| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| crackedbats |
Posted - 06/14/2011 : 07:11:36
What is your most cherished memory of your sons or daughters sports careers? Mine happened last night-my soon to be 16 y.o. blasted his first ever homerun. The memory of him getting mobbed at homeplate by his teammates and seeing the smile on his face makes all the sacrifices that we as parents make for them to play so worth it. |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| dblinkh1 |
Posted - 06/22/2011 : 23:51:18
While I enjoyed several on field memories at Cooperstown with my son, it was the time I spent with the team in the barracks that I remember most. It was like summer camp with those boys in the barracks. What a great bunch of kids and great stories. |
| Hiredgun |
Posted - 06/21/2011 : 06:50:06
I know that this board is about travel ball but........another moment in sports that I will never forget was being with my son when he shot his first deer. He was 8 yrs. old and I was more nervous than he was. A moment in history that I will never forget. |
| whosonfirst |
Posted - 06/21/2011 : 06:44:58
Home runs are always great, but a few stand out.
I was on the phone with my wife, "We're down 4-7, bases are loaded, 2 outs and David is up. Are you nervous?" It was the 3rd inning, so not a do or die situation. He hit his first home run of the season and got his first Grand Slam ever.
At Cooperstown, he was first up in the King of Swat. He got 3 out of 5 in the preliminaries. After that, most of the batters went 0 for 5 or 1 for 5 with just a couple getting 2. My wife, father-in-law and I got to watch the rest preliminaries while listening to the buzz about my son's 3 HR.
Again at Cooperstown, during pool play. Bottom of the 6th, down 4-7, bases loaded. My son's teammate (not a power hitter) hits one deep to left field. I'm fearing that it's going to fall just short of the fence and be the third out. The ball hits the top of the wooden fence and bounces out. The parents are jumping and shouting like we just won game 7 in the World Series. There's a dog pile at home plate when the batter finally touches home plate. Definitely the best come from behind win of the season.
|
| MYTIME |
Posted - 06/20/2011 : 21:30:38
MY most cherished moment is watching a friend of mine hitting a walk off homerun to win the semi finals to get to the chamnpionship...
|
| CSUF Baseball |
Posted - 06/20/2011 : 21:13:42
Watching my son last week in Cooperstown have a great week both offensively and defensively  |
| bmoser |
Posted - 06/20/2011 : 17:10:33
caddying for my Dad in the US Senior Open at Medinah..
through 34 holes the leaderboard read:
H Irwin
R Floyd
G Player
J Nicklaus
B Moser
C Rodrigeuz
Our 35th hole was a long par 3 over water and there was a 30 mph wind in our face. I prefer to forget what happens next :(
|
| baseball papa |
Posted - 06/20/2011 : 11:24:09
Papa has far too many cherished moments the last several years but I have to admit that I will always cherish my 14 year old grandson's first homerun on the East Cobb showcase field and my 12 year old's 2 home runs in his final games at Coopertown and they both just happened this year. I have hundreds more but these are the most recent and I expect the game of baseball to give me many more before I go to that big baseball field in the sky. |
| coachkyle |
Posted - 06/16/2011 : 13:59:19
Timely question. Four years ago when he was 10, my son went yard twice, the day before Father's Day. He said that was my early Father's Day present. |
| DecaturDad |
Posted - 06/16/2011 : 10:04:11
One of my best memories was my son's first out of the park. He was playing 8U rec ball. We were lucky enough to have a photographer hanging around the game. I have a series of four shots hanging in my office. The first shows him at the plate, the second shows the swing, the third shows him watching the ball, the the final shot shows him run from third to home. And, you can see mom in the stands behind him in the first picture.
There have been planty of othe rgreat times: Winning at Disney World, Playing at Cooperstown at 10, and just about every tournament since. But if I have to pick one, that was the start of all this. That summer, he gave up swim team and we have never looked back.
|
| rustybucket |
Posted - 06/16/2011 : 09:20:03
quote:
Originally posted by toprank
Just wondering Rustybucket how far up did you play baseball, I remember you saying you were a catcher.
