Back to school 2023

2023 decided no school for him.  Living in an apartment and working for the carpenter's union.    Best thing that could have happened to him.

2027 two a days with football right now.  Has a good shot at making varsity (baseball) this year as a freshman in a 5a school.  Excited to watch him in both football and baseball.

Son is going back for his Covid year.  So much easier than 5 years ago.  Been in same apartment for 3 years and every roommate he has had since moving from dorm to apartments has either been drafted or will be drafted next year.  He has had 1 first rounder and the one next year is predicted 1/1 in many draft projections.  He should leave with most appearances in UT history.  #2 right now with 12 games to get it and averaging 31 after Covid year.  He is #2 and #3 in appearances per season.  Tied with some guy named Todd Helton for #3.  One of his master's professors will be some guy named Peyton Manning.

Actually dropped off my 2023 son earlier in July for summer school and summer individual workouts. Easy move in as he was already buddies with his roommates from being at several national events with them.  If all goes as expected, my son will be a teammate of PitchingFan's son. In fact, my son is home this week for the break between summer/fall semester, and PitchingFan's son has come up in conversation several time this week. Talking pitch grips, experience in the program through the years, and the legend of his bunting prowess.

Kid is not leaving until 9/2. Wife and I already started packing up his sh!t, it may be purely a placebo effect I did feel some mild relief from the stress caused by all the sh!t he stirred this summer (car accident, speeding ticket, left his room and my man cave basement in a "condemned" state) while packing. Yeah I know I will eventually sorely miss his company and maybe even forgive his "trespasses", but I need the time away from him. I had a short work trip to the nation's capital, on a normal day that would be a major inconvenience and irritation for me, but it felt like a 1st class trip to Shangri-la. Sorry, for the rant and good luck to those kids that have left or heading off, these are going to be one of the best times of their young lives. 

Leaving tonight for the drop. Son was home the last 3 weeks after playing in the Prospect League in June/July. he hit .300 and had a bunch of fun with a new bunch of guys.

Had a great time with wife & daughter (rising Sr in college) once son got home. The end is near and I will miss both kids playing something I can watch in person or ESPN+. I am almost year round with daughter playing division 1 hockey from October - mid February and son playing mid Feb - May + summer ball.

Sitting in the Knoxville airport right now, waiting for our flight back home. It was a long drive from Texas to Knoxville. Then a short couple of days in Knoxville. The team had dinner with the AD last night. Team meetings this morning. Team dinner and introductions tonight. It is about to get real. Put up or shut up time. Only time will tell now on how things go. I think I may be more nervous for the next several months than he is.

@PitchingFan posted:

He should leave with most appearances in UT history.  #2 right now with 12 games to get it and averaging 31 after Covid year.  He is #2 and #3 in appearances per season.  Tied with some guy named Todd Helton for #3. 

@Pitching Fan: Not to Jinx, but Ripken fan was working his way to some records his senior year (finished top 2 in school in some, top 10 in conference in others). One record I thought he had in the bag was most ABs ever in Conference history. He hit leadoff and was one AB short of the all time record going into the last game of the season (his team and the opponent would not make playoffs). The game was rained out and not rescheduled.

Good luck to your son this season. He's had a great college career.

Sitting here at 30k feet on way back to the West Coast after helping move son into his 4th D1 school in 5 years. 

Grad student now..and wanted his own place. A little OCD as well so I keep seeing that quirk come out and now finally -I just learn to laugh and accept it. 

Had to build some of that Ikea type stuff for him. he was helping.. at first he tried to screw in an Allen wrench screw with phillips..and stripped it.

where did I go wrong..? Lol

he just sent me a text pic of the bed he just built himself that just arrived after I left..

so Success!

sometimes it is the little things...

As far as that new school on the mainline..

School is cool.. feels like England

met PC..very nice dude. wants to work on and master change ups..for staff

kids got tons of swag

indoor facilities are good .. field.. not so much..but as expected.

area was upscale as hell

not sure why the dad's dropping off the kids all where their shirts tucked into their shorts...

felt that was odd..

anyway.. good luck to everyone!

My youngest is heading back to campus Friday. The athletic department  will add $50 to a teams budget for any player that helps the freshman students move in Saturday. Needless to say if you're a returning baseball player you are helping.

