I can't help but wonder how yesterday would have been different if I hadn't liked AJ Pierzynski back when he played for the Minnesota Twins. Because all those years ago when Jeff suggested we name our first born AJ (after AJ Foyt, a race car driver I'd never heard of), I might not have agreed. Which means our son... whatever his name would have ended up being... wouldn't have felt a special connection to the Major League catcher, and wouldn't have begged all summer for the chance to go to a Twins game when the White Sox were in town.
But as it is, we did go with the name AJ, and he has been asking to see his sort-of-namesake in action. The White Sox played here in June, but with my looming job switch, it just wasn't possible for us to go. And so instead, Jeff looked for the next opportunity, and promised the kids he'd take them, even if I had to work.
I should have known better than to let Jeff arrange the trip.
To his credit, he got them great seats. And they got to the field early enough for AJ to get a lot of autographs. We think this is pitcher Sam Deduno:
This might or might not be Chris Parmelee:
No clue who those two guys are. (Though based on their shirts, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that they play for the Twins.)
If they'd just sign their autographs a little more neatly, I might be able to decipher their names.
Brian Dozier is the lone exception. I could read his writing and he included his jersey number. He just might be my new favorite player. (Though we're done having kids, so no, there won't be any Kazel offspring answering to Brian any time soon.)
So back to the phenomenal tickets Jeff managed to purchase through Stub Hub. They were this close to the field:
That's Ron Coomer's back you're seeing in the above photo. AJ had a chance to talk to the ball player turned commenter. According to Jeff, the guy was impressed with AJ 's knowledge of the game, and complimented him on his enthusiasm. (Knowing AJ's tendency to talk non-stop, I can read so much between the lines here.)
And where was Sydney all this time? Hanging out with Barbie:
And with TC Bear. This is her second photo opp with the mascot in a month. It was her favorite part of the game, she told me.
I asked her what she thought of the game, and she answered, "I thought there would be slushies, but we didn't get any."
Yeah.
Did I mention Jeff spent a ridiculous amount of money on the tickets.
When I asked him last night what they cost, he answered, "You don't want to know."
Yeah.
But "they're probably the best tickets we'll ever get," he told me.
Knowing that I'd spent three hours in a department head meeting while he sat in those awesome seats at Target Field with a five-year-old who would have been equally happy getting a slushie in a Target store's concession area... yeah... I feel much better now.
"Let me put it this way," he defended. "We got to get our snacks in the VIP section."
Apparently VIPs don't typically order slushies.
One last tidbit worth mentioning... AJ Pierzynski didn't happen to play in yesterday's game
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