Monday, March 1, 2010

We were ballplayers once...and young

I'm not a huge fan of the "When They Were Young" Insert Set in this year's Topps set. However, they do bring back many strong memories of my own days playing Little League baseball.

Looking back at my whole life, the one thing I would like to go back and do again is play baseball. I absolutely loved those years. Growing up in a small town, I didn't have any baseball options past Little League. No leagues for older kids, no school baseball teams. Thus ended the dream for me.



For a few, the dream goes on. I'm sure Daniel McCutchen and his mother had no idea a picture she most likely took would end up on a baseball card. I'm happy for these guys. Their dream is alive.

This brings me to the reason for this post. Today, my son will have his very first practice with his very first baseball team. He's 9 and never showed an interest in baseball until he started collecting last year's Topps set. The more he got into the cards, the more he got interested in playing. Many of the kids he'll be playing with have been playing organized baseball since they were 5 so he'll be behind their skill level. He's in a recreational league so it won't matter as much, and neither of us is really worried about it. I can't wait to see him play. Unlike my own playing days of which there is no visual record, I'm sure we'll have many pictures and videos of every moment. My dad never got to see me play once in the 8 years I played.

I love baseball and I'm not going to miss a single minute of his "career", no matter how short or long it lasts.

4 comments:

  1. That is awesome!!! I started when I was in 2nd grade and most kids had been playing since kind or sooner, but it worked out... I wish him the best of luck and you get a gold star for supporting your son!

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  2. Yeah, my dad also never got to see me play either. It's good that you're going to support your kid playing. I'm not that into this insert set either with the exception of this card.

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  3. For the record, Dan McCutchen is a very grounded young man with a good live arm. I just posted an auto of him as he is a great signer and posed for a ton of pics with kids this weekend. My Dad was always there, but he was normally one of about 4 men who did show up (not counting the loud ones who showed up drunk in the afternoon). He never said a word other than great game to me. I wasn't very good in little league, but he always said I was. That meant a ton to me then... When I got good, his attitude didn't change and I never got the huge head as a kid. That came later...

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  4. according to my wife now, I was never young!!

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