Highs and Lows... and Expectations, Part 3 - It Is What It Is

Sometimes life throws a curve ball... and you're rooting for the infield team.

Tonight is one of those times. 

There are so many highs and lows in life. Even in the highs, there are lows. Even in the lows, there are highs.

My first post in this series was about a pretty high day - the day we were media as well as VIPs at an Indycar race. However, even though that day was one of my top lately, there were a lot of lows included.

It was hot. I wasn't having a good day physically. There were times I felt stuck at the media center, far away from all of the action. It was an incredibly long day. Etc... Etc... Etc...

My last post was about what I thought would be a really low day - or a few days. But I'll save the details for that post.

However, a totally unexpected high was sent my way - and I wanted to note it in here.

Yesterday, on the way home from another Indycar race (the "low" I wrote about), my husband/photography partner and I were talking about how exhausting the weekend had been. 

Originally, we had planned to make the 10+ hour-long drive home starting tomorrow morning. We talked about possibilities of activities we could do during the day today and nothing sounded better than simply being home. 

Then, I happened to check my email and saw something that literally made my jaw drop. I had to look at it several times to believe it. 

It was an email that said Travis and I had been approved for press credentials for a Cleveland Guardians (formerly Cleveland Indians) game!

Baseball is Travis' love language (with Indycar a close second). His favorite team, by far, is the team from the state where he was born.

From the time he picked up photography, one of his absolute biggest dreams was to shoot a game at their home field.

In the meantime, he moved to Florida, then to Alabama. Visiting his native state happened less and less often and he rarely got to go to see a game live, much less getting to shoot it.

Well, when I started researching how to get credentials for an MLB game, all I found at first is that it's almost impossible to do. I would research for a few hours - then give up. Then I would decide to try again later - and eventually give up. This happened off and on for a couple of months.

Then my work paid off - and I was entered into the MLB credentialing system! That was amazing enough... and though I almost immediately requested credentials for the game that corresponded to when we would already be in Ohio, I really thought it would end there.

I kept up a tiny bit of hope until two days ago. By that point, I assumed that it was too late and that we hadn't gotten in. I even took the game off my calendar and archived my research notes.

So it was a total shock when I saw the email that we were in. My cheeks literally hurt from smiling and Travis was physically stunned. 

This was a definite high. 

However, I never take anything at face value. I just about always assume the worst. And the worst was yet to come. 

The approval email mentioned an email for questions if needed. So I did.

And then...

Then...

I got a reply that called into question whether or not we would actually get in - at least the way I read it the first time.

I know it seems dramatic, but I almost panicked. This was such a big dream of Travis' and I was nervous that the disappointment would really affect him.

I replied with a carefully worded response - and held my breath while I waited for a reply. 

It was one of those good-news/bad-news replies. 

Yes, we were still in. In fact, we had press box access (which is what I like the best).

However, all of the areas for field-level photography were filled. Travis wouldn't get to shoot the game after all. 

We were told that we could shoot at the concourse level, which is about 25 rows back and maybe 10-15 ft high from the field. That's still a lot more than fans get to do since we can bring our professional cameras there, but it's not what Travis had hoped for.

So... now we're here at Progressive Field, looking out of the press box (4th floor - an amazing view), waiting for the fans to be let in and for the game to start.

Is this all we wanted out of this night? Nope. Are we still very glad we're here? H*ll, yeah. 

We get to see things that very few of even the most devoted fans get to see. We get to watch a game live without having to pay for tickets (though the parking expense almost made up for it). We get to say that we did it... got credentialed for an MLB game.

Sometimes it's all about perspective.