Showing posts with label Baseball. Show all posts

Well I noticed that I still have some followers so that means one of two things have happened. One you were waiting patiently for my return to see if I had anything else to say or two you were too lazy to stop following. Regardless of the reason, you are still here so I figured I could drop in myself.

Well at last post my son was playing baseball. He had a pretty decent season and he truly enjoys the game as much as dad (thank you God). We took 2nd place and that's pretty decent. Lost the championship game but the boys played their hearts out. Just wasn't meant to be this time. He is already enrolled in Fall Ball and excited as can be to get started.

I figured that I was done with my ball playing days. After all I'm almost 44 and broken down to the nth degree. What could I possibly have to prove? I figure that by now if there is something I haven't accomplished on the ball field it's just not gonna happen. So what keeps dragging my sorry old butt out there to play again? I am gonna go with ignorance. My friends tell me that it's just my first love and I can never let it go completely (that's why they made the Wii).

So a co-worker tells me about this co-ed league he is in and he says "you'll love it, it's really low key and everybody just hangs out after the games. We are just there for a little fun, nothing too serious." I'm thinking that is just for me. No serious running and no serious attitude. I forgot this is me and I'm not made that way. I play to win, regardless if it's co-ed, men's league, little league, or eventually nursing home league. I don't like to lose and I especially don't like to lose because of something I did.

First sign that this wasn't gonna be so good. The second practice we had. I realized that I still have the ability to play and as I get older I can hit the ball much further and harder than in the past (could be the extra 25 lbs.) I'm enjoying myself to no end on the field just fielding grounders and hitting the ball to the fence and then disaster struck. I come flying around (trotting) 3rd base and hit the base wrong. There goes the hammy. No big deal though, it was just a slight pull and I let up when I felt it. No real damage done. Next at bat I crushed it ( I really did) and as I'm admiring the shot down third base line as it heads for the fence I ....fall on the way to first base. Apparently everybody but me was focusing on the first base line and I tripped...down I go. Hurt the hammy a bit more, but even worse the knee is swollen like the softball I just hit. I'm relagated to 1st base in the field and a courtesy runner if I'm lucky enough to limp to first after hitting it.

Nobody really laughed at me when that happened (not to my face at least). It only took me 3 weeks to recover from something that used to take 3 days. but hey I'm still walking and I've decided that I have to come to grips with the fact that I'm not 25 anymore. I've learned to hit far and run slow. I've also learned that infield is not that bad after all even for an old outfielder. We are doing pretty good, and I'm thinking that if I can just keep from falling down anymore I might even try this again next year.

On a side note. My dad is doing really well since his transplant. My parents went on vacation last week to Santa Cruz and my dad was able to walk up and down the hills without any problems whatsoever. In fact I had more difficulty than he did. Of course I didn't tell him that and I sure didn't let on that it was killing me to walk a step ahead of him all the while telling the old man to hurry it up.

so 7 more weeks of softball and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If I get up the nerve I'm gonna take a couple of pictures of a game. That should be good for a laugh for anybody who looks at it.

Play ball!!

It's coming on that time of year again....

BASEBALL!!!! I'm gonna see my first love once again. Baseball was the first thing I found in my life that made me forget about my appetite, made me forget about the TV. It made me forget homework, school work, girls, cars, and everything in between. Am I a fan of any team? Sure, but I'm not the true armchair fan that some are. I'm a fan of the GAME. Little League, High School, College, or Pro I could care less. I will go watch softball as quickly as I'll go watch a pro game.

My youngest son decided that he was going to play this year and I can't even put into words how excited I was to hear that he was going to give it a shot. He played T-Ball for a few years and was pretty bored with it but because he is so dang small we were a bit nervous about him playing last year. This year he wouldn't be restrained and we relented. He is doing fine and as far as athletic ability goes, he has more than enough. So now my quandry begins.

He was picked by a team here in town. The coach is a fellow who has never played the game before. His son is playing and he wanted to be involved. I say great. So he has a couple other people helping him and they didn't play either. There is one woman out there that played ball and she seems to know what to do, but it's very hard for one person to go around helping everybody.

I coached and managed baseball and T-ball for many years. We won a few championships along the way too. More importantly my players almost all played ball at high school and a dozen or so played college. We even had one get to AA ball. I always felt that the important thing was to develop their love for the game and the rest comes after that. if you don't appreciate it, you don't have the drive to get better. You have to want to play to become a player.

