Six Year Old Knows His Stuff

Our six year old son is a nuclear powered baseball nut.  Mrs. Scott and I are fans, but we decided before having kids that we wouldn't force sports (i.e. baseball...i.e. the Giants) on our kids.  But, one day when he was 18 months old, a Giants game was on TV, and he became instantly engulfed.  He learns all the players, collects cards, pastes newspaper clippings all over his room.  On and on it goes.  He's been playing pee-wee ball since he was four and even tried out while he was still three.

Two pee-wee teams he has played for have been the Red Sox and Cardinals.  So, on top of being a Giants fan, he's taken some interest in whatever pee-wee team he's on.  He just got drafted this winter on to the A's.  Anyway, when with the Cardinals, he was handed uniform #5, which is Albert Pujols.

Today, there was a spring training game on TV between the visiting Cards and the home Sox.  He knows all the channel numbers, too, so I walked into the room with the telecast already on.  As they gave the starting lineups, he noted all the players he knew from just having an interest in those teams.  As the last infield warmup throw went to first base, the camera zoomed in on the Red Sox first baseman as he tossed the warmup ball to the dugout.  He asked, "Dad, didn't that guy play for the Padres last year?"  Simply amazing.

New Hat

It was my birthday this week, and my oldest son got me a new Giants hat.  The Sunday hat with the orange bill.  I haven't had one of those since 1982 when they had a similar hat.  That one was a cheap hat for a promotional hat day, and it wasn't constructed very well.  But this one is the official hat.  Thanks, son!

Benjie Mowina

Okay, game one of the 2010 World Series in San Francisco and they're announcing the starting lineups and extras.  Renel announces Rangers catcher Benjie Molina.  What do the Giant fans do?  Cheer?  Boo?  Remain silent?

Although our five year old's favorite player is Tim Lincecum, he loves to play catcher in pee-wee ball.  Molina (pronounced Mowina) has been his favorite catcher.  This year he made the pee-wee All-star team, and chose uniform number 1 to wear in honor of Molina.  He got to catch a few innings, throwing his arms up and yelling, "YES!" when the manager asked him to catch.  Although he's very small, with the gear on he resembles Molina.  I would be okay with a Giants/Rangers World Series, and I'm sure our son would be too.

Pee Wee Backstop

Our four year old had his first practice game with the pee wee Red Sox team. Minutes before taking the field, the coach announced that he would be playing catcher. "Oh, boy! Catcher!" He has a strong fondness for catchers, even at four years old, so putting the gear on was a true joy for him. He played well for half the game. Because he's so small, the gear was huge on him. The shin guards came up to mid-thigh, and the chest protector came down to his knees. No problem, though.

The coaches pitch to their own team in pee wee league. What I didn't notice until after a while was that he was putting his fingers down between his thighs and giving signals to the pitcher. Amazing.

Pee-Wee Red Sox

Okay, our four year old was drafted by the pee-wee Red Sox team. He had his first practice today, and it was muddy. He was intimidated by the format and group of other kids, and didn't think he was good. But, I think he'll do okay after a while. He loves all the peripheral things about baseball, like shopping for cleats, wearing his batting gloves and baseball jersey.

Pee-Wee Tryouts

Our three year old turns four next week. He's trying out for Junior Optimist pee-wee's. Today was the tryout. Pee-wee's are five and six year olds, with four year olds allowed if they can play well enough. They have to be four by a certain date to play, which is after tryouts. So at three, he's in the same grouping as some six year olds. He hit some balls (coaches pitch to their own teams in pee-wee), shagged some grounders, caught balls thrown to them, and threw balls to somebody else.

Trying to be as unbiased as possible, Mrs. Scott and I think he did as well as the average kid. He's small, so he doesn't have the strength as the older kids, as some hit the ball much farther. He had a lot of fun because he loves baseball. Some of the kids that play aren't interested much or play at the insistence of parents.

It's been raining for several days, so it was extremely muddy. Our shoes are caked with a mixture of mucky clay, pea gravel and tan bark. Everybody was about two inches taller because of the mud. It wasn't raining at the tryout, which was good. There was some great baseball conversation amongst some of the dads. We'll know next weekend how the draft went.

