Autographs and Bubble Gum from 8/13/13 (D-Backs vs. Orioles)

I went to the D-Backs vs. Orioles game back on Tuesday, August 13th. We had great seats behind the D-Backs dugout that we had won during Fan Fest. My wife stayed home with our little guy because he hadn't been feeling well and we didn't want him with a sitter, so my brother-in-law came with me and my two older boys. We got there really early to try and get some autographs. My boys each got Wil Nieves and Cliff Pennington to sign there team ball and I got Pennington to sign a card.

When the D-Backs come into their dugout each inning they would toss the ball up to a kid in the stands. Since we were right behind the dugout, my boys rushed down during the 1st inning as the D-Backs were coming in and Paul Goldschmidt tossed the ball up to one of my sons and then he tossed another ball up to the other one since they were the only two kids there. Then in the second inning they went down again and Goldschmidt tossed the ball up to my oldest son. Starting in the third inning a bunch of other kids raced over to try and get a ball so I held them back for a few innings. They kept asking and I told them they needed to let other kids get a ball. Then I finally gave in and said they could go down and try to get another ball. My middle son ended up getting one from Gerardo Parra in the 7th or 8th inning, I think.

Going into the bottom of the 9th inning the D-Backs trailed the Orioles by a run. Paul Goldschmidt it a home run to tie the game and send it into extra innings. As they came into the dugout to bat in the 11th inning Goldschmidt tossed another ball up to my oldest son (his third ball of the night from Goldy). Goldschmidt led off the top of the 11th with a home run to win the game! It was awesome!

We stayed and chanted "MVP, MVP, MVP" as he was being interviewed on the field after the game and got the D-Backs traditional "bubble bath" which includes a teammate first dumping one or in this case two containers of bubble gum on you and then a cooler of water.

After Goldschmidt went in we walked down to where he had been in hopes of getting some of the bubble gum used in the celebration. Just them someone from the dugout tossed another ball up to my middle son (his third ball of the night). I asked one of the security guards for some of the gum and he looked at me a little funny but then he bent down and picked some up and tossed it onto the top of the dugout for us.