Fifty years ago, this summer I went to my first out of state ML game, and it wasn’t anything like the trips I’ve made in the past 25 years.

I have no idea if my Dad had any idea that the Padres would be home while we were in southern California, and if he did he never mentioned the possibility of a game on this short vacation/semi business trip.

When I did find out Mom, Dad and I were going to see the Padres and Astros at San Diego Stadium, I was excited because my little league team was the Padres and we had ugly magenta caps. I would be the only one on the team with a legit (fitted), brown and mustard cap.

My ballpark enthusiast, older self doesn’t remember much of the ballpark other than the odd parking decks next to the seating. I was focused on the game-especially the many Astros I had met a year earlier on our trip to San Francisco.

This was the first time I realized my Mom loved baseball and that she focused on certain players (for very different reasons). In this case, she fixated on Padres rookie, starting pitcher Dave Freisleben. His sole purpose that night was to keep Astro stud, Cesar Cedeno from stealing second. StatCast didn’t exist back then, thankfully, but they would now record the average velo of balls thrown to first and likelihood of picking him off each time.

I’ve no doubt that his surname intrigued her at first, but this odd cat and mouse battle was something she was always interested in. She loved great infield defense and pitchers with unique deliveries. I think she had a hard time believing that Freisleben’s ML career would end so abruptly. Editor’s note: his career was remarkably ordinary. Years later, she would bring his name up and laugh about his attempts to slow Cedeno down. Suffice to say, the early Padres weren’t very good, but they did have some excellent players and they played in paradise.

I had the opportunity in 2009 to attend opening day (40 years after their inception), but circumstances didn’t quite sync up and for the better part of the past 15 years, I’ve tried to rectify that.