9 posts tagged “baseball”

  What is it with the Spring?  It's nice during the week but as we get closer to the weekend and baseball it is rainy and windy.  Today was no exception.  Wind gust up to 20 MPH and occasional rain peppered today's game.  We played the Red's. 
  For some reason everything seemed to click for our team.  Pitching was pretty good as was the hitting.  They're still not quite as aggressive in base running as other teams but they also don't run into as many outs that way.
  BDog had a good game himself.  3 for 4 and a walk.  He didn't hit it out of the infield but he ran hard and made a few singles.
  Behind the plate he was even better.  Twice he threw out a runner trying to steal third.  He also tagged out (Collided) with a runner attempting to score and held on to the ball for the out.  Pretty cool to watch.  He also played short and center but didn't see that much action there.

  The team won 22-5 so now they are 2-2.  They have another game tomorrow and hopefully the Sox (Ugh) will show up like they did for today.

  A good outing and I missed it.  Another baseball game for the boy and he pitched for the first time this year in the first inning.  I had some conversion issues at work so I was held up a bit so I didn't get there until inning five.
  In speaking with the coaches and mom, BDog did pretty good.  Walked the first guy and gave up a hit but he also got a strike out ground out and pop out stranding 2 on the bases.  A blank inning is pretty good in this league so I was quite proud of him.
  On the hitting side he took some good swings and had a long drive to right but the fielder was able to track it down.  He's starting to look a little more comfortable up there but there is still some rust.  We may have to take him to a batting cage to work it out.
  Oh, and the White Sox (Ugh) won!  I arrived at a tied 5-5 game.  We then scored three and they scored two with one inning to go but the game was called due to darkness.  We'll take it.  We're now 1-2.
  I did get to see BDog catch for an inning.  No one stole on him this time but he did have another dropped third strike and the batter advanced.  Gotta work on that.
  Next game is Saturday.  Maybe with the new glove...

  Due to some frenzied bidding at a recent auction (How do you pass up a good deal!) we acquired some new baseball mits for the kids.  Originally they bought a mit for Bdog and me but I already have two (Purchased an extra when I thought I lost one then found it the next day).  So I gave the larger one, 12" to BDog and smaller one, 11" to MJ. 

  While we were out last night getting a helmet and bat for BDog, we also found some glove conditioner.  I thought it was a good time to get mine in shape after having it for a year so we spread some paper and went at it.  Of course I had them do their own and they thought it was pretty cool.  Kind of greasy but Dad was LETTING them do it.  At least that is how I pictured it.  In reality, they were probably wondering why I didn't do it for them.

  So now we get to work on the break in process.  We've never done that for the kid's gloves before but hopefully these will be long-term gloves so I want it done right.  At the moment they are tied up with a ball in the glove to help give them some shape.  After a day or two, I'll have the kids throw into their mits for a while just to break them in. 

  It's fun to be able to show the kids how to do something like this.  I hope they will be able to use the gloves for a while.

 

BTW - We were using a 29" bat at 22oz for BDog and that was a bit heavy and short for him.  That's one of the reasons we were out because we wanted to find a longer bat.  Ended up at Play it Again Sports and found a $150 bat for $40.  Not bad.  Its 32" and 19.5oz so hopefully it will last a while.  That plus he's in an Adult sized helmet.  I swear he's growing up too fast.

  BDog had his first games this weekend for the local rec league.  He is in the 11/12 age group (Majors) and is playing by full baseball rules.  So there is leading off, balks and runners can steal home.  The hardest concept I think is the balk.  There were some obvious problems but for the most part they let the kids work through it as it is an instructional league.

  BDog did pretty well.  Saturday he hit 2 for 3 with two base hits, 3 RBI's and a sacrifice (Fielder's choice to first).  He played Left, Third and caught for 3 innings.  I tell you what, catching when it's real baseball is an art.  There is always something going on and you need to be on your toes.  BDog did ok and more importantly he had fun.

  Sunday was a little different.  He slept over at a friends house and was pretty tired all day.  For batting he was 0-4 with two strike outs and two hitting outs.  Didn't quite have the pop.  He again played left, third and caught for 3 innings as well as played first for an innning.  His fielding was pretty good although twice he dropped the third strike and the batter advanced to first.  The redeeming part was that each batter made it around to third and tried to score on passed balls.  BDog was able to get the ball to the pitcher both times and get them out at the plate.  Of course, a little latter on another passed ball the runner scored but BDog was getting better.

