March 5

With weeks of practices in the books, the seal was formally broken this morning: the 2022 baseball season is officially, at long last, underway.

I accompanied Brady to the Sports Park as he and the rest of the Majors Pirates played their opener against the Orioles at 9:30 this morning. They scored an 8-5 W against his old coach and a handful of his former teammates, and I think he had a good time, save a solid plunking that left a baseball-shaped red mark on his upper back.

Following the game, we trucked it over to the snack shack to secure some Sour Patch Kids and a salty pretzel and to visit Abby as she worked her first-ever shift alongside her pal Sarah. (My girl has a job! An actual j-o-b!)

From there we hit the freeway and headed north to join Adam and Isaac in Lafayette, where the Rays (formerly known as the Spartans) were engaged in game one of a doubleheader. They came out in the win column with that effort, but fell short of the mark in game two (thanks at least in part to an oddly roaming strike zone). Adam left a little early to take Brady to his evening practice (because dude, why just play a game when you can throw in a practice too, right?) so I followed a little later with a decidedly jovial Isaac in tow. He loves the game so much and I so love his enthusiasm. I loved listening to him cheering on his teammates and joking around in the dugout between innings. And of course, I loved watching him play. The way he swings the bat with everything he has and the way he tries to get into the pitcher's head when he's on base. And even the charmingly awkward way he runs. He's becoming a man right there in front of me and it's the craziest thing ever.

Anyway, I'm exhausted. It's amazing how exhausting it can be to sit for hours watching sports. But my heart feels full, so I am grateful.