Living every kid’s dream

Written by: Bill Ivie on 26th April 2009

Living every kid's dream | read this item

Baseball. It beats in the blood of many of the people that put pen to paper for BaseballDigest. Male and Female alike, we all can sit around and exchange stories of ballparks and sandlots, playing until our mothers called us for dinner and sitting through rain delays that lasted hours because we won’t leave the park until the game is officially over.

It started for me as a child. Ingrained into my personality. My father had me playing catch before I could walk. I would imagine there was a baseball in my crib. My Easter baskets as a child were baseball gloves turned upside down. I have told every woman that I have entered a serious relationship with that they will come second to baseball in my heart. It is the game that has never let me down. No matter what has happened in my life, I’ve always had baseball.

Looking back to those spring, summer, and fall days as a child in the backyards, sandlots, parking lots, and actual fields I have many fond memories. I can remember playing stick ball with two or three good friends. Every kid enjoyed laying out the situation as they stand at that plate. Bottom of the ninth, tie ball game, your at the plate, swing and…

Brett Wallace remembers this dream. It happened Friday night here in Springfield against the Tulsa Drillers, minor league affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. In a game that seemed to be indicative of Cardinal baseball throughout the organization, the Baby Birds took a one run lead into the ninth and turned the ball over to their closer, Fransisco Samuel. While Samuel has been effective at times this season, he allowed a run on this night and the game went to the bottom of the ninth tied, 5-5. Wallace stepped in to the box to lead off the inning and promptly deposited the ball over the left field fence for his first walk-off home run of 2009.

On Saturday night the Springfield Cardinals took a 5-3 lead into the eighth inning against the Drillers. The bullpen couldn’t make it stand up and gave up two runs to start the eighth frame. After a quiet bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth, the game went to the bottom of the ninth tied once again 5-5. And once again, Brett Wallace led off the inning. While the flair for the dramatic seemed to fit the situation, Wallace didn’t appear to want to wait to please the fans this time. On the first pitch of the inning, Brett deposited the ball almost to the exact spot his home run the night before went.

It is a fortunate man to get the opportunity to live a dream. To live it twice in the span of two days and achieve the exact results is something special. Then again, baseball provides those special moments…

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Topics: baby birds, baseball, Brett Wallace, dreams, living the dream, memories, summer nights