  His team is the White Sox (Ugh!) and they lost both games.  Saturday by 1 run.  They had a boy get injured in the middle innings with a pop foul ball hitting his glove then upper lip and he went down.  The Sox lost their composure for a bit and gave up a bunch of runs but fought back.  It was good to see them stay in the game like that.  Sunday they trailed the whole game and gave up some big innings early.  They stayed within striking distance but could never overtake.  They lost by 3.

  Next game is tomorrow night.  Hopefully BDog will be rested.

  Oh, and MJ should be finding out in a few weeks what softball team she is on.  It will be a busy spring!

  BDog had another baseball practice rained out.  They had their first and only scrimage planned for last night but we ended up having another storm roll through.  (.31" for the whole day)  While my new seed likes this weather, it's not so good for baseball.

  Opening day is today with first game at 2:30.  We're hoping to get this one in but the kids really haven't had sustained practice to knock the rust off.  Hopefully most of the other teams are in the same position.

  As I stated in my previous post, BDog was sick on Saturday prompting him to miss baseball practice.  He had topped out at 102 for his temp early in the afternoon.  Well Sunday, he woke and was still running 100 or so.  We filled him with meds and the temp came down, his cough subsided and he felt better.  So we took him to practice.
  One of the drills they had the kids doing was running the bases.  BDog got winded pretty quickly and the coach told him to take a break.  The missus, not wanting him to be a slacker, told the coach that BDog should suck it up.  (Tongue firmly in cheek)  BDog never did hear the comment and the one coach laughingly told the other about it.
  BDog did end up staying in the whole practice and his cough was gone for the rest of the day.  I guess getting outside helped a bit.  He also got to pitch a bit and warm up his arm.
  Of course, he is home sick today because his cough is back and worse than ever.  The missus is taking him to the doctor to see if something is up because he's now been sick 3 or 4 times this winter.  Always a cough and sometimes a fever.
  Anyway, I thought this was funny and in no way were we going to let BDog do more than his body could take.  Matter of fact I was prepared to pull him but he said he was ok to keep going.

P.S. What is it about parents staying for practice?  They don't!  Our whole family stayed to watch and help out if needed and we always have.  We enjoy watching the boys practice and I usually shag a few balls or throw BP.  Not other parents.  Drop off the kid and then show up when practice is over.  I guess we are just weird.

    "What's the best photo you took this year?  Show and tell!

  I normally don't post an answer to the QotD but I had to on this one.  There are two photos that I am quite proud of from this year.  Both are photos of our kids.

  In the first one, we were getting ready to go to MJ's Piano Recital.  The kids were ahead of us leading into the building and this opportunity was classic so I had to shoot it.  I think it shows how well our kids get along as well.  There also is a hint of big brother protecting little sister in the way he is leaning toward her:

  This photo was from the 10 year old All-Star game in which BDog played.  He was in at third base and a good friend of his (#8 on White Sox) was trying to steal the bag.  I was behind first snapping photos and didn't realize how this one turned out until later.  The kicker is that the runner was called safe, but you can see the ball in BDog's glove touching the runner's right.  AND, the runner's left foot was not quite on the bag.  Oh well, no instant replay in Little League...

 

Who says you have to buy your way to a pennant???

Check out this article recently posted on ColoradoRockies.com

 

Philosophy Shift Has Shaped the Rockies

 

 

I've been talking with Kid Nitro all spring and summer about trying out for Travel Baseball for next year.  Tryouts are this weekend and I was really hoping he would go for it.  I guess not.  At one point near the end of baseball season he was interested but that has waned a bit since then.  I asked him one last time last week and he said no.  I said that's ok and that I wouldn't ask him again.  Oops, did I say that?  Guess I'll have to stick by that one.

Do I think he would make the team?  I don't know.  He is talented and when interested can be very good but the missus and I have agreed to not push him.  We would like to see him try out to see how he stacks up against others.  I'd say he would be a middle of the pack kid in the travel group or in the top quarter or so with the in-house league.

It's like how one coach responded to us when we asked if Kid Nitro could play up a year when we first moved here.  He said Kid could be average or worse at the next level but a star in his age group.  (Plus the league doesn't allow playing up)  We kept him in his age group and he's been an All-Star two out of three years.  Something to be said in that.

The father in my wants to let him make his own decisions and live with the consequences.  The competitor in me (Yeah, it's in there a bit) wants him to go as far as he can.  I guess I'd rather him be happy (or at least satisfied) playing at the level he is at then pushing him to go Travel and be miserable with all of the practices and games.

On the plus side, we don't have to worry about saving up money for Travel ball and all of the expenses that go along with it.  Also, we won't miss having to go to practice twice a week starting in February.