I know where it is. I see it pretty frequently, but, unless you knew it was there, you’d probably miss it. I picked it up, rescued it really, from the lawn mower a couple of years back and put it in a fairly strange place. It was hiding in the tall grass, all the way back in the yard, just this side of the home-run fence. It was what we always called a “game ball” to differentiate it from a “practice ball.” Game balls come off the bat hotter than the smooshy practice balls, so it was worthy of a rescue. If you’ve ever been around wooden fences, you know that sometimes the posts begin to … [Read more...]
Foul Ball Memories Shared Between Baseball Loving Fathers, Sons
There is this ball that I have sitting in my office. To many, it looks like just any other baseball. On most days it just sits there, without someone even looking at it. There is no signature on it, and I have yet to fill out the placard on the baseball stand. But I treasure that ball. I wouldn’t say it’s Babe Ruth-esque special, but I’d still be upset if William took the ball to the sandlot one day. The story behind that ball dates back to 1996. A good year for me as a young boy. My local high school baseball team won the state baseball championship, and it seems that anytime something … [Read more...]
My Competitive Son Wants Only to Win. Have I Done Wrong?
Little League begins this weekend for my son, BR, and me, his coach. This is his last year in the league, and he made his goals clear. Me: What are you thinking about for the upcoming season? Son: We have to win a championship. Me: Well, every team wants to win, and only one will. I mean I want to and everything, but to say we have to… Son: No. If we don’t win, it’s a fail. It’s our final year, and we haven’t won yet. So, it has to be this year. So Little League wasn’t about the time we spent together. It wasn’t about him getting better as a player. It wasn’t about him getting … [Read more...]
Cold (and Often Long) Facts about Spring Youth Baseball
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...]