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Veteran surprised by Modesto Nuts honor, but that was only the beginning

Modesto Bee - 7/1/2017

July 01--What figured to be a pretty good holiday weekend for Modesto's Michael Richards just got a whole lot better.

The retired Stanislaus County Sheriff's Deputy and U.S. Army veteran was honored by the Modesto Nuts on Friday as the Veteran of the Game.

But that, essentially, was a ruse to get Richards onto the diamond at John Thurman Field. When it came time for him to be presented with a red, white and blue Nuts jersey ... he realized he'd been duped.

Presenting Richards with the jersey was his son, U.S. Army Specialist Robert Richards, who'd not seen his father in nearly two and a half years.

"I had no idea," said Michael Richards, who brushed away tears from underneath his glasses as he spoke. "He was supposed to come home (Saturday)."

But Robert Richards wanted the reunion to be memorable and cooked up a plan.

"I told my sister that I wanted to surprise him and she took it over from there," said Robert Richards. "She told me where to be."

Christina Richards got in touch with Joe Tichy, director of in-game entertainment for the Nuts and the two hammered out the details. The team provided Robert with some Nuts apparel, so that he might better blend in with the team, and then stashed him in the dugout.

He nearly didn't make it in time, fighting a back-up on Interstate 580 that delayed his arrival at the ballpark by an hour, about 20 minutes before the first pitch.

Meanwhile, Michael knew there was a surprise in the works -- one of his grandchildren partially let the cat out of the bag the night before -- but he had no idea what it might be.

Just before the bottom of the second inning, Michael was escorted onto the field along the first-base line where he received a nice ovation from the crowd for being the Veteran of the Game, a promotion sponsored by Black Oak Casino every Friday and Saturday night at the ballpark.

A nice surprise, he thought.

But when his son's name was announced as the presenter of the jersey, Michael immediately was overcome with emotion and embraced his son as soon as he reached the first-base line.

"I've actually never seen my dad cry," said Christina. "So that's a pretty good reaction."

Just imagine Michael's reaction on Monday when the family gets together to celebrate Independence Day. It will mark the first time -- ever -- that Michael and wife Peggy will have their five children and seven grandchildren together under one roof.

And if that's not reason enough to celebrate, birthdays certainly are.

Granddaughter Addison had a birthday on Saturday, twin daughters Brianna and Tiffany have a birthday on Wednesday and grandson Cristian has a birthday Friday.

"The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday," said Christina. "And this will be one of the best ever."

Robert, a military police officer, was stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before being reassigned to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He's again being reassigned, this time to Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Wash. The move to the Pacific Northwest gave him the opportunity to visit family in the Central Valley.

"It's always been a goal of mine to do something like this," said Tichy. "It worked out well. We're in the business of making memories here and this will be a lasting memory for their family."

And the Fourth of July now will have added significance for the Richards family.

"I'll wear this with a lot of pride" said Michael, looking down at the jersey presented to him by his son. "I guess I should put it on."

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(c)2017 The Modesto Bee (Modesto, Calif.)

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