High School was the end of the Baseball road for me. |
| toprank |
Posted - 06/16/2011 : 08:13:52
Just wondering Rustybucket how far up did you play baseball, I remember you saying you were a catcher.
|
| bturner |
Posted - 06/16/2011 : 00:51:42
My favorite part of Travel Baseball is the ride home with my son. Win or Loose, good game or bad. I feel like that time is ours. The talk is usually very little. But when I look over and see his smile and dirty uniform it reminds me of coming home from games with my dad. My dad passed away when my son was 2 so he never got to see him play. But every ride home it feels like there is 3 of us are in the car. |
| rustybucket |
Posted - 06/15/2011 : 16:48:32
quote:
Originally posted by rippit
Can you come coach my kid's 13U team??
I originally only wanted to practice at home 2 days a week. It was him who pushed for the 3 days a week. |
| rippit |
Posted - 06/15/2011 : 15:42:10
quote:
Originally posted by rustybucket
quote:
Originally posted by Hurricane
"After we finish our drills and workout" Did you say your son was 7?
Yes, I did. Since our rec practices this year were... well... rec practices we (we as in He and I) decided that we would try to have backyard practices 3 days a week. We work on core fundamentals and mechanics. We do lots of slow motion walk-throughs, we do tons of footwork and position specific work as well. Our workout has lots of agility ladder, mobility and speed drills to pull from. We also work resistance bands in where we can. And of course we do hitting, whether it's off the tee, soft toss, quick toss, close toss, dry swings or machine pitch. We've also been working on switch hitting.
The key is really keeping the practices fresh and new. If you do the same exact practice every time (rec ball) the kids get SUPER bored and get nothing from it. I keep it hi-tempo and fresh by working in new exercise and drills, you have to pepper the boring stuff with fun stuff to make it fun and peak interest. You can also take a lot of drills that are inherently boring and add a little 'game' or competition element to them and all of a sudden the kids will love them.
I guess my motto is something like this:
Instill good habits/fundamentals early and you won't be fighting bad habits later. It's just as easy for a kid to learn the right way to do something as it is for them to learn the wrong way.
On the switch hitting note, our new rule in Wiffle ball is that you have to switch hit almost exclusively. You can ONLY bat your natural side once per inning. He hit his first HR lefty over the fence last night!! The look on his face was priceless!! That should help with the confidence!
Can you come coach my kid's 13U team?? |
| rustybucket |
Posted - 06/15/2011 : 11:12:47
quote:
Originally posted by Hurricane
"After we finish our drills and workout" Did you say your son was 7?
Yes, I did. Since our rec practices this year were... well... rec practices we (we as in He and I) decided that we would try to have backyard practices 3 days a week. We work on core fundamentals and mechanics. We do lots of slow motion walk-throughs, we do tons of footwork and position specific work as well. Our workout has lots of agility ladder, mobility and speed drills to pull from. We also work resistance bands in where we can. And of course we do hitting, whether it's off the tee, soft toss, quick toss, close toss, dry swings or machine pitch. We've also been working on switch hitting.
The key is really keeping the practices fresh and new. If you do the same exact practice every time (rec ball) the kids get SUPER bored and get nothing from it. I keep it hi-tempo and fresh by working in new exercise and drills, you have to pepper the boring stuff with fun stuff to make it fun and peak interest. You can also take a lot of drills that are inherently boring and add a little 'game' or competition element to them and all of a sudden the kids will love them.
I guess my motto is something like this:
Instill good habits/fundamentals early and you won't be fighting bad habits later. It's just as easy for a kid to learn the right way to do something as it is for them to learn the wrong way.
On the switch hitting note, our new rule in Wiffle ball is that you have to switch hit almost exclusively. You can ONLY bat your natural side once per inning. He hit his first HR lefty over the fence last night!! The look on his face was priceless!! That should help with the confidence!
|
| Hurricane |
Posted - 06/15/2011 : 09:05:05
quote:
Originally posted by rustybucket
I know we're still new at all this, only 7, but lot's of memories have been accumulated.
I would say that right now my most cherished memories are the ones of just me and him in the backyard, after we finish our drills and workout when we have 'fun time' and he gets to choose what we do. Sometimes it's wiffle ball, sometimes it's fly balls, sometimes it's pitching game situations, sometimes it's tag football sometimes it's him stealing a base and me trying to throw him out (I was a catcher). But the laughs and fun times we've had are priceless!!!
Overtime, I think most of the 'gametime' memories will fade, but I'm pretty sure I'll ALWAYS have the one's of just me and my best buddy rolling around in the backyard!!
