Youth baseball. A sport with varied skill levels. Some kids can knock the cover off the ball and others have never put on a baseball glove before (you can tell these kids because they always put it on the hand they throw with.)Baseball is a sport with no time limit, no clock. The games could last forever … literally.It is a sport played outside, during the unpredictable weather of the spring. Games rarely get cancelled, making for some interesting situations.This season, those windy 40 degree days made me thankful for the other 165 hours of the week I wasn’t sitting in a cold lawn … [Read more...]
‘Baseball Dads’ Hilariously Beanballs Youth Sports Culture
If you have a kid playing any kind of organized youth sports then you know all about "daddy ball" -- the practice of father/coaches giving preferential playing time and prominence to their own children. You may be guilty of it yourself or you may be its victim (really, your kid is the real victim but we know how sports parents think it's all about them).If you fall into the latter camp, then immediately get yourself a copy of Matthew S. Hiley's Baseball Dads. "Sex. Drugs. Murder. Children's Baseball." That's the book cover's tagline and, like a list of ingredients on a food package, it … [Read more...]
On Spring Training and Lessons in Failure
Failure at something is how we learn. We try, we fail, we adjust, make notes, turn a tweak and try again. We may eventually win or we may find something else along the way that takes us in a whole new direction.
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“I’m not good at it,” he said, as if that were reason enough not to try.“What does 'good' have to do with it?” I asked.“I can’t do it.”“You won’t do it,” I corrected. “There’s a difference.”We were standing outside the batting cage with a handful of quarters and helmets that smelled of sweat and disinfectant. I had planned … [Read more...]Integrity, Sportsmanship, Character and My Kids
Editor's Note: The Baseball Writers' Association of America announced the results of its annual Baseball Hall of Fame election two weeks ago, stirring the debate about whether players linked to steroid use should receive this highest honor. Writer Carter Gaddis cast one of the 440 ballots in that most recent election. I used to daydream about meandering through the Baseball Hall of Fame with my sons. I tell them that as an honorary lifetime member of the BBWAA and a Hall of Fame voter, I proudly played a small role in helping to commemorate the history of the game.Every now and … [Read more...]
Oh, Baby – What a Play by Dad!
Dad, baby in front carrier, foul ball.Ingredients for disaster or proof some fathers can do it all?Watch the video and read about what happened at yesterday's Mets-Phillies game on Penn Live. … [Read more...]