My oldest son Michael and I took in an afternoon of A&M baseball Saturday at Blue Bell Park.
We came to see the Aggies continue their mostly winning ways over the 0-24 (SEC) Missouri Tigers.
We were seeing the game because Ashlee had won two tickets to an Aggie game.
As it turned out, the digital-based ticket system showed I had only one ticket and that one on the grass.
We went to the ticket office to straighten this out and quickly realized the solution was buying two tickets with “seats.”
Michael and I caught up with each other – he lives in Kerrville.
As we talked, I watched as the train went by just beyond the outfield fence.
The train has always played a part in A&M’s history.
The area was developed around the Houston and Texas Central Railway.
In 1877, the Postal Service formally designated the area “College Station,” with a station built near the college.
Before the game, a long train traveled by, loaded with Army equipment.
Seeing a train with Army equipment is hardly unusual.
But this train had several cars with tanks and armored personnel carriers.
Saturday also was graduation day at A&M and traffic was especially thick.
My years at A&M – in the late 60s and early 70s – disappeared in my mind as I looked at all the new additions.
Finally, the game started and the excited rose.
An ominous sign at the start was a high popup for the second baseman.
The sun was out – at that point – and he lost the ball in the glare and it dropped next to him.
An audible gasp from the crowd.
The Aggies weren’t hitting.
Then the rain came.
After 21/2 innings, or less than an hour, the game was delayed for almost two hours and the Aggies were behind.
They had lost the game Friday, so Michael and I headed out to get his 11-year-old son Aggie T-shirts with the possible thought of returning.
Nah, the Aggies went on to lose the game after it resumed and Michael felt the need to get on the road for the four-hour trip back to the Hill Country.
They ended up losing Saturday, then Sunday.
The college playoffs – once a viable prospect – was now an unlikely scenario.
It was good to be with my son anyway.
And I liked seeing Blue Bell Park – it was the first time to see a game there for both of us.
That’s what we’ll remember.
