Some great memories following your son

That's Called Leadership

TJ makes those teams barefoot and without a glove anyway.

 

There has been so many but this is one of my favorite! I was coaching my son’s 9/10 year old rec team. My son was on the mound and has always pitched really hard. He had been doing really well but slipped in the third inning and pegged a guy that you could tell really did not want to hit against him anyway. Not a good scene and the parents for the other team started to let me have it because they were worried about this kid that pitched so hard. I did what a coach should and keep my back to them. Well, in the sixth inning now and my son hits another batter and next to bat is that poor guy that got hit earlier in the game. It took everything the other coaches could do to get him in the box and yes you know what is about to happen. Plunk!! Now this is the good part. As I am pulling my son from the mound the father of the batter is calling me all sort of things that I would rather not write. As I was standing with my back to the fence he was right behind me telling me what he thought of my mother. I took all I could take and spun to let this dad have it when I had to stop! It was Robby “child star” Benson! My son made Robby Benson bless me out. Ok, it was really my fault but everyone knows we always leave our kids in the game too long. I have heard since what a great guy he is but have not had the nerve to try and meet him. It makes for a great laugh(now) between me and my son.

 

There are a ton, but this one was great....

It was a fall season, my son was almost 7. The very first practice was held at a field that was more of a pasture than anything. Where he played, practices were as big of a deal as games....moms, dads, brothers, sisters, everyone stayed to watch. He was warming up with the coaches son who was almost 9 and twice as big as him (at least). The coaches son threw him a ball and it hit the ground before it got to my son. It hit a 'clod' of dirt and my son moved out of the way. After he retrieved the ball, the coaches son very seriously said..."get in front of that ball, if it hits you in the mouth, I'll pay for your dentist visit." Out of the mouths of babes!

I guess the 9 year olds advice payed off, because the next spring during a game, a kid hit a hard ball to my son at SS. He stayed in front of it, but didn't get his glove up in time and so he caught it with his mouth. There was alot of blood, but my son wiped it off, said he was okay, and stayed in the game. The very next play was almost identical except this time, he caught the ball and got the out.

His 'toughness' as a competitor makes me more proud than his fielding percentage and his batting average. Whatever sport he is playing, he wants to guard the best, play the best, hit against the best.

I have pictures of him guarding guys that are playing basketball or have played at UNC, Cincinnati, NC State, and Wake Forest. Is he a great basketball player...not at all, but when the big guys needed a break and coach said who wants the job...my son who is a guard and less than 6 ft tall welcomed the challenge.

In baseball, he wants to hit against the best pitchers and play the best competition possible. He is disappointed if a great pitcher is in and the pitcher gets taken out before he gets the chance to hit off of them.

All of these are great, but I guess my favorite is when he was named athlete of the year at his middle school. His academic teachers started a standing ovation, not because of his athletic accomplishments, but because of his academics and his character. I think that is when I realized that the person you are is so much more important than the athlete that you are and will have more impact on others than how far you hit a ball, how many great catches you make or how many basketballs you dunk.

I still love remembering the athletic accomplishments and hearing about others athletic successes, but I really love hearing about the great character of so many of these young men being discussed!

 

Thanks Mom for raising your son right

 

A funny story I remember with my younger son. Tryouts for Dixie Minors for all eight year olds. Weather was awful so they moved the tryouts into the rec dept gym. The guy running things was not the brightest bulb in the box and decides to pitch these little guys real baseballs to see them swing. Well my son is the very first kid in line and the very first pitch just gets blasted up and out of the gym. Thats right, I said out of the gym. It is one of the old WPA project gyms with the high windows around the top of the gym. My son's shot shattered a window in the far corner and landed in the parking lot. It looked just like the final shot in the "THE NATURAL". Needless to say my son was the very first kid picked in the draft and the funny thing was he really had no developed skills at all at that point.

 

You know, Mom? Without knowing your son, I feel I know him. What a classy young man he will always be. Whatever path that leads him, he will be a bulldog and a fighter (one that I would want on any real life team that I was involved with)

Congratulations on a raising such a fine young man

 

In 2002 we won our first USSSA tournament as 10 and unders. We were so proud as a team. When we got home, my son started crying and threw his trophy on the ground breaking it. I was stunned!. He told me that he didn't deserve it cause he didn't get to play that much. He's right, I was the coach and quite frankly his attitude and lack of hustle kept him off the field alot. I explained to him that because I'm the coach does not give a right to play, that he must earn it with respect for the game, hard work and desire. That moment 6 years ago changed him tremendously. He's now a pretty good little ball player. That was a life changing moment for him and me!

 

Determination

There have been many fond memories over the years, but I guess the one that stands out most happened a couple of years ago. My son was a freshman at Butler on the JV team and we were playing at Providence. The first game Providence spanked us, 10 run'd us in 5 innings and my son did not get a hit. Before the second game he looked angry and I asked him "what was up?" All he would say is "what happened last time, ain't gonna happen this time". To my amazement, my son was the starting pitcher. Now he had thrown a few innings that year (3 exactly), but my son is no pitcher. I believed that this was going to get real ugly, real quick! To my surprise he was doing pretty good and my reflux was beginning to calm down. Then in the 3rd he hit a rocket HR off of a very good Providence pitcher. In the 6th, a Grand Slam off of another good pitcher. Butler won 10-4, he had 6 RBIs and allowed 2 runs before leaving the game in the 6th inning. The entire team showed determination and will that day. It was my son's last JV game, he was promoted to Varsity the next day.

The reflux returned when he faced Madison Bumgarner last year!

 

What a great story!

 

Ok you guys and ladies are going to keep this serious and not let me turn it. Problem is my son reads this and will ride me hard if I get to mushy. Truth is I could not be more proud of my son. With all the things I could write about things he has done on the field the thing I am the most proud of is all the hard work that no one every sees. As much fun as the last eight years of watching him play ball has been, it’s the man it has turned him into that makes me beat my chest! Man I hope he does not read this because he’ll come up wanting a kiss or something. I will always love this game for what it has done for my family!