Great Weekend Riding

I didn't get any riding in this weekend, but I had a great time with my oldest son Ryan. He's my nine year old who is playing his first year in Minor League Baseball. He has come so far over the last year. It used to be that I would have to beg him to play ball and now I'm barely able to keep up.

Saturday started off with our second game of the year. Ryan and I got there early about 8:30 with the game not starting until 10:00. Our team got off to a rocky start but finally came through at the end. The boys still don't seem to be very relaxed when batting but I'm hoping that will come around. We won 7-5 in the last inning.

After the game, I took my mom (my son's biggest fan) and Ryan to lunch at our new local bagel/sandwich shop. Then after lunch, shockingly, my son asked if we could go back to the ball field for some more batting practice. Man, this kid knows how to make is dad happy. So we went back to the field for two more hours of baseball practice. I was so proud of how hard he was willing to work. He's been wanting to play catcher for sometime now but I've always had him at second base. In our league, the only time the opposing team can steal a base is when the catcher misses the ball. This rule was created in hopes of making the games a little more interesting instead of just having kids go crazy on the bases. So far, our catching has killed us. I can't seem to get it across that they need to use their bodies to block the ball.

So, I'm going to give Ryan a shot. After batting practice on Saturday, he wanted to work on his catching. We put him in the gear and got busy. He's got some work to do but he's got the desire and the talent to do a good job. Catching is tough for a little guy. It's a long time to be squatting back there for a little kid. After about an hour of working behind the plate, we called it a day. Ryan then suprised me again. He wanted to know if we could come back to the field the next morning. I was blow away.

When we got up this morning, Ryan was dressed in his baseball garb and ready to go. We spent another 3 hours at the ball field. Had you asked me one year ago that Ry would ask to practice this much, I would have never believed it possible. I am truly impressed with his love for the game and his desire to improve. It's going to be a fun season.