Ron and Vi Dreschel of Bloomfield never miss a Los Angeles Dodgers ballgame. If the team is playing during the dinner hour, their plates go to the living room. If they have made previous plans, the game is recorded to watch later. The couple may just be a little bit obsessed with watching the big league games, but with good reason. Their grandson is the Dodgers' third baseman, Blake DeWitt, who graduated from Sikeston High School just five short years ago. At 22 years old, says his grandmother, he is living a dream.

DeWitt played short stop at Sikeston and batted .558 with 15 home runs, 11 doubles and 48 RBIs as a senior. He was named to Baseball America's High School All-American first team and the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 3 all-state first team.

"Were proud of all of our 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild," says Vi Dreschel with a smile, "but you can't help being thrilled to see one of your own take the field in the major leagues."

In an almost unprecedented move, at least in Southeast Missouri, DeWitt was drafted by the Dodgers in the first round of the June 2004 MLB draft, at which time he was rated as the best high school "pure hitter" entering the draft.

Following a stint in the AA leagues on the west coast, the 22-year-old was moved up to the Dodgers starting lineup for opening day of the 2007-08 season when regular third baseman, Nomar Garciaparra, was placed on the disabled list.

"It was his dream come true," says a proud grandmother, "and although he was reassigned to AAA for a short time when Garciaparra was taken off of the disabled list, Blake is really making his mark on professional baseball and we couldn't be more proud."

The Dreschels have yet to be able to attend a major league game to witness the expertise of their grandson in person, but when the Dodgers come to St. Louis in August, they'll have a front row seat.

In the meantime, Ron and Vi Dreschel's front row seats are at home in front of the big screen, where they've watched No. 33 rank right up there with the big boys, earning an overall batting average of .358.

"Blake says he's living a dream," says Vi Dreschel, "but he's allowed for us to live it as well, every time he comes up to bat!"