I viewed the memorial service today for the Charleston Southern player that died this past week. I was touched by the passion that the young man had in his life, including the baseball passion.

It has made me think about my own life and how baseball has affected my life and my son's life. I would love to hear how you think baseball has changed or touched you, that of your family, and your son.

Slow day in the room, so I'll start.

One of the most obvious things that hit me today was HSBBW and how its affected me. I came to this place just looking for some answers to what I felt was an overwhelming and confusing recruiting journey. What I found was way beyond that with some wonderful new friends. I'll also have a very busy spring as now I have one new major league player, three minor league players, several college players, and two more HS players to follow. Somehow, I will find the time to cheer for each of these kids and follow their careers in addition to my own son and son's former teammates. Can't wait to cheer for those Generals this spring!

Most of my friends have a baseball connection of some kind. I received a phone call today from a HS baseball mom friend and we're all going to get together in a couple of weeks for dinner and a night out. While son has his baseball connections, I've been blessed with many too.

I have been fortunate to have years in three great fields--construction, music and baseball

No knock on the other two fields of endeavor where I still have great friends but the baseball people have always been something special to me

Example --the man who coached me in LL in 1955 and again in Connie Mack as a JR and SR in HS,and was a Dodger scout-- some 40 years later came up to see and evaluate my son as a junior in HS.

Only in baseball does that happen!!!1

How Baseball Has Touched My Life...

As a 19 year old, there have been many, many things in life that I have done that either happened because of Baseball, or through Baseball. Through T-ball to College it was a driving force for many adventures in my life. Baseball also taught me many life-lessons, that were much easier to learn on the ball field rather then as some people would put it "the hard way." Such as the values of hard work and team work in order to be successful in anything you really need to excel in these two aspects. Most of all it taught us that we had a special skill.

T-Ball taught everyone not only how to play a game, but how to follow rules, and get along with others no matter what race, size, or ability. It also taught one another how to listen to some one other then our parents who was in charge. The big thing it taught us was it didn't matter how well you did something, just so long that you did your best. It was our first taste of orgainzed athlectics. T-Ball was a foundation in the development of my life. But most os all it taught us how something can be fun!

From there it was on to Minor League Association Baseball. These years taught us the three learning style. How to take something practical and use it and make it work, be it the proper way to lead off, how to judge a fly ball or even how to slide etc. Hands on approach, also known as tactial learning. It also taught us how learn visually as well through hitting and base running signs. The Coach would realy a sign to us whilst we were at the plate or on the bases, we had to understan what he was saying otherwise we couldn't perform our given assignment. The older we got the more complicated both these signs and assignments became. Having to be able to listen to our Coaches so that we would do the right thing was also taught at this age, auditory learning. If we didn't listen to the Coach odds are we wouldn't perform the task right, or the right way that it was being taught to us to do.

If we were still interested in the game once we got done playing Minor Association it was on to Highschool (for you Americans!). Here we were taught the art of perfection. Endless hours of practise to hone in on our special skill and develop it further. We were taught what a goal was and how to achieve it through practise, practise, practise. We were taught that there is always someone better out there no matter how good you are, that if you worked hard you could do anything if you set your mind to it. It also taught us how to handle heart break, not making Varsity as a Freshman, being benched for not following the rules. It taught us how important team mates (friends) were that no matter what they always supported you and will always be there for you when things go bad. Baseball also taught us that no matter how bad things are in your life there is always one thing that you can turn to, toget away from it all, Baseball.

For many it was just a game. But for some it was an escape from all the hardship, a place to go to relax and step back from the hetic world. We didn't know it at the time but this taught us how to prioritize and how to take time to relax for oneselves own benefit and not anyone elses.

For the select few that were really good at the game, it opened up more doors, drafted to a MLB team, or even the "simple" fact of being given a scholarship to attend College to not only further the development of your skill, but to further your education. Finally a reward for all that hard you had been doing since you were a little tyke!

College, what a wonderful word. Ideas of living on your own away from parents, no one to tell you go to bed or get your school work done. Or so we thought! Baseball in College was like our parents, more so our Coach. We had practises, games, meetings, and workouts on top of Class that we had to be on time for, and had no excuse if we missed any. If we did we were grounded, running laps or benched. We had to learn (and fast might I add) how to use time management. Our grades couldn't slip or we were put into study halls, these taught us that we needed to make sure we stayed eligible not only for Baseball, but so that we could get a good education so that we could get a good job once College was over. We were taught the importance of family, being away from it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Most of all Baseball taught us how to be independant and that everything is always changing for better or for worse.

I can now see how people can say; "Everything that I've learnt has come from the Baseball Field".

As I sit back and look at just recently everything that has happened in my life I am grateful for Baseball, for if it was not in my life I don't know where I'd draw my strength from, nor my experiences from to get by.

TR - I couldn't agree more!

Doc - No matter what happens with your injury - you have a lot of life ahead of you. Obviously, baseball has played a part in your maturity that enables you to express yourself so beautifully. You'll be very successful in whatever path you go down.

If you peak at my bio information, it says that many of our personal friends have come through baseball. Thus, it has been very important to me. I would say that still greatly holds in that I have met many new and special ones through this site. Many stories come to mind actually.

