Saturday Evening at Dreams Park (HDR-Enhanced)

The Parking Lot of Dreams Park (the fields are down below in the background)

Just After the Opening Ceremonies: ~1,200 kids!

Jack — The Kid We Were There to See

Jack Gets a Hit

Jack Digs for First Base

9:00 AM — Benton’s first soccer game of the end-of-season tournament

Sanga (Benton’s team) wins…although the camera caught Benton getting burned by an opposing player right in front of the parents’ sideline (for which he received some lighthearted ribbing…and proceeded to almost get the giggles on field):

10:30 AM — Benton’s second soccer game of the tournament

Again, Sanga wins, so they remain in the tournament.

Benton and one of his really good friends (as in “go-to-the-farm good friend”) were the defenders for the duration of the tournament and showed some really good hustle:

Benton commented as we were driving home that he really enjoyed his teammates. A high five with Brandon after Sanga scored a goal:

Carson keeps himself entertained

Carson split his time between the playground at the soccer fields…and practicing his newfound anime-drawing skills:

11:00 — Alana’s last game of the season

Not the most aggressive player, but she did get a breakaway and make it all the way down the field to score a goal.

12:00 PM — Benton’s third game of the day

Sanga lost a close game, which ended their run in the tournament (if they’d won, they would have played in the championship game):

His “ballsiest” play of the day…:

Alana took Julie’s phone and found some shade to pass the time:

We then headed home with instructions to all three kids to go veg’ in any way they saw fit (I got to fight a week’s worth of heavy lawn growth with the mower, while Julie finished getting the garden planted). Then, at 4:45, Benton and I headed down to Ohio State for the start of the Dublin Dodgers baseball season.

6:15 PM — Benton’s first game of a doubleheader to start the baseball season

Benton pitched the first three innings of the first game and had a great outing (and it’s not just that he looked great with his pinstripes and eye paint):

In his first pitching outing of the season: 3 innings, 10 batters faced, 1 hit, 35 pitches thrown, no runs, no walks, 4 strikeouts. So, he’s looking at an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.33. That won’t last, but we agreed that I’d get into the batting cage with the pitching machine if he goes the whole season without a walk (that won’t happen…but I’m also on the hook to embarrass myself that way if he hits a double; if he hits a triple this season, he gets to invite his teammates to come watch). The team went on to win the game and then drop the second game of the doubleheader. Benton’s offense wasn’t quite as strong, as he went 1 for 4 with 2 walks, a popup, and reached base on an error, so he’s starting out batting .250 with a .500 OBP (all of which is pretty meaningless after two games…but I can’t help myself). He was as bubbly about baseball on the drive home as he had been about soccer in the heart of that season.

He went straight to bed when we arrived home at 11:30 PM.

Benton pitched 3.0 innings in the first game and then briefly came in in relief in the second game for 0.2 innings. To date, he’s sitting on a 0.00 ERA, but it’s a bit early in the season to get too excited about that! He caught a pop-up while he was pitcher for one putout, and, in the second game, he caught a fly ball to deep center field. By his own description, he’s seen better days offensively, but it was still respectable: 4 official at bats that include 1 strikeout and 1 hit (a single), 3 walks, and he scored 2 runs. So, he’s started off the season batting .250 but with a .571 on-base percentage (but who’s counting?).

Unfortunately, the Dublin Dodgers dropped the first game 9-5 and fought to a 9-9 tie in the second game. But, the team has clearly improved over the past few seasons, and is starting to have some consistent hitters who regularly hit for power. In other words, the games are just that much more fun to watch!

A Longhorn batter — I think it was Kevin Lusson, but I’m honestly not sure exactly who it was — came up to bat early in the game. Early in the count, he got out way ahead of pitch and sent a hard foul shot straight at the 3rd base dugout, where the Kansas players stood watching. The ball hit a player — it wasn’t clear if it hit him in the face, the arm, or the hand, but he fell backwards, and there were a few minutes of serious concern about his well-being. Luckily, he got checked out and was okay, for which he got a nice round of applause from the crowd.

Near-miss serious injuries aren’t awesome at all, but that incident set up some antics later in the game that had everyone — fans and players on both teams — chuckling.

The next time the same batter came to the plate, the entire Kansas team quietly donned their batting helmets — a mock self-defense maneuver. As fans started to notice, the word spread, and everyone had a good laugh. As it happened, the batter again hit a foul ball straight at their dugout (that is not at all a “typical” foul direction for a right-handed batter), which made everyone laugh (even the batter shook his head and grinned). He promptly then hit a single into right field.

