“You can throw a ball, right?” my editor asked. “Sure, I guess, yeah,” I replied. “Why?”

On June 25th, the Hillsboro Hops, Portland’s High-A Class baseball team, took on the Everett AquaSox on the Hops home turf. As a part of BrickNerd, my family and I were invited to help celebrate the premiere of Ninjago: Dragons Rising with a day full of baseball, LEGO, and fun.

While the kids were excited for the LEGO fun, I was mostly focused on one thing: not embarrassing myself when I threw out the first pitch.

A Ballin’ Reboot

Ninjago: Dragons Rising, the newest entry of the hit, long-running franchise, premiered on June 1st on Netflix. The show’s plot summary sounds pretty exciting:

“A phenomenon known as The Merge places all seventeen realms of creation on the Ninjago planet, introducing new threats and causing chaotic aftershocks called Mergequakes. Lloyd befriends two civilians Arin and Sora, the former a fan of the Ninja and the latter a technopath from the totalitarian kingdom of Imperium. The three are tasked with finding the rest of the scattered Ninja and combating the Claws of Imperium, who covet Source Dragons in order to drain their elemental energy as a resource.”

The reboot has been done pretty well, and who doesn’t love dragons? Ninjago seems to be the gift that keeps on giving for LEGO, it has lasted so long. And Ninjago is known for fun launch events like the one last year in New York that BrickNerd attended. A reboot of the show was inevitable, but a quality reboot was unexpectedly refreshing. Practicing to throw a pitch in front of a crowd? Not quite as refreshing…

Family Fun

We arrived at the stadium early, so I practiced throwing a ball with my wife in the parking lot to warm up. Inside the park, I met with the wonderful folks from the Hillsboro Hops who would be taking care of us. They showed us our seats and told me when and where to be for the pitch. While I was eyeing the pitcher’s mound, my kids made a beeline straight to the make-and-take activity.

The mini LEGO model for the day was Ryu, the dragon. Everyone was having a good time, and with plenty of pieces, space, and instructions, it was one of the better make-and-take events we’ve experienced. I was impressed with the model's detail and pieces used at such a small scale.

Here are the instructions and inventory if you’d like to make your own:

Perfect Pitch(es)

After some relaxing building, it was time to head to the field for the pitch. The thing you should know about the first pitch is that often there are actually multiple “first pitches.” When my mom threw out the first pitch at an Oakland A’s game way back when she was the fifth of seven people to throw out the “first” pitch.

At the Hops game, I was going to be the second “first” pitch, while fellow AFOL and RLFM member Kat Sipe from DrKatBuilds had the honor of throwing the first “first” pitch. The announcer said her name, and she walked to the mound. As I watched her absolutely nail the pitch, I silently wished I had practiced more in the parking lot. The field feels a lot bigger when you’re standing on it…

When it was my turn and they announced BrickNerd and me, I walked to the mound waving like a celebrity because I didn’t know what to do with my hands. My handler flipped a sign from red to green, signifying it was time to throw. I held my breath, threw the ball, and watched it fly.

While the throw may not have been a strike, I made it all the way to home plate—which was my goal! Ryu the dragon might have even approved of the ball’s flight. Feeling pretty chuffed, I walked to home plate where I got my ball signed by the catcher and Barley, the Hops’ mascot. I joined my family back in the stands, ready for some baseball.

AFOL Outdoors

Over the next couple of hours, we took turns watching the game and exploring the stadium. There were picture-taking opportunities, inflatable fun in the outfield, hot dogs and popsicles.

After everything, we finally headed back to our seats to watch some actual baseball. It was a blast explaining how the game of baseball works to the kids. In between innings, we were treated to music and clips from Ninjago: Dragons Rising (which really helped hold my kid’s attention span—baseball is not the quickest of sports). At the end of the day, and while the Hops held the lead for most of the day, a late game surge by the AquaSox sent the game to an extra inning which sadly saw the Hops go home empty-handed.

But that extra inning gave me a little more time to reflect on the entire experience. Most of my LEGO conversations take place online or inside, and it was such a treat to go to a LEGO event outside. As we walked around, we chatted with people about why they came to the game that day. If we discovered they were an AFOL, it was fun to talk about Ninjago and which conventions they were going to. But talking to people who knew nothing about LEGO was equally exciting. Explaining what I get out of LEGO on a personal level and why I still play with it as an adult and with my kids was great.

So while the event and show might have been kid-focused, it was clearly a ton of fun for everyone, LEGO fans or not. Thanks to LEGO for the opportunity, and if you see a similar event in your area, take the opportunity to be an AFOL outside! (Though maybe leave the white bricks indoors…)

How do you combine being an AFOL and the outdoors? Let us know in the comments!

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