S second call up of the season was while I was in Mississippi for one of my best friend’s wedding.  We found out via twitter courtesy of the account “MLB Roster Moves.”  He was up May 19-28 and was not needed during that stint so he was sent back down for “rust proofing.”  We weren’t expecting him not to pitch since his first time up he was needed back to back days, so it was a little disheartening, but we took it and went with it.  Since we were back in Buffalo, I decided to do the Indianapolis/Louisville road trip with another one of the girls.  We arrived to the stadium in Indianapolis for extra innings which is a nightmare for baseball WAGS (WAGS stands for wives and girlfriends).  When the game finally ended, S learned he was going to meet the team in DC as the 26th man for the doubler header.  His flight would leave the next morning from Indy, and he would arrive in time for the second game.  Of course, his flight was delayed a couple of hours and made it to the field at 6 when the game was at 7!  Oh, let’s not forget I’m stuck in Indy all day in the hotel room watching Chrisley Knows Best marathon.  Todd cracks me up and kept my spirits up at the fact I’m in a random city with the Bisons while my husband is in the country’s capital.  Thank goodness for the other baseball girl who joined me in the trip and completely understands all the craziness. (Below is Lucas Oil Stadium that was right beside our hotel and the other is the bridge into Louisville on the Ohio River)

 

S was not needed in that game either and had to get optioned back down because his 10 days were not up.  A quick rundown on the 10 days is if you get optioned you cannot go back up for 10 days unless the team places a guy on the disabled list or it’s a double header and he has to come right back down.  So, I went to pick S up the next day at the Louisville airport.  At this point, we are like is S ever going to get the opportunity to pitch again in the big leagues or just a bystander in case something happens?

He started in Louisville the first game of the series.  We had such a great time in the city and just enjoyed the sun, food and friends.  After the series, the team headed back to Buffalo on June 8th to open up a 7 game home stand.  On June 9th, we woke up to a text from S’s manager in Buffalo. He wanted S to give him a phone call ASAP.  He called his manager and was told he was getting a spot start for the Blue Jays the next day.  We were so excited for the news considering the last two times he went up he didn’t even get to pitch.  We were told a driver would be picking us up at the field in Buffalo to take us to Toronto at 5.  We got there in enough time to watch the Jays vs. Marlins game on TV so he could do his “scouting.”  One of the cool things about playing for the Blue Jays is there is a hotel connected to the stadium.  So, the team puts you up in the hotel when you get called up and you have everything right there.

I don’t think S slept much that night from pure excitement of everything he has worked for comes down to this day.  I tried not to see it that way because it would just make me super nervous.  I looked at it as God has brought us this far and will not leave us now.  He had prepared us for this moment all throughout S’s career.  From the highs and lows, to the why not S, he had it all planned out perfectly.  S pitched in front of 44,000 fans on a day game and it couldn’t have gone any better.  As his warm up music played (“Jamming” by Bob Marley), it was all I had not to tear up at how proud of him I was and how hard he worked for that moment.  The wives had the suite that day, but I decided to sit in the stands by myself so I could be up close and take it all in.  S is a ground ball pitcher, and he wants to just go out there and pitch to contact and let his defense back him up!  Well, he had 12 ground ball outs that day, and I knew he was on when that happened.  He finished the day with 7IP, 6H, 1R, 0BB, 4Ks against the Marlins.

 

S started trending on twitter….

 

S warming up before the first pitch to Dee Gordon in which became his first career MLB strikeout!

I could finally breathe and relax!

We took a picture to remember this day forever together.  The second picture is us walking back to our hotel room when the lights are out and the stadium is quiet, we just sat there and took it all in.

This last picture is from my Instagram.  S was a little Blue Jay growing up!  I don’t know about you but I believe in fate and the fact he made his MLB debut with the Jays instead of the Orioles (whole other story) seems like fate to me.  We could not feel more blessed and thankful.  No matter what happens for the rest of the season I consider “baseball season 2015” one to remember forever.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo,

HC