Bachelor and Sons

Tyler's baseball season has ended, but there is no rest for the weary. He's now in preparation for his freshman year in high school. Two weekends ago, he had tryouts for next springs baseball team. He made the team, along with a number of boys who played either Freshman or JV ball for the high school this spring. The new team has a pretty aggressive workout schedule for the remainder of the summer and fall. This includes Nike Sparq training to increase agility and speed. Hopefully this will translate to a spot on the high school team next spring. Meanwhile, he is attending "open gym" sessions for basketball on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays with a number of players from last years JV and Varsity teams. Thus, he is now in some sort of workout for 6 days each week.

On the academic side, Tyler is taking an advanced language arts class this year. A requirement is that he read "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" this summer. He has some assignments due when he shows up for the class this fall. He is about half way through the book. I've been reading along with him. I think the alternate title of the book should be "Mythology: The Complete Cure for Insomnia" as it is guaranteed to put you to sleep in 1 minute or less. I'm not sure if the ancient Greeks really believed this stuff, or maybe these stories were actually just skits for their version of Saturday Night Live.

Zach is spending a lot of his summer traveling. He has gone up to the Tawas City area a few times with his friend. Right now they are up at Mackinac Island. He also traveled to Cleveland where he attended an Indians versus Washington Nationals game. His friend Luke's father is a coach for the Nationals, so Zach got to sit in the family section.

Zach is also prepping for his driver's test. He is getting to be a pretty accomplished parallel parking expert.

Last night, Friday, July 2nd was Tyler's last game of the season. He played shortstop next to his friend Shawn. Below are a some boys he sent to their dugout early...

They were unable to stop Tyler.

Tyler and I just returned from Omaha, Nebraska. We drove out on Wednesday the 23rd. Tyler's team, the Player's Edge Sluggers, had a game on Thursday and two on Friday. On Thursday morning, I checked the "Ticket Exchange" to see if we could upgrade our tickets to the College World Series Game 10. We were able to get 4 tickets just above 3rd base for the Oklahoma vs. South Carolina game. Two of Tyler's teammates went with us. The game went into extra innings and didn't end until the 12th, so we definitely got our moneys worth.

All the baseball facilities we played at were great. They had grass infields, press boxes, bleachers and great dugouts. We played in small towns around Omaha, namely, Nebraska City and Blair. I'm not sure how small towns like that can have such great ball parks compared to Michigan.

This week Tyler plays the final 3 games of his regular season. If they can win two of the three, they will probably get to go to the district tournament. After that, baseball will be over for another year.

Ahhh! What to do for the rest of the summer...

A few weeks back, we purchased a car for Zach to drive, once he gets his license. It is a 2003 Chevy Malibu. Of course, the first thing he wants to do is replace the CD/Radio with one that will interface with his iPod. Forty years ago, I wanted to do the same thing, but the decision was either 8-track or cassette tape. Things change but stay the same.

Tyler's best game of last weekend was the second one, Saturday afternoon. He went 3 for 3, with 2 doubles and a single, and an RBI. In the 4th inning, with the opposing team making a rally attempt, he was playing at shortstop. There were runners on 1st and 2nd bases with no outs. The batter slammed a line drive seemingly over Tyler's head, so both runners took off. However, Tyler managed to leap high enough to catch the ball, putting the batter out. When he hit the ground, he threw over to 2nd for a second out, followed by the second baseman's throw to first, for the third out. Triple Play!

His team won the two Saturday games, 14-2 and 8-6. On Sunday, it rained. Actually it poured, but just during the 3rd inning when Tyler was pitching. The ball was wet and slippery, and he couldn't keep the water from running from his hat down over his eyes. When it was the other team's turn to pitch, the rain stopped, the grounds crew raked and cleaned up home plate and the pitcher's mound, and they had no problems. That game was lost 9-4.

All in all, his team did well. Now they have 2 weeks to get ready for the next tournament and the opening of the regular season.

Each year there are certain days that we anticipate. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Super Bowl Sunday, last day of school, first day of vacation. And for us, we anticipate the first game of Tyler's baseball season.

Tyler's team was formed back in September. They have been practicing indoors all winter. Outdoor practices started a few weeks back. Tomorrow is the first game of their season. Actually, the weather forecast is for rain, but barring that, they will be playing at 8:30a.m. in their first weekend tournament.

Like the other player's, Tyler is anxious. So are the parents. There is lots of talk about who will play what position, and what the batting lineup will be. Everyone wonders if the team will be good or bad. Tomorrow those questions start to get answered.

So, what's the big deal anyway? It's just a kid's game. Lots of people belittle parents for "reliving their youth through their children". Maybe some do. But for me, it's not really that. It is more about the shared experience with a child you have loved, reared, and helped to grow up to be what you think is a good person with character. That they might have a talent is a bonus. It is about empathy, the capability to share another being's emotions and feelings. It is a rare opportunity for our thoughts to go outside of ourselves. You are elated when they perform well. You feel their pain when they make mistakes or fail. You can read their thoughts in their expressions and body language. You feel pride when they react maturely to adversity. When the team wins there is joy, when they lose, you feel their frustration.

Tyler won't sleep well tonight. That is alright. He will live his dreams tomorrow. It is just kids playing a game. But, it is important. In the baseball movie "Field of Dreams", Doc "Moonlight" Graham said "You know we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then I thought, well, there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day."

That quote has meaning for the kids. And, it has meaning for their parents.