Many of you new to this blog may not know that I am a huge baseball fan and have covered many a story that crosses over to the news side of things. So when I find a baseball story that becomes news I do my best to cover it and this one takes the cake for our national pastime. Last year we covered military opening day with the San Diego Padres and no other professional team goes as far as they do to support our men and women in uniform. While covering the Padres on this occasion and a few others, we became friends with their PR staff’s which include George Stieren and Warren Miller. They just had their colleague Erik Meyer send me the story and video of 11-year-old Brad Warnick, joined on the mound by mother Irene and 8-year-old sister Ashley, who thought they were just representing the USS Midway Museum in San Diego in honor of their fathers service in the Navy. BUT…..dressed in full Padres catching gear behind the plate was Petty Officer 1st Class Rick Warnick, their father & husband. Petty Officer Warnick is part of the crew currently deployed on the USS Nimitz, scheduled to return next month. Warnick was flown home early to surprise his family on the field through cooperative efforts of the USS Midway Museum and the Navy. This video is what it’s all about.

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UPDATE: Rick Warnick has left a great note on this blog, so scroll down to find it. Also, his wife had found out the night before and kept the kids out of the loop. Watch closely, you’ll see the emotion in the Brad and Ashley’s eyes.

error  Sports on Sunday is back, heck why not? Whether you are a sports fan or not, we’ve got to have one day to show our colors and root for our teams. So, each week after 6 days of mostly serious stuff I will post a sports thread like this one to allow all of us to talk a little trash (nicely) about our various teams and schools. Yep… the Giants have won more games already than I expected all year. Of course since I am the author I will error on the side of the left coast and north of Los Angeles, except Pepperdine. This video I grabbed earlier in the week when I headed out to the ‘Dine’ for an afternoon affair. What an amazing day to catch ‘America’s Pastime’ with two of the better teams in the country. UCLA came up the coast and left with a loss. Any game between southern California teams is always an important game. So, here is some video and….I can’t believe it has been more than 10 years since I pitched here. WOW…time flies, but thankfully in this yard the balls don’t. I am a pitcher.

 

I know this comes a day late, but I was backing up and cleaning up my laptop…so sorry for the delay. I will also have a Tech Tuesday, but it wont come until later tomorrow. In the meantime, I have to get your opinions on the sports rundown last week. The Giants and A’s are winning, the Sharks scored three goals in the first 5 seconds of the game only to lose to the Flames 4-3. Yes, that would be hockey and yes, I would be a California boy. I can still root for the home team….right?? Are you a hockey fan, are you watching action on the ice and soon to be action on the hardwood. The Warriors are going to win 49 games and not make the playoffs. Only the Warriors can have that kind of luck.

As I sit here on a beautiful, sunny Sunday in California, baseball is on the television and radio. Some of the greatest memories of my childhood come when I hear the crackle of an AM radio in the backyard.

Ineviteably, the Giants or A’s would be getting killed and I would hope that somehow they would find a way to score seven runs in the final two innings even though the only All-Star on the team was due to the rule that every team must be represented.

Having said that, I spent my entire childhood and a good portion of my early adulthood playing ‘America’s Pastime.’ Sure baseball is thriving, but I think it could be so much more. Many purists and die hard fans have their opinions.

So here it is…who will win this year and what are your memories from the diamond. What would you due, if anything to change the game? We haven’t had a sports post in a bit, so why not?

You guys asked for them and I thought it would be a nice change of pace between our serious news stories. So here are some more pics from behind the scenes.