Ian's first day of baseball: Spring Training 2008

From 2008 04 20 Sp...

(A rare blog entry by Daddy)

Last Sunday was a momentous day. In fact, it was so momentous, that it inspired Daddy to make his first ever blog entry. (Yes, it certainly is about time!).

Sunday brought one of those moments that I have pretty much been looking forward to for just about as long as I have ever thought about having kids--the day I would take my son out and start explaining to him what baseball is all about.

Some of my fondest memories growing up involve playing baseball. For a period of four years, every spring my Dad would take me to games and practices at the local little league and he was always there to cheer me on and give me pointers. I can still remember the nervous excitement I used to feel before every game. After each season, I would try to get my baseball fix whenever I could, usually by simply having a catch with my buddy Alex or by scratching together a minimal cohort to have a game. As one could expect, as I've gotten older, the opportunities to play baseball have gotten fewer. Thinking about all the time I spent with my Dad when he took me to games and practices and remembering the fun I used to have on the field over the years have made me determined to try to share the joy of baseball with my son. It is my hope that in a couple of years when Ian is old enough I will be able to find enough time outside of work to coach his team. Ok, that is more than enough background...

So, last Sunday Ian and Daddy headed off to the park to play baseball. Daddy quickly learned that his expectations were not realistic for a three year old! Batting was first on the agenda. I thought, okay, I'll show him what a batting stance looks like so that he has a picture in his mind of what we're trying to do, but Ian was more interested in trying to get the bat out of Daddy's hands so he could do it himself. Daddy quickly changed tack and gave Ian the bat. It took a couple of tries before he understood that you're supposed to stand sideways when facing the pitcher, but he was up and swinging in no time. Now timing that swing to coincide when the ball was passing by him was another matter. Ian's preferred method was to wait until the ball passed him and then to chase it down and hit it with a golf swing (he must get that from his great-grandpa and his grandpa). After watching the ball sail past Ian several times without so much as a flinch, Daddy decided to try something else. Ian's practice swings were pretty good, so I told him to take a couple of practice swings and tried to throw the ball to hit his bat while he was swinging. As luck would have it, we made pretty good contact on the second pitch and the ball went flying past Daddy. Yeah! "You see Ian, that's how you hit a baseball!!". (Daddy was pretty excited.). "Ok," Daddy thought, "Now that Ian knows what it feels like to hit the ball, let's try swinging at another pitch.". But perhaps predictably (I can say that now) Ian still preferred his watch-chase-golf swing routine. (Daddy's a slow learner and it took him a while to realize that there's a reason why they make Tees for baseballs.) Still, though, the mission was accomplished as Ian was able to experience hitting a baseball for the first time (how cool is that!?!).

Pitching was next on the agenda. Since Ian and I did not switch places, Ian was a little confused at first and wanted me to face the same direction he had been facing--in other words to bat lefty even though he had been batting righty. I managed to convince him though that I was facing the right direction. Then, he started parroting what I had been telling him earlier. "Ok Daddy, don't look at me, keep your eyes on the ball!" Ian's pitching turned out to be surprisingly good. He hadn't warmed up to putting his glove on yet, so he was free to pitch both righty and lefty:


Ian shakes off the sign.


Ian quickly learns that it's all about having a commanding presence on the mound.



Ian smokes one by.


A little high and inside... Ian likes to keep the batter on his toes.


Right on the money!

Both Ian and Daddy had a lot more fun with Ian pitching and Daddy batting (and Daddy got pretty good at hitting the ball off of one hop) but I know it's only a matter of time before Ian will be making good contact with the ball too. After we took turns batting the ball, I wanted to see if Ian was up to catching the ball with his glove on. When we first got the the park, he didn't seem too interested, but to my surprise he got pretty into it after batting practice:

Diving catch! (No, not really! Daddy has a little fun posing Ian...)

Oh, I almost forgot to mention... If you've been reading this blog, you know that Ian is really getting into spelling and numbers right now. While we were playing baseball, he would stop every once in a while and ask me what the various words on the ball and bat were:

"Daddy, do you know what this spells?"

Ian discovers the joy of looking out from the inside of his mitt.

I have to say that last Sunday was a true father-son bonding experience and we had a great time. Ian didn't want to leave but when I reminded him that Uncle Francis and Auntie Zeynep were coming over, he said "ok" and headed off to his tricycle. Okay, I guess that about wraps it up for this entry.

Baseball rules!