Man About Menifee: Campouts, Baseball at the Ballpark

By David Baker

I remember one summer when I was 13, my friend Charlie and his dad took me to my first Major League Baseball game. It was a San Diego Padres game at the old Jack Murphy Stadium (now called The Qualcomm – or Q for short).

I remember popcorn and soda, ice cream and hot dogs. I remember the cheering, the seventh inning stretch, and the extra innings. I don’t remember who they were playing or what the score was, but I do remember they lost, and Tony Gwynn (Sr.) seemed to take it hard. He walked right past all of us kids hollering for an autograph on his way to the locker room, with his head hung low.

When I had kids of my own, I made sure to take them to a sports event every so often to share the same excitement, the highs and lows, the sound and the tastes.

When Jeremiah graduated from Kindergarten, he was so excited to find out that he was finally old enough to join Cub Scouts as a Tiger Cub. Tiger Cub achievements are broken down into three main categories. First, there are activities performed with the rest of the group, or Den, such as various games, arts or crafts. Then there are activities performed at home with the family, and finally there are “Go See Its”, or field trips that can be done either with the family or as a group.

The third "Go See It" requires a boy to “Learn the rules of a game or sport. Then, go watch an amateur or professional game or sporting event.” For this achievement, we were invited to our first ever “Scout Night” at the Lake Elsinore Storm Stadium.

When we arrived, the boys lined up outside the gate with several other Cub Scout Packs and Boy Scout Troops and marched in while the announcer announced each group and city they were from. The boys got to watch the game, enjoy a hot dog, and after the game, they got to chase Thunder the mascot around the bases, get autographs and set up their tents on the grass in the outfield while a movie was played on the jumbo-tron.

The next morning, we got breakfast, packed up and left. We had so much fun, we made it a family tradition.

We just signed up for our fifth annual Storm Stadium Scout Night Campout and we are all very excited. On Aug. 23, the boys will line up at the gate and the tradition will resume. What are your family’s summer traditions? Leave a comment below.