Photo: Jason Mathiasen
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Photo: Jason Mathiasen

Father's day gift giving has always been easy for me. My dad and I love baseball and love the Twins, so I usually spring for the finest nosebleeds a radio salary can buy and take my dad to Minneapolis for a game.

However, as you may have heard, there is a global pandemic happening (checks calendar) right now. All professional sports are on hold indefinitely, including the Twins. I was going to have to try my hardest to get my dad a gift this year.

Or was I? Last week, the Minnesota Baseball Association gave their amateur baseball teams the green light to play "exhibition games" despite a lack of approval from the man behind the dials, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Perfect. I went to Coborn's, grabbed my dad and grandpa their favorite snacks and drinks, loaded up a cooler and headed to Sartell's St. Cloud Orthopedics Field to check out some town ball.

It was a pleasant change from the sensory overload of a Major League Baseball game, the price was right and it was right in our backyard.

There was no admission fee at the gate, but fans were asked to fill out a questionnaire to make sure they weren't exhibiting any signs of COVID-19. There was also no concession stand open, so patrons were free to bring their own snacks and beverages.

We brought lawn chairs and spread out behind the first base dugout. St. Cloud Ortho Field is a gorgeously remodeled venue with more than enough room for the 150 or so fans to spread out. (Note: I am terrible at estimating crowd sizes.)

Four generations were able to watch the game: my grandpa, dad, myself and my son. We chatted, Charlie ran around the grass chasing foul balls, we watched a little bit of the game... it was great.

Ovie
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