Here is one I'll call "Win One for Me"

I never sought to be a coach on my son's teams mainly because I am not that good politically speaking with other parents. My main talent was keeping score and being able to relate to 11 and 12 year old kids on their level. When coaches found they could rely on me to keep score, that became my role and I usually kept score on the bench. Over the years, I kind of became the bench Coach because the other coaches were always out managing the bases so I kind of kept order on the bench - in a nice but respectful way. Things like getting rallies started by wearing my hat backwards, keeping the kids heads into the games, acting like a kid on occasions, high-fiving with the kids, and yelling ocasionally. In short, I loved it. As with many parents on this site, there was a core group of kids that played together for years and years. Thus, over the years, I grew close to them.

The last tournament of the summer was about upon us and although we had come close that summer, we had won mostly second place trophies if any that summer. I had just left a job I had for 15 years to start a new profession and one that I had to pass a very difficult test - the bar exam. Thus, I had to give up my role on the team and devote full time to studying.

After a game I pulled the team aside and thought I would give them a routine announcement about leaving and felt I owed them an explanation since I had been doing it for so long. Well...I never realized how difficult that was going to be. I had sun glasses on but tears began welling in my eyes. I found I could only wisper to them as my voice quivered. I told them that I would not be there for the rest of the summer except for one game and only if it were the championship game of the final tournament. I said, "Please go out and win that one for me, I believe in you boys" To a kid, before they went home, they came up and gave me a hug and said that they would get us to that game. Well....to tie this in to the theme of this thread...baseball touched my life that day and I can remember it like it happened yesterday.

Well, I kept studying and would always get anxious when I knew my son would be getting home to get the latest updates from the tournament which was always scheduled for the last two weeks in July. Our team was winning and I would remind my son to just get me to the championship game. Believe it or not they did make it to that game! I put my books aside the next night and assumed my customary role on the bench. I could tell the kids were glad to see me but they'll never know how much their excitement meant to me. We were all kind of feeding off of the moment. I was kind of surprised the kids had made it that far and the kids were so proud that they could come through on my request. It was a magical game that we ended up winning 3-2. The game itself is a story for another thread. I'll never forget what those boys did for me.

Thanks lafmom. The posts by CD and Doc_K_Kid are tough posts to follow!

Baseball has touched my life but only through my son. If it weren’t for my son I guess I would watch a few games a year and maybe the World Series but that’s about it. I loved to play the game and I played up until I was in my early twenties but it always remained just a game.
Baseball became important to me when I realized it was something my son really cared about and it was something I could share with him. This was when he was about ten or eleven years old. Baseball was the bonding agent between my son and me. Baseball became a method of teaching him the fundamentals of life. I don’t think baseball in itself teaches a young player a lot about life but it sure does provide a great opportunity for a parent or an adult to do so.
I know this sounds strange but there are times I wish my son didn’t play baseball. It’s just my personality. The baseball pathway does two things and they are both unstable. The pathway is always gaining altitude and is always narrowing. It will get so high and so narrow that you realize your son is walking a “high wire”. While the bond between my son and I is as strong as ever, baseball is no longer the catalyst it was. In the last few years it has become “his” baseball and “his” job. He will be the first to tell you I played an important role during his younger years but we both know that is no longer the case. While this may sound depressing it really isn’t. That’s the way we both want it. So what lies ahead? My greatest baseball moment will be I see my son taking his son to the back yard to play catch.
Fungo

Fungo - I agree with you. Baseball in and of itself is not enough. It's the fact that it can be used as a bridge between parents and kids that truly make it special

In reading the stories here I was reminded of something very important in our lives. Especially in my son's life. I have talked about before that my son has never really liked school. HS was literally something he did so that he could play baseball. You can never know for sure those "what ifs", but I feel certain it would have been a much longer road without the motivation of baseball attached. My son's HS coach was awesome. I can actually remember him making Michael bring homework to a practice, which was absolute torture for a kid like him. The first game of his sophomore year, grades were down and coach benched him for the start allowing him to come in the last couple of innings. Believe me, that sent a message. Also, while I've raised my kids with the understanding that college is an expected part of their education process, I knew having baseball attached to it would be important. I think that even if he was hurt tomorrow (throwing salt over my shoulder), that he would want to continue his education now in order to be a part of the baseball world as a coach. Son always enjoyed a variety of sports and was a good athlete, but nothing ever drove him like baseball. I guess this isn't a direct result of baseball, but it's certainly a reason I'm happy it's been a part of our lives.

Baseball is the greatest game not only the game itself but in the life's lessons that it teaches us. Baseball is also a game of failure! What game or job can you be succussfull 3 or 4 times out of 10 and be considered good? In baseball you have to learn how to deal with those failures and when you do the mind set stays with you through out your live. Baseball is also about family and building relationships. My dad took the time to work with me and coach me and I have done the same for my son. I know he will do the same as he already teaches the young kids on his own! I think once baseball gets into your blood that you always want to give something back to the game. I know once my son is done playing I will go back to coaching and teaching the game of baseball. I know my family has made a lot of sacrifices along the way. We missed vacations and spent endless hours doing fundraising and practicing but it was worth it and we have made so many friends and have been to so many neat places that we will have memories for ever.