Warrior Wishes Come True In Baltimore!

Although not the most comfortable “Hotel,” my dad says there are “advantages” to sleeping at bus station. One of those advantages is that he had a 10 yard walk to the bus in the morning… LOL!!!

My dad was on the first bus out of DC to Baltimore for his 9th strauight day of making warrior wishes come true on our Battlefields to Ballfields Tour. Today we had the honor of hosting Army Sgt Joey Welsh for in Baltimore at the Orioles game. Sgt Welsh had just been recently medically discharged from Army, and was nominated by one of our previous guests Army Sgt Michael Cymek.

On a beautiful day in Baltimore, My dad met up with SGT Welsh at the Cal Ripken #8 statue just outside of iconic Camden Yards. My dad surprised SGT Welsh with Front Row seats in right field and they were actually pretty close to getting that first inning home run ball hit by the Red Sox .

The game was tied 2-2 in the 5th , when Orioles threw out a runner trying to steal second with 2 strikes on Big Papi to end the inning. Sgt Welsh and my dad each thought “Maybe that wasn’t good cuz now Big Papi gets new count.” Sure enough, the very next inning Ortiz led off the inning with a home run that sailed over the wall almost to Dempseys Restaurant, to take a 3-2 lead in the 6th. The Red Sox added another 3 run homer in the 8th and won the game 7-2.

In the “Small World” department, Joey and My dad were talking and found out that he was actually at the Concert at Capitol Building last night that My dad had planned to go to, if not for pouring rain. Going further, he was at an after Party that Leslie Nicole Smith (another of our previous guests) had sent my dad pictures from last night . Sgt Welsh was not in any of those photos , but he remembers seeing Leslie and her service dog Isaac . (There were only about 100 people there due to bad weather). How random would that have been if I had seen Joey at that event, not knowing it was him , and then hosted him next day .

After the game, my dad and SGT Welsh walked out the right field gates into Dempseys for a little Post Game meal . This is one of my dads favorite things about Camden Yard. Beloved former Oriole Rick Dempsey to created Dempsey’s Brew Pub & Restaurant. The longtime catcher, a member of the Orioles Hall of Fame and 1983 World Series MVP, is also a member of the Orioles broadcast team makes frequent appearances at Dempsey’s. The full-service brew pub is loaded with décor featuring plenty of Rick Dempsey and Orioles memorabilia. Dempseys is actually inside the stadium and the manager showed us all is the markers of where home run balls have landed near the restaurant – and even the farthest one, hit by Ken Griffey Jr. , that actually bounced off the restaurant.

With full stomachs, Sgt Welsh headed out to a family event that evening and my dad hopped on a city bus out to the White Marsh Mall where his 11:59 $1 Megabus took him to Philadelphia overnight.

We would like to Thank New Era Cap for providing Orioles Caps & Dempseys at Camden Yard for the delicious post game meal, as well as the tour/history lesson of homers. Most importantly , THANK YOU Sgt Joey Welsh for your service & sacrifices to our country!!!