Father sends 10-year-old to game with three strangers
While he dreamed of being one of the lucky few to step inside the park that night, his father, Dave, didn’t have the money to purchase tickets.
Dave and Lee could only watch from outside the gates as excited Cardinals fans streamed through.
Dave grabbed a piece of cardboard, wrote “Kid needs ticket,” on it and gave it to his son to hold. Plenty of people wanted to take Lee’s picture, but surely no one would offer up an expensive World Series ticket ... until someone did.
Three Boston gentlemen dressed in suits verified that their friend wasn’t going to make it, then gave their extra ticket to Lee. Someone immediately offered the kid $800 for it -- a proposition Lee could only laugh at before entering the stadium all by himself. His father waited outside and followed along with the roar of the crowd, trusting that his son was having the time of his life inside. He was right.
“For a father-son moment, that was the absolute best feeling you can get,” the elder Wagner said.
On Wednesday, the Wagners were back at the ballpark -- this time with a pair of tickets.
“Now the Cardinals better win,” said a 17-year-old Lee. “Well, I’m just happy to be here.”