So enter my son's coach. Non-player coach is trying. I give him credit for stepping out on the field to try this. It's never easy to go outside your comfort zone. He is definitely not in that comfort zone. He is reading books and watching video to get ideas for coaching tips. I've decided to stay out of it and just cheer my son on. Tonight that became very difficult. We have gone to the batting cage or played ball in the backyard and the ball park for years. I've pitched to the boys for a good long time and have always shown them the proper way to hold a bat, how to stand and how to use their lower body to generate some power. Tonight my son was given a different batting stance and a different way to hold the bat. It looked awkward and he did poorly. I understand that it's the first time he tried it, but it's wrong and I admit I was tempted to say something. I zipped my lip and let him try it the way the coach said.

After practice I spoke with my son about the way he batted and he informed me that it was the way the coach told him to hit. His coach said this would help him see the ball better and some other crap that I disagreed with. I asked my boy if he liked it and he said no. I explained to him what the new stance he was in was (open stance) and I also explained to him why some pro players use that stance. He then explained to me that he wasn't a pro and wanted to know why the coach had him stand that way. I opened a can of worms without really trying to. I told my boy to give it one more try in practice and this weekend we would try it, but if it doesn't work for him he doesn't have to keep using it.

My quandry....What is the most important part of baseball? Is it learning the fundamentals? Is it learning the love of the game? Is it just to get out their and try your best? I think it's all of the above. Unfortunately I think that coaches who try to coach without understanding the game do a great disservice to those kids they are trying to teach. If you want to help out I think that's great, but if you don't know what you are doing don't offer to run a team. And shame on the league for letting somebody with absolutely no knowledge of the game having control of a team. Let them be assistants, but don't let them run it.

Time will tell how the season will go. I just hope at the end of the day my son still has an appreciation for this great great game. A bright spot has been my middle son has found a little spark of interest in ball again as well. Fingers are crossed that when the season tryouts open for his age group he will decide that he wants to give it another shot.

I don't care if my kids are ever great ball players. I do care if they like the game or not. I want to be able to sit down and watch a game with the boys and have a good ol' fashioned argument about if the runner should steal of if the guy was out at third. That can only happen if they, like me decide that this is a pretty great game. I just worry that a few bad experiences at a young age could wipe out that possibility.

Little League Here We Come!!!!

I guess that I grew up a child of the 70's. Although I was born in the 60's my childhood until teen years was spent in the 70's. I have so many great memories of playing sports, riding bikes, catching pollywogs at the pond. We would get the wrist rocket (slingshot) and go out shooting cans. There were the occasions with the bb guns as well. All in all we had a great time. In my town there wasn't a great fear of many things happening. No worrying about the crazy guy in the van stealing kids, or gangs. We worried about getting sick sometimes when a bad flu season came, but other than that life was pretty simple.

My first big baseball game was in 1977. I was in the Little League City Championship. This was my first year in little league. Back in those days you played tee ball through 8 years old. Then you would try out for Little League. If you were good enough at 10 you could play major league. If you weren't you played minor league. ALL 9 year olds played minor league. It gave them a chance to learn the fundamentals of the game, and to grow up a little bit and see how the game is really played when not using a tee.

Now everybody on our team was not 9 years old. There were some 10, 11, and even one 12 year old. The important thing was they played at the same level as us 9 year olds. It wasn't a matter of holding someone back to win the minor league games, because kids our age wanted to be in the major league. They wanted to hang out with their other friends that were also on a major league team. So here we were a group of 12 kids. I was the smallest, but I understood the game fairly well. Unfortunately one thing that hasn't changed is the smallest kid usually ends up in right field. Let me correct that statement. The smallest, worst or second left hander on the team. The bigger left hander would be the first baseman. I had two strikes against me. I was the smallest and the second left hander. I didn't care though I loved the game and would play anywhere the put me WITHOUT an argument.

So there I was playing my heart out. Surprisingly enough a good amount of action happens in right field when you are in minor leagues. A lot of the players swing late and hit quite a few balls onto the right side of the field. Needless to say with two good teams we had a busy day in the outfield on both sides.

My coach was a fair man. His name was Harry and his assistant was named Mike. They were both HUGE men. Not just to a kid either. Harry was 6'3" and Mike was 6'4". They both had a number of years playing and coaching baseball and we listened to every word they said. The equalizer on our team was a 10 year old named Brian. He could hit.....HARD! So many homeruns it was crazy. We loved having him on the team and he was a humble kid with a good bat, and even though his glove was only passing good, it was good enough.

So the rules say that every kid plays a minimum of 2 innings in the field and one at bat. I had 4 innings in right field and I must say I had a good day. Two base hits, and I caught a few fly balls and even threw a kid out at second base. The coach told me that I had to stay in the next inning because we had two other kids that needed to play. I was a bit upset but that was the rule and I didn't question coach.

