Play Ball !

It happens every spring; pitchers and catchers report to southern training sites and soon after, your favorite Major League Baseball team heads North to begin that annual quest for best.  I confess, my first love has always been baseball. Even though I coached basketball for thirty-nine years it is baseball that I find most fascinating with its multi-intricate strategies. The reason for choosing basketball to 'coach' was driven by the higher pay-scale and the fit of my controlling personality to 'mold' players into sharing teammates, which is not a must in the sport of baseball.

There is a grandson from each of our three children's families embracing the baseball sport at various stages. The Howell family (daughter Pam and husband Tim) find their sophomore son Caleb playing right field and leading off for Eastern Illinois University. Connor O'Keefe, Barrington high school freshman, begins official baseball try outs this week, which means daughter Dawn and her husband, Shawn will anxiously await to see if the lefty pitcher makes the team. Finally, the Granite City Roustios, (son Steve and Kathy) engage in that laundry list of activities to raise the incredible amount of monies to support that elite travel baseball team on which, their fourteen year-old son, Jamie will play this spring and summer.

 I recall playing my baseball at each of those levels but perhaps with less fan fare and far less financial burden. I note that the off-season preparation for today's baseball hopeful is much more organized and elaborate compared to my personal experience. Although, I did travel to Southern States with my Illinois State University baseball team each spring, I never did prepare all winter long in formal practices because I was also playing basketball. As a youngster, I played youth Little League baseball and high school baseball but I never attended private lessons; not the case with the grandsons. The bulk of my preparation was summer months and endless hours spent playing sandlot baseball or some 'lead-up' game that complimented baseball skill development. Let me explain. If I was not involved in a sandlot baseball game, I was tossing a tennis ball against steps and fielding the rapid ball-return thus developing quick eye-hand coordination. I played endless hours of 'pepper-games. and I was always playing catch with a neighborhood friend, Indian ball with several friends or 'three flies-in' at dusk.

I cannot remember the last time that I drove by an empty sandlot to see boys playing baseball. It seems long ago that I have heard the noise of a wooden bat dropping on a street pavement in our neighborhood. Regardless of the changing preparation methods, I think players today are just as skilled if not more skilled than those of my generation; however, I do have reservations about the modern players' mental toughness and leadership skills; I perceive a 'softness.'

It appears that my wife and I will be heading to the Metro-East area, Chicago and Charleston to see the grandsons on their respective fields' of dreams...hey, great way to spend a summer afternoon; 'Take me out to the ball game!'