[chlankf]

WOW. What an over the top experience. Only thing that could have made this dream opportunity better would have been with my father. He was with me, got notification from MLB on his birthday that I could buy tickets.

The wifey and I left the Des Moines area at 10am for the 3 hour drive to Dyersville. Traffic was light and unnoticeable. We stopped in Dyersville at a convenience store to pick up some tailgating refreshments. Headed to the Field, 5 minutes out. Pow. Traffic is at a stop. Gates open at 2 and it's 1:30. For 30 minutes we creep forward watching people get out of their cars to play catch. These were total strangers. Carloads of people tossing a ball around. Mind you that all the roads leading to the field had police and you had to show your tickets so there was no traffic coming the opposite direction. What a beautiful baseball sight.

2pm and the traffic starts to move. Gates are open. Holy hell. It's happening. I get to the front of the car line quickly and show my handicap parking permit,. I'm disabled and walk with a cane. The attendant points me to the ADA parking lot. I pull up and there are about 6 cars parked in front of the entrance. Rock star feeling to get this spot. The gates to the site open at 3. People watching was terrific. Thousands of people lining up to go in. The wifey and I join a group of southsiders, have some refreshments and play some White Sox cornhole.

Five minutes till gates open. I walk right to the front of the line and ask if I have to wait in line citing my cane. Mr St Peter, the gatekeeper, looks me over and says follow me. With my escort, my wifey and I were taken right to security and let in the park. Unfortunately, due to my disability, I was unable to walk most of the movie site and missed most of what was there. I was ok since I couldn't have a catch with my dad. Just as my legs started to feel uneasy, a limo of a cold cart pulled up to me and asked if I needed a ride. The corn maze and movie site are quite the distance apart. I let the driver know that I wanted a Six hat and a couple programs. He said jump in. Without question, I took his advice. The driver took us around the maze where the team busses, meal facilities for the teams and the locker rooms are. Damn. I'm behind the scenes at this game. Tries as I did, I couldn't get the driver to drop me off right there. Eventually, we pop out of a gate right by a souvenir stand. This part of the stadium was empty. Everyone was still at the movie site. Awesome. Bought some programs, a Sox hat for me and a Yankees hat for the wifey. Now don't judge me. I'm a Tigers fan but I felt I needed to choose a side. Wifey and I grabbed some food and drinks and headed to our seats.

The stadium was pretty empty. The sun was almost unbearable. Fortunately, wifey knows I suffer from heat exhaustion easily and brought an umbrella. We watched the White Sox batting practice. What a treasure seeing all the interaction the players had with those watching. By the time the Yankees took the field the crowd had grown and the excitement in the stands intensified.

The fox pre-game time was filled with rivalry between fans in the stand. Highlighting the pre-game was Kevin Costner, the teams walking out of the cornfield and the bombers flying over. Everyone watching live and on tv saw and probably felt emotionally the same as myself. The thing I struggle to express is what happened when the jets flew over. I thought at first that my legs were becoming unstable. Nope. The damn grandstand was swinging. Everyone in the crowd looked at each other with concern, confusion and excitement. I was honestly scared. Visions of collapse ran through my mind. Hell with it. I'm not going anywhere.

The game was fantastic. Eloy was interacting with the entire left field bleachers the entire game. He has a new fan base here in Iowa. It was funny to see people who wandered off the corn maze and ended up behind the outfield wall. You would see the corn move, then some arms stick up holding a cell phone then the corn move again. At times I found myself watching the corn instead of the game. The game had it's share of home runs hit into the corn and the game ended in some of the most exciting baseball I've ever witnessed. After the game I was picked up by the golf cart and driven back to my car on the same behind the scenes route.

I find it hard to express my emotional experience but this will truly be hard to top. I can tell you that I went to bed tired and with home runs running through my dreams.

I did pick up 5 programs/scorecards. I'm keeping one and another member has asked me for 2. I have 2 left if anyone wants one. They were $10 so that's all I'm asking, plus shipping.

For all the guys asking about paper tickets I have some information.

Paper tickets were not issued. However, I did speak with a guy who had a paper ticket. He stated that at will call they would print your ticket for you. He had done this and I'm sure others did as well. There was also a QR code on the jumbotron stating ticket holders could get their tickets printed and mailed to them for $10 each. They will include your seat assignment. I did order mine and am curious to see if they are different or the same.

I have lots of pictures to upload and will do so this evening.

Side information from the game. The stadium is able to be and is being dismantled after the game. It was announced that the stadium is being put into storage until the next event. I believe that this will become an annual event.

Craig