The next inning comes and goes with no damage. 3 up 3 down on both sides of the field. This sets up the last inning and we are in the lead by 1. 6-5 and they have a runner on first. The next kid hits a ball to third base and our player bobbles it. Two kids on base and the next kid up hits a HIGH fly ball to guess where......Right field.....The new right fielder backs up and gets under it just like we had been taught all year long. We are all on our feet, and it's so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I think that our whole bench was holding their breath. He's under it and has his glove open to receive it. One hand under the glove to "guide it in. That's when the ball hits the palm of his glove and he drops it. By the time that poor kid picks up the ball and throws it in the batter had scored an in the park home run. We are now losing by 2 runs. We pat him on the back and tell him don't worry we will get it back.

The bottom of the inning and we get a runner on 1st. The next pitch and he steals 2nd. The batter hits a high fly ball to right field (told you there was action out there). The right fielder catches it and our runner gets to 3rd. That brings up the power hitter. He hits a hard grounder right to the short stop. Our runner jumps off the base and makes the short stop hold the ball so our batter can make it to first. Two runners on base and who comes up to bat? Yep the right fielder. It's only one out so we figure that the worst thing that could happen is he will get out and we have one more chance. First pitch he hits a slow ball to the pitcher who throws to 2nd and then to 1st for the only double play of the game. We lost 8-6.

Do you know what happened after the game to that kid? He went to the pizza party with us and we had a great time. We laughed about the season and all the silly things that happened. There wasn't a cuss word spoken on the field. My parents were out there just like everybody else's parents to hug us and embarass us telling us how wonderful we did.

Funny thing, my life didn't end because I wasn't out in right field to catch that ball. I wasn't up to bat to make a base hit and be the hero. Who knows maybe I would have dropped that ball too (NOT). I coulda struck out or hit into a double play as well(NOT AGAIN). I'll never know, but he made it through all of that as well. Nobody beat him up, he wasn't shunned at school, his parents didn't embarass him by shouting what a loser he was on the field. We just accepted it as part of the game.

I watch a good deal of baseball nowadays. I see coaches cheating to get certain players on the team. I watch parents lie about their childs age so he can get one more year at the younger age group and be the hero. I listen to parents criticize their child on the field, as well as someone else's child. The fact that a child makes a mistake is not acceptable any more. We don't allow our children to learn from those childhood errors. We want them to grow up now. We want them to be just little adults even when they are 10 years old.

I spoke with a friend of mine this weekend. He told me that a sponsor pulled out because they didn't feel they were getting the proper exposure because the team wasn't very good. Are you serious???? These are children. They aren't out there to offer exposure to a business. They are out there to learn how to play a game, but more important than that they are going to take the lessons learned on the field and apply them to the rest of their lives. So parents/coaches remember that when you are teaching your kids how to play. Remember that play is part of the game. It's not all work. It's not all about success either. We learn far more from the hard losses than the easy wins.

It's a sign of the times, that people are moving too fast now. They want to get their kids grown up and out of the house, moving towards their careers before they are teenagers. Here's an idea, let your kid be a kid. Let them experience all the great things that kids are supposed to experience. They will have plenty of time to experience all the crap of adulthood.

So sign your kids up for youth sports and support your local teams. Cheer em on, but don't put em down. Our kids need us to show them how good it CAN be. On a side note, the business that pulled out of sponsorship received such a backlash from a portion of the community that they jumped right back in. I promise you that regardless I won't do business there ever again. They have shown their true colors and that's enough for me. I should also make note that those parents that got together to offer their time and money to cover the expense of sponsorship should be commended. Many of them didn't have the money to do it, but they wanted their children to have that opportunity. Kudos to you!

It's just about that time of year. I can feel it already. Baseball season is fast approaching. There is no better time in the world if you are a kid, or if you are a grown up with the mindset of a kid (me). I can smell the outfield grass as I sit here typing this.

I am a fan. Dodgers are my team. This isn't about pro baseball though. This is about Baseball season. This is about 9 teammates focusing on one thing. Beating the snot out of the other 9 teammates. It's about keeping your eye on the ball. Following the grounder into your glove, and maybe if you are really lucky diving for that foul ball and coming up with a snow cone grab. Yeah I am a bit excited.