We just dropped off our freshman son last week.  It was a lot harder than I was expecting.  What made it harder is seeing how much it's starting to affect him the last 2 weeks.  Where he would normally enjoy being left alone and not really spend time talking to my wife and I, he's been coming to our room, laying down on my wife's lap and chatting about inconsequential stuff the last 2 weeks.  He would go to my wife in the kitchen and hug her out of nowhere.  Unlike my oldest daughter who stayed home her first year bec of covid, and went to college only 2 hrs away, my son will be 7 hrs away - still driving distance but not a quick daytrip.

My wife and I did well dropping him off.  Where it hit us real hard is when we got back home.  I went to his room and saw the stuff he left behind.  I was staring at framed pictures of the 2 of us back when he was 6 to 8 yrs old in rec ball, and remembering all the times he asked me to play catch with him, the times we went to the batting cages in the local rec park, all the times we snuck into the field to practice fielding.  I must have been staring at the pictures for quite some time bec my wife went looking for me.  When she saw me looking at the pictures, she finally broke down crying....

Glad to have all the memories that baseball brought us, and happy that college baseball is going to keep him too busy from being sad and out of trouble (hopefully).

@nycdad posted:

My youngest is heading back to campus Friday. The athletic department  will add $50 to a teams budget for any player that helps the freshman students move in Saturday. Needless to say if you're a returning baseball player you are helping.

It's definitely a nice idea but 50 whole dollars? Sheesh! The AD should feel a bit embarrassed no? I can't imagine 1700 dollars goes a long way on a baseball budget?

@PABaseball posted:

It's definitely a nice idea but 50 whole dollars? Sheesh! The AD should feel a bit embarrassed no? I can't imagine 1700 dollars goes a long way on a baseball budget?

Yeah, and not just baseball for all the teams. Honestly probably better not to offer anything, and just have them do it. Also possible my son isn't being the sharpest tool in the shed and is completely wrong.

@atlnon posted:

My wife and I did well dropping him off.  Where it hit us real hard is when we got back home.  I went to his room and saw the stuff he left behind.  I was staring at framed pictures of the 2 of us back when he was 6 to 8 yrs old in rec ball, and remembering all the times he asked me to play catch with him, the times we went to the batting cages in the local rec park, all the times we snuck into the field to practice fielding.  I must have been staring at the pictures for quite some time bec my wife went looking for me.  When she saw me looking at the pictures, she finally broke down crying....

Glad to have all the memories that baseball brought us, and happy that college baseball is going to keep him too busy from being sad and out of trouble (hopefully).

I've experienced grief dropping off each of our three boys and I was ready for it.  Absolutely not fair that grief also--later--sneaks up on you when you're not ready.  Thank God for FaceTime.

My turn!  I just took my son to the airport for his senior year.  We had him at home for 12 days, which was really nice - he cleaned out his room for the first time since he left for college before the pandemic - had literally never done anything with all of those travel baseball uniforms.  He had a summer full of baseball and other adventures, and is looking forward to his last year of undergrad.

But . . . 10 days ago we took our youngest son (not a baseball player) for his freshman year of college. So as of today we are empty nesters.  I have been reading the posts about feeling sad, and think - I've been looking forward to this! For the first time in 25 years, I don't have to think each day about who needs what, what to feed them, where to drive them.

I will admit to feeling a bit sad when he headed to the check-in counter, but it passed.

The big issue now is, who is going to empty the dishwasher and cut the grass?

@anotherparent posted:

I've been looking forward to this! For the first time in 25 years, I don't have to think each day about who needs what, what to feed them, where to drive them.

It was different for me, I woke up the morning after he left for juco and didn't need to prepare a power breakfast and pack a huge lunch - I felt like I'd been laid off. I'm sorry Mr. Stephan, your role has been eliminated, there's no use or value in your outdated services...

Joking aside, I was sad for a few days until I had a new routine. It doesn't happen often these days, but I still do very much enjoy cooking for my kids...

I did feel at a bit of a loss yesterday at the supermarket, when I didn't need to buy all those things for the kids.  But, the grocery bill!

@nycdad posted:

My youngest is heading back to campus Friday. The athletic department  will add $50 to a teams budget for any player that helps the freshman students move in Saturday. Needless to say if you're a returning baseball player you are helping.

If you are a single baseball player, I would have volunteered for this in a minute.

2 weeks ago I dropped off the youngest for his 2nd year in JUCO.

Last year was a cryfest over a weekend of moving in.