"After we finish our drills and workout" Did you say your son was 7?
|
| ramman999 |
Posted - 06/15/2011 : 08:26:48
I've got a few with my 10 year old, and I am sure I will have plenty more but my favorite is his first year playing T ball in Florida when he just turned 5 - he absolutely cranked the ball over the left fielders head and started to run the bases - in that league we only let the kids run one base at a time (as well as everyone gets a trophy, no score keeping, yada yada). The ump tells him he has to go back to 1st after he rounds 3rd, he gets upset, and he comes back to first and tells me "but I hit it over their heads, why do I have to stop at 1st, that's stupid! I still tease him about that!
I'm going to go out on a limb here and venture to guess that after next weekend, Cooperstown will jump into the top spot for all time moments! |
| gasbag |
Posted - 06/14/2011 : 19:47:20
Ooops, I forgot one of the more enjoyable ones was playing Rec ball when younger and indulging in snacks after every game....you ever see kids face light up like that...it's awesome !!! |
| christheump |
Posted - 06/14/2011 : 12:09:57
I have a few with my oldest: Him making a game saving catch that made the newspapar with 2 on and 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th that allowed them to advance to the next round of highschool playoffs. Him winning the league championship in Majors.
My middle child: Playing football and having his best game against the top team in his league, with the highlight being him with an awesome blindside sack of their QB and recovering a fumble. Being the catcher for his t-ball team for 2 years and always saying "Hey Boo Boo" in my Yogi Bear voice when he came up to bat.
My youngest, striking out the side in his first time pitching. Also, making a great snag of a line drive.
And for all three of them, watching their faces light up whenever they got the uniforms each season. |
| rustybucket |
Posted - 06/14/2011 : 10:59:41
I know we're still new at all this, only 7, but lot's of memories have been accumulated.
I would say that right now my most cherished memories are the ones of just me and him in the backyard, after we finish our drills and workout when we have 'fun time' and he gets to choose what we do. Sometimes it's wiffle ball, sometimes it's fly balls, sometimes it's pitching game situations, sometimes it's tag football sometimes it's him stealing a base and me trying to throw him out (I was a catcher). But the laughs and fun times we've had are priceless!!!
Overtime, I think most of the 'gametime' memories will fade, but I'm pretty sure I'll ALWAYS have the one's of just me and my best buddy rolling around in the backyard!! |
| AllStar |
Posted - 06/14/2011 : 10:05:49
quote:
Originally posted by Hiredgun
I have several but the one that sticks out in my mind was when my son was 9 yrs. old. His team was playing in a TC tournament in Jacksonville, FL.
The pitcher threw a pitch behind my son. The coach told him not to get rattled and to expect the next one to be right down the middle. The next pitch was just as the coach had predicted. My son hit the pitch over the centerfield fence for his first homerun. He was so excited.
Older son averaged a double-double as they lost their first game and then won seven straight and the championship in his league's post-season tournament.
Younger son with a 3-run double to get the team into the finals of a USSSA Sub-State. After the other team's coach was stalling. Time ran out with my son standing on second. He tossed his helmet 30 feet in the air! |
| BREAMKING |
Posted - 06/14/2011 : 10:01:17
Probably got two great moments watching baseball.
Watching one of my brothers teams beat lassiter for state championship. Something I will never forget because they had not beaten them all year and came out of nowhere to win championship.
Other brother in high school got both wins against lowndes county in semi-finals and started against harrison in championship series and remember him striking out cory patterson and catcher missing third strike and next pitch he picks him off first and he was so fast he beat a clean throw to second. |
| toprank |
Posted - 06/14/2011 : 09:24:22
Anytime I see a big smile on a kids face on the field.
|
| gasbag |
Posted - 06/14/2011 : 08:52:59
Cooperstown with my son....he had such an awesome time with his buds in the bunkhouse so I only got to see him twice the entire week. The team played tremendous ball and made it into the finals and he won that week's speed competition.... When I asked what was the best thing about the trip....."visiting the baseball Hall of Fame with you dad" ! Dang that boy knows how to make his dad cry !!!! |
| Hiredgun |
Posted - 06/14/2011 : 08:23:22
I have several but the one that sticks out in my mind was when my son was 9 yrs. old. His team was playing in a TC tournament in Jacksonville, FL.
The pitcher threw a pitch behind my son. The coach told him not to get rattled and to expect the next one to be right down the middle. The next pitch was just as the coach had predicted. My son hit the pitch over the centerfield fence for his first homerun. He was so excited. |
