Don’t get me wrong when I say this because I love all sports and I have many memories in the “big three” of football, basketball and baseball while I was growing up (I don’t remember any organized soccer during that time and my basketball days ended in a church gym when I was about 12 years old), but I absolutely, positively love me some baseball. I can never get enough of it. In my mind, I still feel like I can play it at the level I once did, but my 46-year old body has other feelings and ideas about that.
Yeah, some of the quickness in the glove is gone and the ball actually looks smaller to me now and the bats feel heavier, but my mind tells me tall tales and I get out there with my 15-year old son still and try to show him up…but I cannot. For instance, we were throwing the baseball the other day and I attempted to throw him one as hard as I could and he caught it like I was just lobbing it to him. The fact is that he did not even realize I had tried to heat one up and burn his glove with it. He just caught it and threw it back and I just stood there with a numb elbow wondering why Father Time took my arm.
On another occasion my son was outside hitting off his tee into a big 8eight foot by eight foot catch net and had been doing so for about an hour, making it look effortless. I approached him and said, “Boy, let me take a few hacks,” and I grabbed that 32-inch wooden bat and proceeded to take about 20 cuts, trying to show him his old father could still “rake” and admittedly I did hit a few good shots. But all of those good shots were at first, because over the next three or so minutes I proceeded to wear myself completely out, like I had just run a marathon or something. He had been out there at least an HOUR!!! Anyway, I told him that I was afraid I would break the net and I gave the bat back to him. He immediately asked me to throw him some soft-toss and we did so for another 30 minutes or so, smashing ball after ball into the net like there was nothing to it.
About a week later, after my body had some time to heal, I took a few more swings at it and have been trying to do so every chance I get…it’s a great workout by the way. It is hard to believe that I used to swing effortlessly “back in the day,” making the statement, “youth is wasted on the young,” take on so much more meaning. I never realized I had the advantage of youth until the aches and pains started making their presence known quite frequently.
Anyway, baseball season is less than a month away and I am ready to get back outside and cover some sports.
