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Reds minor leaguer proposes to girlfriend on the field after a game

Ballpark marriage proposals are nothing new, but it’s not often they involve ballplayers. But Cincinnati Reds minor leaguer Bryson Smith put his own spin on a familiar theme after his Class AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos’ 5-4 win over Birmingham.

Tyler Maun at MiLB.com has the story:

After his team rallied for a 5-4 victory with a run in the bottom of the eighth, Smith pulled off the moment of his life in equally dramatic fashion. Before a crowd of 5,038 — with most still on-hand — the Reds farmhand proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Raphaelle Lombardo, and headed out of Blue Wahoos Stadium with a win and a fiancée.

“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,” Smith said while trying to avoid covering a Wahoos staff member’s phone with shaving cream, courtesy of the clubhouse smash in the face he got from teammate Ray Chang. “I just don’t want to lose it. The panic set in about mid-February when I got it….

“She’s my dream girl, so I’m lucky to land her,” he said. “That whole speech had me going. From the second inning on, I was freaking out, just ready to spit it out and get it over with. Now I’m happy we’re in the next stage.”

So that’s sweet. Smith, a 27-year-old outfielder, is off to something of a slow start at the plate for Pensacola, but there’s little doubt he’s having a great year.

(Thanks to Eye on Baseball for calling our attention to this story.)

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