Friday the 13th

On Friday, my husband turned twice the legal drinking age (as he informed his drinking buddies while imbibing his way twice past the legal alcohol limit).  And with the exception of not being with our kids, the night couldn't have been more definitive Doug. So, if you're wondering how to throw a party for my husband, here are the key elements:

• Beer
• Baseball
• Friends that like baseball
• More beer
• Oh - and if you can manage a Yankee loss (especially a loss  to the KC Royals) that would be especially nice

We trekked to Kansas City with friends Pat and Amy to catch the KC/NYC MLB game on Friday night. Despite the two hour rain delay (which caused sort of a hometown reunion of sorts around the concession/beer stand area) it was great fun. And something AMAZING happened!

Pat caught a FOUL ball! 

Then he lost it. After demonstrating how he gracefully caught the ball between his knees, it slipped from his hands, only to drop and roll in front of the seats in front of us. A girl swiftly picked it up. I'm positive she was about to give it back, but my husband didn't think so. Doug quickly felt compelled to explain how Pat's FIVE children would be heartbroken without that foul ball. She handed it back without blinking an eye. (I really think she was handing it back anyway, but the men disagree.) So, you see, the story has a happy ending - Pat got the ball back. And he gave the girl $20 worth of guilt money.

The entire event was an interesting study in guy behavior. You see, what also happened, as Pat secured the foul ball with his knees, was my husband tried to aggressively shove Pat out of the way to get the foul ball himself, obviously to no avail. We didn't happen to see this highlight on ESPN this morning and Pat doesn't seem to be harboring any ill-will. So unless Pat shows up on the Today show next week, I think their friendship will be saved. (Guys just happen to be pretty cool about this kind of stuff.) Maybe it was Doug's role in getting the ball back from the little girl. Who knows? But the important thing is this: the seams on MLB baseballs are certainly different than regular baseballs.

Not much more happened after that...except more beer drinking and a lot more baseball talk. (Amy guarded the foul ball.) Finally, around 11:30, we decided to call it a night. The Royals were still ahead and even though it was pouring buckets, we decided to walk back to the hotel. Since rain was beating down, Pat splurged on four garbage bags. By the time we assembled the plastic wraps, it was merely sprinkling. Truly we looked ridiculously stylish and I found it almost hilarious, but the birthday boy was almost downright embarrassed. So, he turned his into a cape.  So much more demure. My super-hero.

By then it was almost midnight and the magical day was about to end which was a good thing. Because hangovers at the Plaza would be like maneuvering a land mine...and we didn't want to ruin the perfect weekend.