Double the Fun, part I

Last weekend we were in Starkville visiting Brad and Emily and watching our Dawgs play the BLACK BEARS Ole Miss... {We won 2 out of 3!!}

Brad is one of the assistant pitching coaches and took Aaron with him everywhere. Needless to say, they were both in heaven reliving the "good 'ole days" together.

What's funny is that although Brad and Aaron both played at Mississippi State, Brad was drafted with the Pirates the year before Aaron was a freshman so they just missed each other! They knew who each other was and Aaron would see Brad working out in Starkville during his off seasons but they never got to be friends.... until.... the Rockies {who had drafted Aaron after his junior year} made a trade and got Brad! And you know the rest because I've blogged most of it....

And you see the guy in the middle? Well, if you've been an Ole Miss baseball fan for a while, you know that is Stephen Head. Brad and Stephen are the same age and after playing with the Indians for a few years, he wound up with the Rockies! Hence how all of them are friends now... and Stephen is now an assistant coach for Ole Miss. See Stephen, you made the blog!

And for proof that Em and I were there too...

You wanna know who else was around too?

My darling little Bellie dear.

She's a lover...

... and a fighter...

But we love this sweet little lady just the same...

and I think the feelings are mutual...

Wanna see who else I got to see this weekend?!???  My Sayra... We sat at many baseball games together back in the day, not to mention we were roomies for three years! I love this girl very very much. 

I loved being able to see Aaron walking around on the field and hanging out in the bullpen just like he did a few years ago... only I didn't get to admire him in uniform ;)

But I will tell you this... I did get to admire him "in action" before Sunday's game... you know, doing what he does best at Dudy Noble Field...

not mine

He threw out the first pitch!!! You would have never known he hasn't picked up a baseball in a few months.  When they asked him to do it, he was like, "Uh... let me 'warm up' and see how it {his shoulder} feels and I'll let you know." Ha! We were all crackin' up.

After a few tosses with Brad in the bullpen, he felt like he could do it.  I tried to find a balance between safety and a good angle.

Oh, and I got the privilege of watching him on the field. Talk about a DREAM COME TRUE! There may or may not have been a few sentimental tears shed by his biggest cheerleader...

And of course, he threw a perfect strike. He's a natural.

When he was announced, the crowd went wild as many long time fans recognized that name they heard soooooo many times just a few years ago.

And the players and coaches shook his hand and told him that his first pitch may have been the "hardest-thrown first pitch they've ever seen"... Typical!

Aaron said it was definitely the boost he needed to get back to work towards his goal of coming back 100%. It's always been evident he has the natural raw ability... it's his fickle shoulder that's going to have to come through for us. We will see!

Well, I'm going to leave you with a pic of one of the main reasons I went to Starkville last weekend ;)

... and just know that this is only weekend #1 that we got to spend with Brad and Emily and Belle. We just got back from seeing them again { hence this blog post title} and I will post on that little visit sooner than later!



Hope y'all are having a great weekend!!!