Mr. Carpenter - Maybe you were an all-star for 2013 and 2014, maybe you were
the recipient of the National League’s Silver Slugger award, maybe you lead the
league in doubles and base hits in 2013, but you know you’ve really made it
when you are somebody’s birthday theme. We tried to go with just generic
Cardinal’s theme but Luke insisted on a Matt Carpenter birthday party. I thought about getting a cake with Mr.
Carpenter’s face printed on it – but somehow cutting into that cake was less
appealing. So we settled on a folded jersey.
Luke greeted his friends, swallowed his lunch whole, and got down to the business of recruiting people for a game of backyard baseball. No need for musical chairs, a piƱata, or pin the tail on the donkey – all we needed was a set of bases, a bat and a ball and we had 2 solid hours of pure bliss for the birthday boy. We had a wardrobe change after lunch – jersey from Matt Carpenter was first, and official Cardinal’s jersey from Gram for the game. He solicited the help of a deep-voiced friend for walk-up announcements and took his turn on offense, defense, as the ump and in the crowd.
Luke greeted his friends, swallowed his lunch whole, and got down to the business of recruiting people for a game of backyard baseball. No need for musical chairs, a piƱata, or pin the tail on the donkey – all we needed was a set of bases, a bat and a ball and we had 2 solid hours of pure bliss for the birthday boy. We had a wardrobe change after lunch – jersey from Matt Carpenter was first, and official Cardinal’s jersey from Gram for the game. He solicited the help of a deep-voiced friend for walk-up announcements and took his turn on offense, defense, as the ump and in the crowd.
We are bringing little Luke and his sweet brother Andrew to
St. Louis this weekend for the Sunday/Monday games. (Ben is home with Grandma and Grandpa). We are embarking on a (long) road trip from
Texas for the chance to see our hero warming up and playing in person. The
universe tried to scare us off – but riots and weather are no match for our burning
desire to just be in the stadium. So Cardinals
fans, here we come – we can’t wait to watch the game we love and the player we
adore right in the heart of Cardinal Nation. Good luck #13, you’ll have one hopelessly dedicated and especially little fan pulling for you Sunday and Monday!
Go Cards!