After my epic Friday Texas Baseball Road Trip (which landed me in San Antonio), I had the weekend off before my next work assignment started on Monday. Roughly a week or so prior to flying down to Texas, I had communicated with a San Antonio area Sandlot Baseball club named the San Antonio Roses about a charity baseball game scheduled for Saturday the 8th. The charity game featured the Roses vs. the Eastside Huevos and was to take place at the Alamo Height Little League complex. According to the Roses IG page, the game benefitted the A Beautiful Day Foundation, which supports early cancer detection. A great cause that hit home to many of the players involved in the Saturday charity game. Here is the IG post that caught my attention and led me to the game last Saturday.
I arrived at the Alamo Heights Little League complex about 30 minutes early so I could explore the field and surrounding area. When I arrived, there were a few players warming up on the field. I got to meet some of the Roses, as they were just arriving to the game. Actually, many of the players on both teams were friendly and said hello and thanks for coming out. There was an information and ticket tent set up for the game, as they were selling ticket packages for food and a concert that would occur later Saturday night. I wasn’t really hungry and wasn’t going to make the concert, but I wanted to contribute regardless. So, I purchased a ticket for $30 and donated my food plate and my concert ticket. Felt good about that. Cancer is a disease that has hit my family as well. Before I get into my game experience, here is a QR code if you would like to donate to this cause(not sure if the link is still valid, but give it a shot).
Ok, back to the game experience. As I stated, I arrived to the game early and met a bunch of nice San Antonians, and noticed a rather interesting field across the street from the Alamo Heights Little League park where the charity game was taking place. Turns out, according to one member of the Roses, it was the Alamo Heights High School Baseball Field, home of the Mules Baseball team. The field was gated and under construction but I did manage to get a few photos of the field from a “secret” entrance that was disclosed to me by a person not to be named. Some Alamo Heights High School famous alumni – Davey Johnson, former MLB player and manager; Christopher Cross, Grammy award winning musician; and Mr. Robocop himself, Peter Weller. Here are a few photos from my brief visit to the Mules Baseball Field.
It was just about game time, except the umpires were delayed in getting to the field. So, the players warmed up and were ready to go and the announcer let everyone know that the game would be starting momentarily and everything was just fine. Fans that were just arriving and learning that the game was for charity left their places in the stands and went over to the ticket tent to donate to the cause. The sun was so hot, I was so thankful that the Alamo Heights field had shaded canopies over the bleachers and stands. About 1:15 to 1:25 or thereabouts, an umpire arrived at the field and the game commenced.
The two squads, the Eastside Huevos and the San Antonio Roses, played competitive baseball and laughed a ton and had a blast. Not every pitch was a strike, not every pitched ball was hit into play, not every play was made in the field. The fun factor, the community factor, the spirit of sportsmanship, and the love of sport were the keys to Saturday’s game. Sure, there were some hard hit balls, a home run even. There were some great pitches thrown. Both catchers blocked balls in the dirt and threw out runners. From this baseball fan’s perspective, I observed a fun, competitive game of baseball played with two friendly teams looking to have a blast on a November Saturday afternoon. As with many games, I didn’t keep score of runs and hits. I was watching and enjoying the enthusiasm of the players, listening to the cheers of the fans in the stands, regardless of their at bat or pitch thrown.
After watching a few innings from both the home and visitor’s bleacher section and just about 5 minutes from dehydration (not medically confirmed but it felt like it), I took a short break and retrieved a bottle of water from my parked rental car. From there, I spotted a few more fields and decided to walk the perimeter of the Alamo Heights Little League complex to see some of the other baseball experiences. All the while, seeking shade along the way.
I found a cool spot along the left field foul line with some benches and plenty of shade. As I was taking photos, one of the Eastside players hit a towering home run that cleared the left field fence and landed in an adjacent field’s bleacher section. I went and retrieved the ball and threw it back in for the player to keep as a souvenir. Or maybe it was just inserted back into the game?
After baking in the sun for about an hour or so watching the game as well as my pre-game tour of Mule Baseball Field and my mid-game water break tour of the other Alamo Heights Little League fields, I was cooked and needed to get out of the sun. I caught one more inning behind home plate before I called it a day at the A Beautiful Day Foundation Fall Classic Charity Game.
It was a bright, sunny, hot San Antonio Saturday afternoon when I arrived at SA’s Alamo Heights Little League complex for a charity baseball game featuring the San Antonio Roses vs. the Eastside Huevos. The two sandlot teams were facing off against each other for a cause near and dear to the teams’ players – early cancer detection. The foundation and the charity they were playing for was way more important that runs, hits, and errors. The A Beautiful Day Foundation Fall Classic charity game was a competitive, fun, and exciting game played between two teams that supported members of their community and loved the game of baseball. What better way for this baseball fan to spend a gorgeous November Saturday afternoon away from home in San Antonio. Awesome stuff. Overall, it was a fantastic San Antonio baseball experience at Alamo Heights Little League featuring the San Antonio Roses and the Eastside Huevos playing in the Fall Classic, a charity game to benefit the A Beautiful Day Foundation.
The Baseball Storyteller 