A Great Day At The Ballyard For A Future Star

Last week I took our three year old to the Giants game vs. the Rockies to see his favorite player pitch, Tim Lincecum. He put on a lot better show than the Giants did. We arrived very early, as the Giants were unveiling a new feature, "The Wall of Fame" on the sidewalk outside the third base side of the park. Bronze plaques of Giants players who have either nine years of service with the Giants or five years plus an All-Star game selection. We met many players, JT Snow, Kirk Reuter (who shook his hand), Johnny LeMaster and sooo many more. We attended a "meet the young players" meeting, with the Giants top minor leaguers and prospects. It was dry for a three year old, so we walked around the club level of AT&T Park.

He remembers a "statue" of Snoopy, and I showed him the many pictures on the wall and jerseys and other memorabilia in glass cases. I showed him a big picture on the wall of Willie Mays' catch in the 1954 World Series. "I have that picture in my book" he replied. We went downstairs to our seats and ate sunflower seeds. He's pretty good at spitting them out. Before the game we watched Lincecum warm up. The next morning he showed Mrs. Scott how he did his stretches.

Several innings into the game, we hit the cable car and he rang the bell, went down the slides inside the Coke bottle, then hit the "kids fun lot." It's a mini diamond where small children can play whiffle ball. He made it clear that he needed his hat and glove. He already wore his Giants uniform. When it was his turn, he got up to the plate. The pitcher (a ballpark employee) took one look at his size (very small, even for a three year old), and scooted up to pitch. He drilled the first pitch on a line drive square into the pitcher's chest, nearly knocking him off his feet. He ran the bases, then took his glove out into the field, where later he played catch with some older kids, about 8 or 9 years old. I over-heard one of the older ones remark to his friend that our son was so talented that "he'll be a pro someday."

The Giants got killed by the Rockies so it was okay that we stayed in the fun lot for so long. In the late innings, most people had taken their kids home, so our guy was the only one left. He had dedicated BP. He drilled one pitch after another. The pitcher remarked that he was a "line drive back up the middle" type of hitter. He has his own batting stance, no doubt taken from watching on TV, a cross between Don Baylor and a right handed Bobby Tolan. The pitcher remarked to him that he doesn't mind the ball coming back up the middle, but to not hit him in the face. He also hit several balls over the fence of the yard. It was an amazing display of hitting. A crowd of 10-15 people had gathered outside the rail and were actively cheering him on in almost utter disbelief as to what they were seeing. I blew it by not having a video camera.

The Bullpen

If we don't want our youngest to get into things while we are busy with something else, we put him in his play pen. As a baseball family I wonder why it took us so long to come up with a nickname for the playpen: The Bullpen

My Five Year Old Heckler

I took our kids to the Giants game the other night while Mrs. Scott stayed home to be with our baby soon to be. It was fireworks night. Our five year old started a pretty impressive streak of heckling of the Rockies bullpen. This lasted for three innings, almost non-stop. He took cues from everybody else, daddy included, but held his own. It was incredible some of the things he thought to yell. He even gained somewhat of a cult following from some of the fans sitting behind him.

"Hey number 3-2. You're a big zero!" "Hey, you're a popsicle head!" I wish I could remember more. Great start. We'll see how much can rub off on him and how much he can create by himself.

Our Two Year Old Ticket Holder

Our youngest child turns two this year. At two years of age, both the Giants and A's require tickets. Meanwhile, down in San Diego, tickets are required based not on age, but height. In 2004, we saw the new ballpark. Our oldest son was three, but since he wasn't yet 36", he didn't require a ticket. Our youngest is small, so he might get in free at Petco for quite a few years.

Now You're Daddy

I was playing baseball with our 3 1/2 year old the other night. He's got a nerf type bat, and I pitch an undersized soccer ball to him. He's getting pretty good at hitting it. He still gets easily frustrated when he swings and misses, so I'm constantly encouraging him in the negative. "Everybody misses, even the baseball players. When I used to play baseball, I used to miss a lot, too."

"You went to the game with the players?" he asked in a way I could tell that he was asking if I used to play.

"Yes, I used to play baseball, and I missed the ball, too."

Knowing I didn't play anymore he said, "But now you're daddy."