This year we made 1 trip to his summer team mom's house to get a couch and a few boxes he stored there.............moved stuff into the dorm, fixed up the room for 3 players (posters, TVs, etc), bought them all mexican dinner, and I was gone the next morning with a "I've got weights in 45 minutes, see you in a couple of weeks at the team golf outing". Back in Texas less than 36 hours after I left.

Emotionally easier, but I guess since he was only home for 13 days all summer that played into it.

Good luck to all ya'lls kids this season. 

@russinfortworth posted:

If you are a single baseball player, I would have volunteered for this in a minute.

There wasn't really a choice, if you are returning, you are expected to be there. If not clear, the money goes towards the program, not the player.

So many of these stories hit home.  We dropped our daughter off last week for her Freshman year.  She has been about the perfect kid.  Never any drama, mature and has always taken care of everything on her own.  About a month before she left her and momma started going at it with me stuck in the middle.  Very similar to 2022NYC, it was time for her, mom or me to go.  She is only about 50 minutes away, but she is thriving and her and mom are back to normal.   

We are leaving next week for the 17 hour trek to Arizona to move son in for his Senior year.  He will have another year of eligibility but I doubt he uses it.  He was injured al of last season and dealt with some other medical issues.  He is going in healthy so my fingers are crossed that he has a much better year all around. 

@d-mac posted:

So many of these stories hit home.  We dropped our daughter off last week for her Freshman year.  She has been about the perfect kid.  Never any drama, mature and has always taken care of everything on her own.  About a month before she left her and momma started going at it with me stuck in the middle.  Very similar to 2022NYC, it was time for her, mom or me to go.  She is only about 50 minutes away, but she is thriving and her and mom are back to normal.   

We are leaving next week for the 17 hour trek to Arizona to move son in for his Senior year.  He will have another year of eligibility but I doubt he uses it.  He was injured al of last season and dealt with some other medical issues.  He is going in healthy so my fingers are crossed that he has a much better year all around.

Sounds like my oldest daughter and my wife's story.  They were at it almost all her HS years.  I would also describe my oldest daughter as perfect - she's the one who stays sober during overnight parties in HS so that she can make sure none of her friends does stupid things.  But she thinks my wife always says the wrong thing or uses the wrong words to her, and she sees my wife as always harsh and critical of her.  She would have meltdowns and shouting matches with my wife at home, esp in the latter years.  Their relationship was night and day after she went away for college and start her own life.  I think it helped my wife to truly treat her as adult.  And my daughter gained self confidence being on her own and got over overthinking what my wife says and the words she uses.

A couple of reminders.  If you are a freshman's parents, keep in touch with your guys.  Don't assume they don't want to hear from you.  My wife sends my boys a text every morning and they never respond.  But one day she got busy and missed and my sons all three texted her to make sure everything was okay.  I normally check on son at college after practice if he doesn't call.  I don't completely bother him but found his freshman year that he responded well and told me later it was good just to know I was there.

I also started something a couple of years ago.  I started a baseball players' parents page on Facebook that I run and is completely locked except to players' parents.  No one else allowed on it.  We answer questions from parents about school, academics, events, game days, and such.  A place for them to safely ask and us to safely answer things that don't need to be out there for everyone to know.  We give the hotel for the players for away games and schedules or things we know that the public does not need to know.  It has been great.  The parents from past years do a great job of helping with answering any question that comes up.  Just a thought.  It has been really good for us.  Our mom's have a text group also.

@PitchingFan posted:

A couple of reminders.  If you are a freshman's parents, keep in touch with your guys.  Don't assume they don't want to hear from you.  My wife sends my boys a text every morning and they never respond.  But one day she got busy and missed and my sons all three texted her to make sure everything was okay.  I normally check on son at college after practice if he doesn't call.  I don't completely bother him but found his freshman year that he responded well and told me later it was good just to know I was there.

I also started something a couple of years ago.  I started a baseball players' parents page on Facebook that I run and is completely locked except to players' parents.  No one else allowed on it.  We answer questions from parents about school, academics, events, game days, and such.  A place for them to safely ask and us to safely answer things that don't need to be out there for everyone to know.  We give the hotel for the players for away games and schedules or things we know that the public does not need to know.  It has been great.  The parents from past years do a great job of helping with answering any question that comes up.  Just a thought.  It has been really good for us.  Our mom's have a text group also.

Thanks for this, it feels like you've been reading my mind.  I've resisted the itch to check on him (text/call).  I've been satisfying this itch by looking at Life360 - not to check up on him but as a way to still feel involved in his life.  I know I have to stop this at some point soon....

