One of my fondest memories took place on the night of the Triple A Minor League Home Run Derby. For those of you that don't know, a home run derby is when a few baseball players are picked to compete against one another in a special compition. Each player is given a specific amount of time to hit as many home runs as possible. By the end of the night, the player that has hit the most home runs wins the derby. The location of the contest cycles between stadiums but in 2014 it happened to be taking place at the Durham Bulls Stadium. Our family buys a season ticket pack every year so we are no strangers to the fun and excitement of Durham Bulls baseball, only this year the derby was an added twist.
You may be thinking that the derby itself is the memory I am going to tell you about in this article, not true. I can't even remember who won. Sure we had a blast whooping and hollering at the six men taking turns shooting baseballs into the outfield but that wasn’t what made the night so memorable. About the time the last batter stepped up to the plate dark clouds started to roll up. Naturally, everyone’s attention was glued to the field or whatever they were eating. That quickly changed when a loud clap of thunder followed the winning home run. As the crowd cheered on the new Home Run Derby Champion, whoever that may have been, the announcer’s voice boomed out, “We invite everyone to stick around for the follow up firework show. There is some severe weather coming in so we ask that you take cover in the mean time.”
Not long after his voice cracked off the air, a lightning bolt shot across the sky. Mr. Smith, a family friend we were attending the game with, jumped to his feet faster than my Mom and started gathering his “smuggle bag.” “We aren’t standing out here if there’s lightning,” my Mom told my Dad. He looked down at his ticket hanging from his neck and pointed to the price. “Y’all can go but I’m getting my fifteen dollars worth.” Mom shrugged her shoulders, packed up Casey and the family back pack and followed out behind Mr. Smith and his family. Chloe and I stood up to follow Mom. Dad stood between the two of us and safety, challenging us to stay with words only a Riley would understand the full weight of, "I dare you."
That was all it took for Chloe and I. We knew what we had to do. Thunder clapped, lightning shattered the sky, and icy sheets of rain poured down. Still we stood our ground, dancing and singing to every song that played. We may have been the only people in the stadium that weren’t crammed up under the shelter but we didn't care. Finally the voice split the air again and announced it was time. By now the rain had stopped and a few fans had ventured out from the safety of the stadium overhang. The lights began to flicker out one by one. Then just as the stadium went dark an ear splitting crack filled the air and the sky was lit up with millions of little sparks. The music continued to play offsetting the booms. Everything about that moment was perfect from the brilliantly colored sky down to the puddles soaking my feet that reflected the shimmering explosions back at me.
