This is a great thread. First, I think I can speak for all of us, we are happy and feel lucky that our sons have made it to the professional level. They are in a VERY small group of guys!! With that being said, it is a roller coaster life. My son is a pitcher. I know there are stresses with position payers, but when you are on that mound, it all begins and ends with you. There is no where to hide. You can pitch your butt off and crazy things just seem to happen.
Speaking of travel issues, we had booked a trip to go see son. 3 weeks prior to trip, he was promoted. So I scrambled to change flights and hotels. Son took a 1-0 lead into the 9th inning. Ended up getting hung with the loss after lasting 8.1. He pitched great but had a guy reach on an infield single then score on a fly ball to RF that the throw home bounce off the catcher’s chest protector and the guy scored from 3rd after initially retreating. By the way, the catcher is his roommate and best friend. That kid was sick for son. The first half of the season in Hi A, all the breaks seemed to go son’s way. He was leading the league, or in top 3, in every category. Frankly, I was shocked it took so long to get promoted. But AA has been a different story. It just seems he can never get run support when his starts. He feels like he HAS to be perfect and I’m sure that leads to more stress. I realize things tend to “even out” over time.
Like others have said, I just try to talk about other things unless he wants to talk baseball. I support him and tell him I love him every day! Like ShoveIt, I miss LSU and the college days badly. Felt like family. I also go back and watch those old games. I don’t know what the future holds. He is grinding and believes he has the talent to get called up. I just pray for health at this stage. The performance is what it is. I remind him often that GOD has a plan for his life and he just needs to do all he can to control the things he can control and try not to worry about the others. That is MUCH EASIER SAID THAN DONE!!