What does "winning" look like to you?

Winning is so much more than the final score on a stat sheet....and last night, before, during, and after a Padres' "loss" against the D-Backs...my son WON, and so did some special Players for the Padres! Here's a letter I wrote to the Padres' front office this morning...

 To Bud Black, Nick Hundley, Jedd Gyorko, Logan Forsythe, Anthony Bass, Yonder Alonso, Mark Kotsay, and Phil Plantier. I wanted to say thank you for giving my son one of the best nights of his life!

 A little background: My son Caleb is 16 and has Cerebral Palsy. We were sitting in the front row, right by the on-deck circle at last night's (Tues, Aug 27) game. While you guys battled hard, and the game was amazing to watch, unfortunately the scoreboard says you lost.

 I want to tell you though, you did no such thing. You won! You won hope and dreams before we ever stepped in the ballpark when you personally responded to a tweet about the upcoming game. You won the unending smiles that were put on my son's face when you signed a ball, and came over and took a picture w/ him before the game. You won the awestruck shock and amazement that you would take even a quick peek and wave at him or smile at him, or even tossing him a foul ball during a major league baseball game while you were on deck and preparing to compete at the highest level of your sport. You won the gratitude of a father who loves his son more than life itself, because you showed my son there is more to life than winning and losing on a scoreboard, and that you valued his life, even for a moment, more than the glamour that comes w/ being a major league baseball player.

 For Caleb the night was topped off when Mark Kotsay came over DURING THE GAME and gave Caleb one of his "gamer" bats. Who does that?! In the midst of an epic late inning rally and with the game on the line, he took the time to think of a young fan w/ a disability. Thank you SO MUCH Mr Kotsay!

 We will ALWAYS be Padre fans, but more importantly, we will always be fans of the men who were such an example of what the human spirit should be all about. YOU WON!

 A grateful dad, Troy Norling (and Caleb)