You’ve heard the song, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” by Marilyn Monroe. Well, it’s true. Except in the case of my kids, it’s not the rock but the ball diamond.

The Brewers held a one-day flash sale a week ago — four tickets for $4 each. I splurged and after school on May 1 we took the kids to Milwaukee and sat front row in the right field bleachers. 

It was baby Vivian’s second game, and she loved it even more than the first. She spent the entirety of the game standing against the rail and screaming with big smiles. Occasionally she would turn to the spectators behind her to see if they were smiling, too.

The whole day was a little unbelievable for our family — it was nearly the perfect night for a baseball game. Sure, it was cool and misty outside, but Miller Park can close its roof. In fact, since the park opened in 2001, the Brewers have yet to be rained out at home.

The game was nearly perfect, but the Brewers lost. It was a bullpen game due to a freak injury to the projected starter just minutes before the game. Bullpen games are never good unless everyone is rested. That goes double for having a “good” bullpen, and not the trash effort that’s been on display much of this year in Milwaukee.

We parked in the lot directly behind home plate, so the walk up to the stadium past Helfaer Field made the kids giggle. Once inside the stadium we headed straight for the team store to “grab some merch” as my 13-year-old daughter would say. 

She got a hoodie; the baby scored a couple of onesies; Gabe, our 7-year-old, got a jersey of Christian Yelich, his favorite player. I even bought a new Brewers hat to replace my now 14-year-old ratty and oil-soaked charm I had been wearing. My wife wants me to throw the old one out (or even burn it), but I think I will frame it on the living room wall, so we can walk down memory lane and bask in its retirement. That hat and I have been through a lot together.

Just before the bottom of the sixth inning, Colorado Rockies bullpen catcher Aaron Munoz finished playing catch with all-star Charlie Blackmon. Munoz looked at Gabe’s glove and tossed him a ball — over shooting him by a row.

The kind teenage gentlemen behind him caught the ball and without hesitation gave it to Gabe. It was one of those moments that I’ll always remember — Gabe’s face getting to hold an actual Major League baseball as well as the pleasantry of a young stranger to so quickly give up the souvenir. Maybe the teenage boy was trying to impress the three girls he and his buddy brought to the game? Or maybe he is just a gentleman that wanted to see a young kid happy.

My hat’s off to you, kind sir.

Gabe, not to be outdone on the night, also made it onto the scoreboard for doing the “floss” dance during a pitching change. I remember taking him to his first-ever game a year ago and the tears that sprayed out of his eyes because he didn’t get a ball or was shown on the scoreboard. Telling a kid the mathematical odds of either item happening does nothing to console their sorrow. Now he’s been on the scoreboard in back-to-back games and has a game ball. I am 33 and my only “game ball” was a batting practice homer off of Barry Bonds on September 16, 2004 as he was chasing 700 career homers. Coincidentally, it was six rows up from our seats on Wednesday. (Bonds, who sat at 699 in the 3-game series in Milwaukee, reached 700 the next night at home against San Diego).

Perla had so much fun doing a live Snapchat story from the game her phone shut off in the fifth inning. My wife Courtney and I were in heaven seeing our kids’ smiles (plus, the delicious nachos, Bavarian pretzels and AJ Bomber burger). It was a good day, and the kids — who were all awake well past their bedtimes as we walked out of the game in the eighth inning — slept like logs on the ride home.

I think we’ll make it to at least another game or two this year. Maybe 12. We’ll see.

— Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Times and envies Blackmon’s beard. He also wants you to know that Eric Thames does not in fact skip leg day, and every day is arm day. Adam can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net.