One of My Life's Little Pleasures as a Dad...

As a kid, nothing meant spring more than a brand new glove filled with a few tennis balls, wrapped tightly with string and slathered in neatsfoot oil.

 

i dunno that any private time spent with my three stooges has ever been more rewarding than the first time i played catch with each of the stooges. thank goodness mrs. shockey taped all three events for posterity; i pill 'em out every once and again to remind me -- and them -- that i wasn't always a disabled, good-for-nothin' pop. and rekiindles memories of my catches with their grandpa.

it's been far too long since i could share that 'have a catch' moment with them. and i'm truly gratified that they love watching 'field of dreams' with me any time one of us decides to pull out the dvd.

and that nobody leaves until it's over... and none of us are shy or embarrassed about crying as the credits roll.

oh, and yes, here come those tears again. i love my boys so much. :'( :'( :'(

 

We used to back the car over it. Worked like a charm.

 

I wanted to teach my pug to play catch, but, as my wife pointed out, he's 35.

 

I have a kiddo who loves baseball, the history, stories of the players, etc.

Unfortunately, he has major technical flaws in his baseball skills when we play catch or when he bats.

I've never played the game in any serious way, so I don't know much what to tell him. And, the fact that he's left-handed complicates trying to teach him what little I know.

He's 9, so we've begun looking for a teaching league team.

I guess we'll both be learning more about how to play this spring.

 

My boys are 7 and 9, and I coach them both. Watching them fall in love with baseball is one of the greatest things I've experienced as a parent.

 

That's worth about $3 million in arbitration.

 

I've been coaching my boys who are now 9 and 11. Older one loves it, younger one is sitting out this year. Don't worry so much about how he's doing it, just make sure he's enjoying it. People who I consider alarmist will say "if you don't fix it (throwing, hitting) now, you're going to ruin him", to which I say pleeeeze. Hank Aaron hit cross-handed until he was over 20. Watch the games with your boy, on TV, older kids, anywhere, and he'll pick up how to play.

Yes I have taught my boys how to hit and catch and its great to see their form but they have their own individuality as well. I've never tried to make every kid do the same thing; just tried to teach them basics from which their individuality can be built upon.

Organized youth baseball games (until 10 or 11) are frankly brutal for them; there is a lot of standing around and not much action except for the pitcher and catcher. If they can keep their interest until their skills develop, they'll get to see how great baseball is.

 

If he's a lefty/lefty, he will eventually migrate to first base and the pitcher's mound. Resist the temptation to let anyone teach him how to throw a curve ball until he's at least 13. But once he's old enough -- i.e. his arm has sufficiently matured -- he can pitch forever.

 

My kids aren't really that much into baseball, or organized sports for that matter. We've introduced them to the sports, they've played Little League and soccer for a few years, and they're OK with it, but it's not something that they really love.

But occasionally, for a few minutes, they'll like playing a wiffleball game in the backyard. It only usually lasts maybe 5-10 minutes at most before they get bored with it, but it's minutes that I treasure.