This will be my youngest sons first attempt at Little League. He is 8 and I've been informed that I shouldn't worry because he is more than ready to get out there and give it his best. I'm excited for him, because these are going to be the best years of his life. He is going to make new friends, and find some heroes out there that he will look up to for the rest of his life. When he is a parent one day, he will look back and remember one of his ball coaches fondly, and tell his kids some great baseball story from his childhood.

There is nothing to think about when you are on the ball field, except hit, catch run, throw. That's it and nothing could be more simple in the world. You don't have to hit hard and you don't have to catch well. You don't have to run fast or throw accurately. You just have to try. You have to get dirt all over your uniform, so your mom is complaining that she can never get that stain out. Big strawberry on your hip? No problem, it'll go away after the season is over. So will that big scab on your shin from sliding (figure 4) into second base over that gravel they call an infield.

After the game, you get your snowcone, and you sit in the bleachers and watch the next game. You get to trash talk with your teammates about your game. You get to make fun of each other, and nobody is getting mad, cause it's part of Baseball. Sometimes you are the hero and sometimes you are the goat. Doesn't matter though, cause everytime you still got to be out there on the field. You got so taste the dust and smell the outfield. You heard the crowd cheering you on when you came up to bat. You were alive and excited for the chance to be the hero.

Basketball season is Ok..So is Football and don't get me wrong I'm a fan of all sports. I played tennis in High School as well as baseball, football, and basketball. BUT....nothing and I mean nothing compares to Baseball season. Peanuts, popcorn, hotdogs and coke. To hell with the crackerjacks, but give me some pink popcorn. I'll gladly sit through every Saturday from now till August and watch these little guys live out their dreams of glory on the Baseball field. That is time well spent, and I for one can hardly wait!

OK, so I'm a bit of a sports fan. I played sports when I was a kid. For that matter, I played them as an adult, until about 3 years ago when I realized that I had lost more than a step. I had a hard time giving up baseball (and softball), it was such a part of my life and watching is just not the same as playing.

Since I'm sorta on the sidelines nowadays, I get to relive my youth by watching my nephew play baseball. Now Ryan is a great fielder. In the 10 years I've watched him play I can only recall 3 errors that he has made in the field. Batting is not so strong for him, but he still manages fairly well, and is a starter on the high school team as a second baseman.

So this time of year we have what's called Fall Ball (duh it's fall). There is no score in these games except that every parent and every coach keeps score. So it's not officially scored, but trust me people pay attention to it. It's supposed to just be a sorta practice session for all the high school teams to prepare for the regular baseball season. Some of the kids don't take it serious, but for the most part the kids seem to play it like it's a scrimmage and they hustle and try their best.

Unfortunately for us there are very few good umpires at the High School level. There are even fewer good umpires in Fall Ball. In fact there has been one game that I was happy with the umpires so far in Fall Ball. I sorta figured that this was practice for the umps as well as the players. So I try not to be too critical, but I'm a big baseball fan, so it's hard not to scream at blue when he makes a bad call (blue is the umpire for you non fans).

So bring us to the game this afternoon. We are playing at our home field, and while there isn't too much of an advantage at this level for home field (since all umps suck). The advantage lies in the fact that I don't have to drive out of town to watch Ryan play. The game is pretty nip and tuck, very close most of the time.

Unfortunately for us, the umpire behind the plate is the epitome of what is wrong with high school umpires....inconsistent. The guy can't decide where the strike zone is. The kids don't seem to be getting overly upset with him, although there were a few times that I thought they were gonna argue with this blind schmuck.

I figured that since we had such a load of crapola behind the plate at ump, maybe we would make up for it with our field umpire. Usually you don't get stuck with two total morons in the same game. Well I guess today was just our lucky day. The guy in the field couldn't make the same call twice if his life depended on it, and the guy behind the plate just deserved all of the not so pleasant thoughts I was sending to him. I considered the Jedi mind trick, because I remember obi-wan saying that it worked on the feeble minded and this guy was if nothing else feeble minded. Reminded me of Tom Cullen from The Stand. If you have never seen or read The Stand, I suggest you check it out, just so you can get a better understanding of how terrible this guy was.

So we got 4 innings of bad calls, from the field and behind the plate. I noticed that the kids stopped caring all that much, but the coaches and parents (and uncles) seemed to be pretty unsettled. Thankfully, the game was called after a 2 hour time limit (the only good thing about Fall Ball). My nephew went 0 for 2 with an RBI and a walk. So I wasn't too terribly upset. I always feel bad for him if he doesn't hit well (silly since the kid is 17).

I have come to the conclusion that if all the umpires are going to be this bad, then I'm absolutely glad that it's still football season. I would rather complain about bad refs compared to bad umps.