Pensacola Blue Wahoos centerfielder Bryson Smith, a 27-year-old prospect in the Reds' farm system, helped his team stage a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the weekend and then popped the question in front of more than 5,000 fans. Smith has been carrying an engagement ring for months waiting for the opportunity to propose to his girlfriend of six years, and finally got the chance with his family in town to see the game.
Via MiLB.com:
"I've had the ring since February, so, dude, I've been feeling like the Lord of the Rings guy trying to get rid of the ring and everything. I just don't want to lose it. The panic set in about mid-February when I got it. It was all great and I was all calm until, I think, about the eighth inning. Then when the eighth inning hit, I'll tell you what, I wasn't thinking about any baseball going on."
Smith admitted afterward that he's glad no one hit a ball to center field because he was so focused on his proposal.
"If you watch the video, I'm in the outfield just saying to myself exactly what I'm going to say," he said. "I had this whole thing planned. I'm not even watching baseball, and I'm in center field in a one-run game
.... Finally, I got her out on the field and that whole speech I had prepared, I couldn't tell you if I said one word of it. I went with the flow of it. Thank God, I wasn't mic'd up because there's no telling what I said."
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