The fact is, major league baseball players are in a grind and they’re under incredible pressure to perform. Many of them don’t have many options besides professional baseball to earn a living, and they are keenly aware of how tenuous their position at the top of the game is. There isn’t much laughter in a major league dugout.

NCAA Division I baseball schools get 12 scholarships total for baseball. Because of the need for a multitude of pitchers, as well as some level of depth, it’s common for teams to have more than 30 players on their rosters. That means that either many players on the team have no scholarship, or that most players receive only partial scholarships, depending on how the school decides to parse out the scarce resource. Because of that, the players, by and large, are playing both with a genuine love of the game as well as a keen awareness of how long the odds are that they’ll ever make it to the big leagues.

College baseball players don’t take the game too seriously, in my experience. They recognize that it’s a game, they’re used to hours of tedium during travel and, to a certain extent, during the game (at most, there are only 9 players on the field at a time, and even that’s only for half of the game!).

There was no malice in the stunt the Kansas team pulled — they were being funny, and their humor was widely appreciated.

Of course, I’ve had the good fortune to follow a team coached by the winningest coach in college baseball history — Augie Garrido. From interviews I’ve heard and what I’ve read, Augie drives home a healthy perspective with his players. I like to say that, when Augie calls an offensive timeout to have a few words with his batter, the other team might as well pack up and head home. I don’t know what he says (I’m sure it varies widely depending on the player and the situation), but it’s fun to watch what happens after the chat:

Oh, yeah…and the Longhorns swept the series.

Hook ‘em Horns!

There was a good mix of kiddos (the beauty of neighborhood hand-me-downs — only one of the boys in this picture actually has any Texas roots…yet two of them are wearing Longhorn shirts):

Including a number of girls from the ‘hood:

The facility had a “pit”:

Of course, what’s really important is the cake!

And, later, a couple of the more photogenic presents, like this swimmer’s ensemble from her grandparents:

And this pink baseball bat and glove, from her dad:

This season, he’s taken pitch variety to a new level, which is fun to watch. He regularly changes the speed of his delivery — his wind-up as well as the actual ball velocity — and has been experimenting with different arm motions. On top of that, he pays close attention to the batter’s stance and the balls/strikes count and uses that to his advantage. I’m learning a thing or two about baseball…

While we were in West Virginia, he used a tennis ball to show me some of the more odd throwing motions that he is working to perfect.

He also took some time to help Alana practice throwing and catching.

Soap Box Derby Racer

Baseball/Softball Player

Wrestler

Plumber

It looks to be another season where Benton will use his quickness, his smarts, and his overall general coordination to make up for his lack of raw power.

Note that, while the facial expression is that of a fastball smoking towards the plate…the ball location means this was more of a change-up lob.

Up to bat. The coach is destined to grow weary of his “Get your hands up, Benton” mantra (Benton now gets this reminder before he steps out of the on deck circle…to little avail):

After making good contact and some hustle to record a single, it’s a healthy lead off of first base:

And…stealing second on the next pitch:

For my part, I’m again doing my best to contribute…by staying off the field and out of the dugout! I’m the team scorer and am taking things up a notch from last season by tracking putouts and assists in addition to errors on the defensive front. On a slow weekend a few months ago, I designed my own scoresheet — customized to the rules of Benton’s league, and tailored to match up with the spreadsheet I’ve developed that calculates all manner of individual and team stats. More on that another time, perhaps!

Enough with the excuses. Time for a little catch-up work.

I made a quick trip down to Austin to see my folks towards the end of February. Conveniently, the trip landed on the same weekend that the Texas Longhorns opened up their baseball season with a four-game series against the Flames of the University of Illinois – Chicago. Texas swept the series, and I made it to the first three games before catching a Sunday flight back to Ohio.

The weather was great! Disch-Falk Field really has been spruced up from the renovations of the past couple of years. The renovations were pretty much done by the time the season started last year. But, over the latest off-season, they replaced the Astroturf field with FieldTurf before the new season began, which was an interesting change. And, I got to catch up with a number of good friends who showed up for the games.

The Horns are off to a 12-1 start heading into Big 12 conference play this weekend, so I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll be taking some time off in a couple of months to make a road trip to Omaha with Benton.