This Sunday is Fathers’ Day.

Our Dad has always been a little tough to shop for. He’s the sort that’s pretty well set in his ways and has everything he needs, and besides, he’s such a great dad that no mere gift can adequately express our love and gratitude. So we usually just end up treating him to lunch or doing the best we can with a hit-or-miss gift, just happy to spend some time together and say thanks.

This year though, we’ve managed to go one better. For us, Fathers’ Day 2013 is going to be pretty special.

A month ago the Orioles made the announcement that they’d be selling a special ticket package for their Fathers’ Day game. For the first time ever fans will be invited out on to the field to play catch with dad before the game begins.

As soon as they made the announcement we were on the website clicking ‘buy.’ There was no doubt in our mind that a chance to take the field at Oriole Park is not only the best Fathers’ Day gift we could possibly imagine, but may well be a once in a lifetime opportunity and is a bargain at any price.

We knew this would sell out quickly, but we had no idea that participation was limited to only 300 people. (Split into two groups of 150.) As it happened, it actually took all of 24 hours or so to sell out. They broke the news on Friday, we heard it discussed on the radio broadcast on Saturday, and by Sunday the team didn’t mention it anymore because it was sold out. Perhaps the best part is that Dad was out of town that weekend and didn’t hear about it, so the entire thing is a surprise.

Our dad coached us through almost every year of little league. He was always available after work to toss the ball around or swing the bat a little. He brought us out to Memorial Stadium and hauled in home run balls for us in the left field bleachers every Summer. And when the stadium closed and the new one opened, he made sure we were there to see it all. We’ve got so many great memories of growing up, but all of the best ones are bound up with baseball.

And of course it’s something we continue to enjoy together. so there’s no better way to say thanks to dad than to take him out there for something that will end up being just as memorable as the day that stadium opened, and to sit in the very same seats we had back then. We also want to thank the Ball club itself for making all this possible, and for reminding us that sometimes being an O’s fan really is Magic.

featured image via Baltimore Sun.