MrBumstead posted:I'm probably too stupid to quit, though since my 2016 is now off at college the "opportunities" with him are rare.
When 2016 would take pitching lessons, I would always take our catcher's gear and catch for them (no bucket, full crouch). I figured the pitching coach could concentrate more on what my son was doing if he didn't have to focus on catching (or avoiding) the baseball.
Two incidents stand out:
About a year ago, he was taking lessons from YoungGunDad's son JW at the high school field. JW had him do pulldowns over the mound, with me catching in a standing position. Knowing that it was going to be coming in hotter and that framing the location wasn't as important, I took a few steps back from the catcher's box and basically stood with my back against the inside of the turtle. Seemed like a good idea. Except for my son and JW failed to tell me that he was going to throw splitters. Only after the first one hit me in the bellybutton and the second one drilled me on the upper thigh did they remember to let me in on that detail.
A few weeks later we meet JW for another lesson. In our haste, I forgot to check to see if the mitt was still in the catcher's bag. So of course, it wasn't. Instead of going back home to get our mitt, I borrowed JW's mitt he used with the 12U team he coached. About 10 pitches in, son throws a fastball that looked to be heading a few inches off the plate, so I reached across my body to catch it. The ball backed up over the corner at the last instant, which with me reaching for it caused the ball to square up the tip of my middle finger, which wasn't protected very well by that itty bitty youth mitt. Before I could even get the mitt off, the entire fingernail was purple with blood, which actually started oozing out around the edges of the nail and from under the cuticle a few minutes later. Pretty sure he fractured the tip of that finger, though I never got it x-rayed. (There wasn't anything a doctor would do to treat it any differently anyway.) I didn't fully regain feeling in the tip of that finger for about 6 months, which made typing feel weird.
My 2022 is starting to grow like his big brother. I catch for him more often now. I'm not certain, but I think he has a bet with his big brother that one day he will injure me worse than 2016 did.
J-Dub came in the door laughing about that day now that I think about it! LOL.
I still bear a slight "seam" scar on my shin from catching him on our driveway. It came in low, skidded off the pavement and BAM, right into my shin. We were done for the day of course.