Bethesda Big Train Baseball

Prior to my daughter joining her first softball team this spring, I really was not a baseball fan. I like watching games live in the stadium (although I've only done it twice in my life), but never on TV.  I know the gist of the game but I don't know all the rules. Now, I'm starting to really get into it. The Bethesda Big Train is a summer collegiate team and is part of the Bethesda Community Baseball Club, a non-profit ball club that raises money to improve youth baseball fields in Montgomery County. The Bethesda Big Train plays at Shirley Povich Field, a field built by volunteers to host their games, in Cabin John Regional Park.

To be honest, I had never heard of the Bethesda Big Train team until a friend brought my attention to one of those Groupon-type of offers which had tickets to a celebrity charity softball game for $5 and suggested we bring our girls' team to watch.  I'm glad I bought the offer because not only did we have a blast but we found out more about this wonderful organization. http://www.bigtrain.org/

It appears that the Big Train Celebrity Classic http://www.bigtrain.org/celebritygame/ this year was a 2nd of what will be an annual event. It began with a pre-game Fan-Fest with all kinds of freebies (including food), visits with Homer and Bunt (the team mascots), live entertainment and games for the kids. This year's team consisted of professional athletes (Redskins, Steelers, Charm, Cardinals, etc) on one side, and the sports media on the other side. There was some fun horseplay in the game but lots of excitement as they actually played a lot better than I expected. I think the final score was 10-3 for the athletes. When the game was over, the athletes remained on the field to sign autographs and take pictures with all the fans. The girls really liked this part and I think the highlights for them were meeting/taking their picture with Chris Cooley (tight end for the Washington Redskins) and meeting Angela Rypien (quarterback for the Baltimore Charm Lingerie Football League and daughter of former Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien) who chatted with them about their softball team and wished them luck in their upcoming game. She was the only girl on the team so the girls were like "Way to represent Angela!".

The stadium was filled to capacity with families and baseball lovers (apparently we were the only ones who didn't know about the Big Train). Tickets to regular Big Train games are less than $10 (kids under 6 free) and if your kid plays for the BCC league, they get in free if they wear their uniform to the game. You can buy an individual season pass for $60 or a family season pass for $125.  You can also rent Shirley Povich field for parties, picnics, corporate outings, etc. which include visits from the Big Train players and their mascots Homer and Bunt. How cool is that? Games run throughout June and July, almost every day of the week. It's a fun and inexpensive way to spend an afternoon out with the family and we will definitely be attending more of the games. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.599082976778312.1073741828.117231884963426&type=1

Kid's View: "We had a great time! I loved all the free stuff and the games. Homer and Bunt were really cute and friendly. The game was exciting and after every inning they threw stuff into the crowd like t-shirts, chips and burritos. We didn't get any though. :-(  After the game we got to talk and take pictures with the athletes and get their autographs.  That was the coolest part."