12 : 435 : 6 : 2
Puck had serious plans with his remaining birthday cash and gift card. It had now been four months since his birthday, and the Lego aisle of Target was calling him. The decision took much thought and consideration as he waffled back and forth between sets boxed in colors and photographs arranged in just the perfect way to entice eight year-old boys.
“This is so difficult of a decision!” he proclaimed several times, tucking a finger under his chin in contemplation.
He eventually settled on a combination that awarded him a total of 500 new Lego pieces for his collection, including sea machines and space machines.
Carrie-Bri and I had plans downtown for a show-down between Michael Wacha and wins leader Gerrit Cole of the Pirates at Busch Stadium. I left the boys eating hot dogs and cheese sticks after a dunk in the inflatable pool in the backyard. Francis ended up drawing lots to bring in the little niño and wrap him up in a few towels while his little teeth chattered.
Another game down under stadium lights on a relatively balmy evening in mid-August. Game twelve for me, win nine. Already, you could feel the tense air of pre-post-season baseball against Pittsburgh and the best they could throw out against the best team in the game.
Carrie, however, was regretting the fact that 29 year-old Venezuelan Francisco Cervelli, the Pirates’ catcher, was not a Cardinal. She caught herself from applauding him as he came to the place.
“Just… one… clap?”
Fortunately, no one else seemed to notice.
And by the end of the night, Michael Wacha had landed himself in a three-way tie with most wins in baseball. Not bad for a 24 year-old Texan kid drafted just three short years ago.
On a night that featured our very own Yadi Molina trucking out a triple – furthermore accomplishing this rare feat without injuring himself – we still weren’t entirely sure of victory until our perpetually smiling kid of a closer shut down the probably pretty disgruntled bunch of Pirates hoping for another taste of the postseason.
We joined the 41,000 pumped fans flooding the streets after the game, closing in on midnight by the time I pulled up the driveway back home.
“How worthy is heaven that your life should be wholly spent as a journey towards it.” – Jonathan Edwards