My heart soared. We were going to take another trip to The Baseball Hall of Fame. One of my favorite places on earth.

Just like first trip to Upstate New York. I wanted to see likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Honus Wagner, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb and Yogi Berra. one more time.

What I saw that day has stayed with me at depths of my being, to this very day.

As we walked into building in spring of 1999 I was greeted by two giant size replicas of two great hitters Ted Williams and Babe Ruth. I loved seeing Babe again. "My friend Babe Ruth. Hello. Hey Ted, you look pretty good."

I remember saying.

I found it very interesting that I and most people (if you stood under seven foot five inches) would have to look up to see these two sculptured figures.

My wife and I strolled through museum looking, at artifacts. We adored old gloves, spikes, balls, bats and uniforms that were encased in their glass display bins. These items brought me back to a time and place before television, radar guns and luxury boxes. I was getting very nostalgic.

We soon entered wing that housed Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire artifacts. This Home Run Wing was abundant with Sosa and McGwire memorabilia. This was like being in a home run baseball fantasy park. There were posters of both men. There were posters of each man's list of home runs.. When they hit them and what pitcher they hit their home run off. There were bats they used in games and balls they hit over fences Amazing. Never have two major league men hit so many home runs in one year.

Upon leaving that wing I could not help but feel overwhelmed by slugging feats of these two huge men. One a Cub and one a Cardinal.

We continued to stroll through hall until we came up to a narrow wing that I did not remember from my previous visit. I looked down left side of corridor and saw a group of pictures. Hanging from wires, these colorful paintings were displayed at my eye level

Perfect for me.

I just had to see these pictures. I was compelled. to walk down this aisle.

My daughter Manteee (Samantha) has shown me a path that I like traveling. She has been and will continue to be an inspiration in my life. Her fearless nature and competitive qualities have swelled my heart. I am so lucky to have her as my daughter. She loves playing softball. Her competitive nature shows up in many facets of game. As a second baseman she dives for groundballs that have a chance of getting to outfield. She races for fly balls and pop ups that she must get and usually does get. While batting she will take one for team. She will allow a hard pitched ball to hit her so she can get on base. She will stand up to any pitcher, no matter how hard they throw, to get her swings in. On bases is where she is fearless. Diving or sliding into a base with no apparent concern for her body has often scared me. Taking the extra base when most girls just stand around has earned her a thumbs up from her coaches.