Diamondbacks Mother's Day Madness: The Giveaway that Got Away

There are days when even the best laid plans fall by the wayside.

I never want to miss a game on the Diamondback's 2010 schedule. But there are a select few dates where I HAVE to be at the ballpark.

You don’t want to miss the Yankees or the Cardinals when they come to town. There are also games that stand out because of the promotion or theme.

Who doesn’t want to see fans dressed up in disco clothes for ‘70’s night?

And there are games where the stadium giveaway drives up attendance. You need to plan accordingly to beat those crowds.

Beanie Baby night and bobble head day adequetly fit the giveaway description. Given the buzz surrounding lawn gnome night, that too will require early admission.

After 13 seasons, you develop a hunch of which dates are going to be popular. Still, there are days when I just miss it, and find myself in a predicament. Mother's Day happened to be one of those days.

In all fairness, I am not even sure Nostradamus could have predicted this one.

The Arizona Diamondbacks were wrapping up a three game series with Milwaukee. The Brewers had shelled the Diamondbacks in the first two games, and the Sunday pitching match-up didn’t exactly favor the home team, either.

The Phoenix Suns were scheduled to play Game 4 of their series with arch nemesis San Antonio that same day. Phoenix has long been a basketball town, which would impact attendance at the Diamondbacks game.

Of course, it was also Mother’s Day. In my experience, few mothers have listed a trip to the ballpark as the number one activity choice on their special day.

So, given all of these factors, I “assumed” the attendance would be low, relative to other home games.

Based on the announced attendance, I was right.

Sunday’s 25,358 was the lowest figure of the three-game series. However, I had miscalculated the number of ladies that would be at the game.

The stadium giveaway was a sleek Sedona Red purse, which seems to have been a hot item. The team gave away 5,000 to women entering the stadium turnstiles and these purses were snatched up quickly.

I figured obtaining a purse for my wife wouldn't be difficult. After all, we'd get their early, which would assure us one of the giveaways.

As we were about to head to the stadium, I got hit with the perfect storm of distractions.

First, our daughter called, and desperately needed to talk to mom. Then, there was the proverbial door-to-door salesman that insisted I needed religion or a new vacuum cleaner—I don’t know which.

As game time quickly approached, I was getting frantic. Things came to a head when the car battery decided today was a good day to die (kind of like the Diamondbacks bullpen). After a quick car change, we rushed down to Chase Field, entering the gates a mere 20 minutes before first pitch.

My wife walked through the turnstile and stood there, waiting for a stadium giveaway. The ticket representative apologized and explained they were all gone. As we walked through the concourse towards our seats, we past a multitude of women, all sporting their new D-Backs purses.

Each time we saw one, my wife reminded me that I had promised her a purse, and how it would make the perfect sewing and stitchery bag.

For nine innings, I sat in my seats watching the Diamondbacks blow another game all the while being reminded that every other mother at Chase Field had a new purse.

So for the next few days I’ll be scouring eBay in search of a Diamondbacks stadium giveaway that somehow got away. Oh, and I need a new car battery. And I’m not completely sure I didn’t buy a vacuum, or join a new religion.