Jordan (hitting coach) and J.C. Ramirez; and

Darrin Ruf, Jesus Sanchez (we believe), Derrick Mitchell and Brian Gump; and

Tyler Cloyd, Justin DeFratus and Jon Velasquez; and

Chris Kissock, Steve Susdorf, Korby Mintken, Harold Garcia and D'Arby Myers.

Game-used souvenir

More than a month ago, when the Clearwater Threshers were hosting the Jupiter Hammerheads, our game tickets put us in the first row behind the home team's dugout -- a good spot for getting a game-used ball.

As a result of our prime perch, Clearwater infielder Korby Mintken tossed Colin a ball as he made his way back to the Threshers' dugout.

Colin caught up with Mintken a few weeks later, when the Threshers made the short ride from Clearwater to Dunedin to play the Blue Jays. As you can see, Mintken willingly signed it, making it Colin's first single-signed Florida State League game-used ball of the summer.

Baseball lessons

One of our goals during the 2010 Summer of Baseball is for Colin to learn how to keep score at a baseball game. We took another stab at it a couple weeks ago, during a Clearwater Threshers-Dunedin Blue Jays game. He got in a couple innings of practice, asking good questions ("It's a backwards K when the batter strikes out looking, right?" and "Can I have some Cracker Jacks?") early on before I took over for a few innings.

I know there are different ways to score a game, but I'm showing him the method I learned back in the mid-1970s. Either way, it provides another father-son memory that, perhaps, he'll pass on someday to his children.

We'll get in a few more practice sessions here over the next few weeks. Who knows, maybe he'll sit still long enough to score a complete game. If not, we'll have plenty of time together at ballparks.

Rays concert: Dierks Bentley

Colin was all decked out Saturday for the Tampa Bay Rays' Country Night at Tropicana Field. The blue wig showed he's a Rays fan. The cowboy hat was a nod to Dierks Bentley, the postgame entertainment. The smile? That's all his. After all, the Rays beat cross-state rivals, the Florida Marlins, 6-5.

On select Saturday nights, the Rays host postgame concerts. Sure, the tickets may cost a little more ($18) than a midweek ($9) game, but it's a cool twist on a doubleheader. In a couple Saturdays, we'll see the Barenaked Ladies on '90s Night.

Bentley's show was our third Country Night concert. Trace Adkins kicked it off in 2008. Last year, it was Big & Rich. Maybe next year, the Rays will bring in Darius Rucker or the Zac Brown Band.

As the sign says, Bentley, who performed for more than an hour, was part of the Rays' Summer Concert Series.

Sitting where we were, the jumbo screen provided a much closer look.

The stage set-up that keeps folks from running through the infield. Our view from Row H in the 300s at the Trop. We'll go down to field level next time.

Staying cool

For as hot as it gets in July and August down here in Florida, air-conditioning is a fact of daily life. It's pretty useful in June, too.

Had it not been for fortuitous timing Saturday, we might not have made it inside a local credit union, where the Tampa Bay Rays' Reid Brignac was putting in an hourlong signing session. At a balmy 90-plus degrees outside, we were, for a moment, soaking up the AC, one step inside the doorway.

After another family showed up, a credit union rep said the line might have to resume outside the door. Customers, you see, had to be directed to the "real" customer line.

In time, the line sorted itself out. In all, we spent about 25 minutes waiting for our turn. After getting these three items, it was time well spent, I'd say.

Brignac joined the work-in-progress Rays team helmet. That's his signature, just to the left of the logo. Pitchers J.P. Howell, left, and James Shields are among the others who've signed.

Not this time

Last season, during our 2009 Summer of Baseball, we set a goal of getting team-signed balls from all 12 Florida State League teams. Well, we fell one team short, missing out on the Palm Beach Cardinals, the Advanced-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.

With that in mind, we made sure we wouldn't repeat the omission, catching the Cardinals at Bright House Field in Clearwater. Not only did Colin score his third team ball of the season, but he witnessed first first-ever grand slam, hit by Xavier Scruggs, shown above signing a team ball for Colin, amid an 11-run inning during Palm Beach's 13-0 trouncing of the Threshers.

Devin Goodwin, Ramon Delgado, Kevin Thomas, Jarred Bogany and Oliver Marmol;

Scott McGregor, Joel Pichardo, David Carpenter and Tommy Phan;

Nick Derba, Mark Diapoules, pitching coach Bryan Eversgard, Matt Frevert and Xaxier Scruggs; and

Rich Racobaldo, a scribble from Phinley, the Threshers mascot, and Colt Sedbrook.

In case you're wondering ...

That's an old Wilson A2514 Carlton Fisk catcher's mitt that serves as a backdrop for pictures of Florida State League baseballs that Colin gets signed over the course of the 2010 Summer of Baseball.

Back in the day, when I pledged by baseball allegiance to the Boston Red Sox, Pudge was my favorite baseball player, replacing my first-ever baseball hero, the late Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I had one of these gloves as a kid, but donated it to my hometown Casey Stengel League team, when I moved away from Machias, N.Y. I caught all of one game, realizing that I wasn't cut out to be a catcher when I couldn't find a foul pop-up ("Where is it," I kept asking) until the ball bounced off home plate, scaring the bejeepers out of me.

A couple of years ago, I found this mitt on eBay. After a mildly spirited bidding war, I replaced a lost childhood treasure. Even if it did remind me of an embarrassing moment.

Resourcefulness

Part of our routine when we arrive at a Florida State League game is for Colin to patrol the grandstands along the outfields, looking for baseballs. Not only does it provide an instant souvenir, but it keeps us in supply for team-signed baseballs.

Case in point: Our first trip to Bright House Field in Clearwater, where the Jupiter Hammerheads. the FSL affiliate of the Florida Marlins, took on the Clearwater Threshers. It took Colin all of 10 minutes to find a ball, even if it meant summoning up the courage to crash through a spider web to get it.

Like any good hound, he immediately put his new-found treasure to work, getting 22 Hammerheads to sign it:

Corey Madden, Isaac Galloway, Kyle Gunderson, Steven Cishek and Daniel Pertusati;

Jose Ceballos, Johnny Dorn, Jake Smolinksi, Paul Gran, Kevin Mattison and Hunter Mense;

Jeremy Synan, Ryan Keady, Jhan Martinez, Jonathan Fulton and unidentified; and

Peter Andrelczyk, Andy Loomis, Steve Watson, Robert Taylor, Ben Lasater and Emilio Ontiveros.