Clark: A Father's Day to remember out here in Omaha
OMAHA, Neb. — It didn't even occur to me that it was a possibility until last week.
Like all of us, I had no real reason to think that this Florida State team was going to make a run like this to get to the College World Series. I was, you know, a bit skeptical.
But when the Seminoles knocked off LSU in Game 1 in Baton Rouge, it dawned on me that this could really happen. And I started to think about my son, and how if the Seminoles actually beat the Tigers one more time, I could maybe take Brady on the greatest road trip of his life! Or certainly the longest.
And that's exactly what I decided to do. So today, Father's Day, he is out here with me in Omaha. And last night he was in TD Ameritrade to watch the Seminoles win their CWS opener for the first time in 20 years.
He even made it on TV! In the middle of the game, I went down to the stands to sit with him and my girlfriend for a little while. That's where I was when Nander De Sedas and Drew Mendoza pulled off that critical double play to get out of a dicey situation. And the camera panned to our section right afterward.
I knew that only because my phone almost literally blew up with all of the texts and Twitter messages I got immediately afterward. If you click on the video below, It looks like I'm leaving Stephanie hanging. But I promise I'm not! She was asking for — and finally received — a high-five from Brady. Plus, I had to finish my Candy Crush game. So I had to look at my phone. She knows the drill.
Brady, who has a habit of getting on video boards at every stadium he goes to, got to be on national television. That was a really neat moment for him. And just a wonderful thrill for his old man.
I don't get to do this kind of stuff enough. He's a sports nut, and so am I. But obviously, most every event I go to for work, I don't get to take him with me. Press boxes aren't for 10-year-olds. So usually he gets left behind while I go enterain the masses with witty tweets and heartfelt columns.
But I wasn't going to let that happen this time. This is such a neat experience for a baseball fan. And I don't know when I'll be back. So I decided it was time to have him join me here in middle America. And he's here as long as these Seminoles keep playing and winning. So far, it looks like he's the good-luck charm.
Or maybe it's Chip Baker!
The longtime Florida State assistant coach joined the staff in 1985. So he got to come to Omaha plenty of times over the following decade and a half.
But in 2002, he was moved to the Director of Baseball Operations. Which meant he was no longer an on-field assistant. So when the time came for the Seminoles to pack up to go to Omaha, he would arrange for all the accommodations but not get to go himself. Because he was running the Mike Martin Baseball Camp.
Well, guess what? There is no Mike Martin Baseball Camp this year.
So Chip Baker is back in Omaha. And he got to experience it with his daughter.
Katie wasn't even in elementary school the last time Baker was at the College World Series — all the way back in 2000.
Now, the former FSU softball team member is a full-fledged adult. About to start a new job in Jacksonville. But she got to be out in Omaha with her old man to watch the opener at TD Ameritrade on Saturday night.
It was a moment that you could tell meant the world to Baker.
"I get tears in my eyes thinking about it," he said. "I remember being asleep with her in my arms (in 1999) out here. And we got up at 11:30 to check curfew. Her and I. We would knock on the players' doors. And I remember Mike Futrell picking her up and giving her the biggest hug in the world. Just having her out here …"
And then his voice trailed off for a moment.
I knew exactly what he was thinking: Where does the time go? Really. Where?
I'm sure it feels like yesterday that he brought his baby girl out to Omaha for the first time.
Brady was born during the 2008 College World Series. I was back in Tallahassee, obviously, with him and his mom. I remember watching the finals that year from a hospital room because he had to stay a couple of extra nights due to severe jaundice. And I remember him screaming because he wanted that darn mask off his face.
I'll never forget that night. It was the first time he and I were by ourselves (I let his mom go back home to get some sleep because, well, I'm an incredibly thoughtful human being). And Brady would just not stop crying because of that stupid mask!
And here we are almost 11 years later. He's about to go into middle school, and I'm wondering how more than a decade has passed in the blink of an eye. That's what being a father has truly put into perspective for me: Just how quickly our lives fly past if we let them.
I'm going to wake up tomorrow and he'll be going to college. And then I'll wake up the next day and he'll be getting married, then having a baby, then putting his old man in a retirement home.
So I want to take advantage of every moment I can with him.
Chip Baker can relate. He got to spend five days with Katie out in Omaha. He got to watch his first ever game in TD Ameritrade. With her. In the dugout. Not a bad early Father's Day gift. Especially with how it turned out in the final inning.
"I'm just soaking in every second," he said. "When we won Sunday night (at LSU), I hugged 11 because I thought I'd never get to see this place again as a Seminole. Because I don't know what's going to happen after next week. I was thinking myself of coming out here on my own. That's how much I wanted to get back here."
And when the Seminoles upset the Tigers he made sure his daughter, a 2018 Florida State graduate, would be out here with him. She had to fly back to Florida on Sunday for work, but not before making more lifetime memories with a guy who wasn't sure he'd ever get to do this again.
"I went and got her to come into dugout the last three innings (against Arkansas)," Baker said. "This is just so cool. Somebody asked me if I was enjoying it, and I said, 'I've been planning this trip for 18 years. What do you think?'"
So much has been made of Mike Martin's last run. And with good reason, of course. He's the patriarch of this program. He's been guiding it for 40 years now.
But Chip Baker has been with him in some capacity for the last 35. He was coaching third when the Seminoles made the championship games in 1986 and 1999. Twenty years later, he's back out here again. As the Director of Baseball Operations. He doesn't know what his future holds because nothing about the future of FSU Baseball is known.
So he's soaking this up. Truly. He could barely stop smiling as he was talking to me on Sunday afternoon. He loves his Seminoles. He loves this program. He loves his daughter. And he loves Omaha.
This is a Father's Day he won't ever forget.
Neither will I.
Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @Corey_Clark on Twitter.
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