Friday night, my last work night in Houston, I had the unbelievable opportunity to finish up work early and head to downtown Houston. My destination – Daikin Park – and a chance to catch not only Rhode Island High School superstar Jeremy Peña but sure-fire Hall of Famer Mike Trout. The Houston Astros were playing host to the Los Angeles Angels, if I was lucky enough, I could get to the game, find parking, then hustle into Daikin Park with enough time to catch both Peña and Trout. And guess what? I did just that.

Was it a sign or just coincidence that this massive poster of Jeremy Peña greeted me as I double-timed it into Daikin Park. Whatever it was, it was so cool to see the former Classical High School Shortstop right there in his Astros Uni, #3, ready to get after it. By the time I entered the ballpark, it was about the 4th inning or so and I had missed a Peña at bat/single and a Mike Trout at bat/home run. So, I became laser focused on a photo spot to catch the next at bats from these 2 MLB superstars. And I found that spot just to the right of the backstop area leaning up against a roped area in the concession stand.

Timing and opportunity – I say it all the time. I walked in to the park in the bottom of the 4th and the 2nd batter to come to the plate was Jeremy Peña. After a Christian Walker walk, Peña marched up to the plate and took his swings. This at-bat resulted in a fielder’s choice groundout, with Peña replacing Walker at first base. Out or hit, it was super cool watching him in person. Peña would eventually be stranded at second base, so I took the opportunity to check out Daikin Park and wait for Trout’s next at-bat.

Daikin Park is the first indoor baseball stadium I have ever attended a game at. I have now been to several of these massive indoor, retractable roof style baseball stadiums (Milwaukee, Globe Life, Houston) but previously, I just walked the perimeter of the stadiums. Houston’s Daikin Park was really cool to walk around a few weeks ago and I was so psyched to have an opportunity to get inside and see a live MLB game. As I was walking around the perimeter of the concession stand area, I check my MLB app for the batting order coming up for the Angels. Sure enough, Mike Trout was set to hit second in the top of the 6th, so I hustled back over to my camera phone spot to grab a photo of the future HOF’er.

Mike Trout is a huge dude. He has a signature leg kick. Bats right handed, makes solid contact, and hustles to and from his position in the outfield. Trout had been everyone’s #1 player in the world for nearly a decade until another teammate, a RHP and DH from Japan took over that title. Shohei Ohtani became the game’s best player a few years back while Mike Trout began an unfortunate slide in the rankings due to injuries and lack of games and let’s face it, lack of playing time. Still, like seeing Bryce Harper, Mike Trout was on my short list of must-see players to see play in a live MLB game. And I did just that on Friday night. Trout grounded out, but so what. I got to share my experience with my family and baseball friends, stating simply “I got to see a future Hall of Famer tonight, Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels.”

Before leaving Daikin Park for the night, I stopped in to the Houston Astros’ team store and checked out all the #3 Peña jerseys on the wall. I thought to myself, this kid from Classical High School in Providence, RI is playing in front of 10s of thousands of cheering and appreciative Astros fans every home game. What an incredible baseball journey for Jeremy and his family. So awesome! And I was walking back to my rental car, I was thinking that Major League baseball is so much better with Mike Trout in the lineup, than in the rehabilitation tent. I wished both Jeremy and Trout the very best with a baseball prayer as I was crossing the street with other fans who were calling it a night as well. Overall, it was such an incredible Houston baseball experience catching superstars Jeremy Peña of the Houston Astros and Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels at Houston’s Daikin Park.