I've also been wishing that there's a group chat of baseball parents for his school as I have a ton of questions on what to expect.  I thought about starting a group but as a dad of a freshman, I don't want to be seen as that parent....

My daughter is five years older than her brother. After dropping her off I turned to him and said, “Now we’re going to know who did it.”

The first time she got on the team bus (softball) she texted me. She said traveling to their first away game she thought of all the time we spent in the car traveling to and from tournaments and talking.

The first time I called my son he said he was on the way to the library. I told him I was glad he was taking college seriously. He responded,  “Yeah, the best looking girls hang out there.”

My kids are young adults and are all out of school. But there is still back to school for me. This is my 7th year as a Volunteer Assistant Coach at a west Texas JuCo. Every year I go out there at the beginning of the fall semester for a week or two. And every year I have gotten a little more involved. Last year was a disappointment on the mound and we underperformed as a team because of that - despite having a lot of potential. At the end of the year our PC was deservedly let go. I knew of a young PC that was available and I pushed hard for him to be hired even tho he is only 23 yrs old. He was hired immediately at my insistence so my name is all over how he performs. But I am not worried. He is a rising star. I have been on campus for over a week, living in a storage closet in the field house. My day begins at 6 am and ends at 8 pm - which is bedtime. I am helping establish all the routines for the pitchers, teaching training drills, watching & evaluating bullpens, breaking down video, helping plan pitchers workouts, etc. We are actually teaching our pitchers how to be better throwers - and then how to be better pitchers. And after one week we have already seen gains. Our PC has invested 30k of his own $ to purchase a Trackman system so he can better train and evaluate our pitchers. He is the hardest working young PC that I have ever personally been around and the kids absolutely love him. It’s very fun to see and to be a part of. And I will add as a side note (especially for TPM), for the Asst Coaches that do it right, you have no idea how hard they work, the hours they put it, the things they have to deal with, and how poorly they are paid. After one week I am absolutely exhausted. The 100+ degree temps have something to do with it but it’s without a doubt a young man’s job. And I am not a young man.

@adbono posted:

Our PC has invested 30k of his own $ to purchase a Trackman system so he can better train and evaluate r pitchers.

A Trackman system in Region 5? Impossible, I say... Things have really changed since 2016! Good luck this season coach, except when you're playing Hill.

@JucoDad posted:

A Trackman system in Region 5? Impossible, I say... Things have really changed since 2016! Good luck this season coach, except when you're playing Hill.

Yes, the times they are a changin’ ! (nod to Bob Dylan). We are committed to actually teaching pitchers how to get better - as opposed to rolling a baseball out to the mound and telling them to go get outs. I will gladly bet you a beer on our series with Hill. In the event of a tie we both drink one.

@adbono posted:

My day begins at 6 am and ends at 8 pm - which is bedtime. I am helping establish all the routines for the pitchers, teaching training drills, watching & evaluating bullpens, breaking down video, helping plan pitchers workouts, etc. We are actually teaching our pitchers how to be better throwers - And I will add as a side note (especially for TPM), for the Asst Coaches that do it right, you have no idea how hard they work, the hours they put it, the things they have to deal with, and how poorly they are paid.

I give you tons of kudos for doing what you are doing. Only those that passionately love the game and want to teach it the right way will do what you are doing. There are a lot of good baseball people out there, in every division. I have never met a HC that doesn't work their butt off, well, not all true, I did meet one, he skipped out often on practice.  It's still not an easy gig as being a HC means that you have to tend to other baseball business, meetings, PR, agents, scouts, etc., it's soooo important to have the right staff in place to get the job done. Sounds like the program you are in. Let us know so we can cheer them on (sorry Jucodad).

Take care of yourself, it's not an easy gig, and I do get why you are doing it.

I agree with adbono on the new PC.  Smart, hard working, and a good kid who knows his stuff and will push the staff.  The kids relate well to him and I think he will do a great job, especially with some guidance from adbono!

@FriarFred posted:

I agree with adbono on the new PC.  Smart, hard working, and a good kid who knows his stuff and will push the staff.  The kids relate well to him and I think he will do a great job, especially with some guidance from adbono!

Hey Andy! Thanks for the kind words. We are way overdue for a beer. Send me a text and let’s get something on the calendar.

@adbono posted:

Yes, the times they are a changin’ ! (nod to Bob Dylan). We are committed to actually teaching pitchers how to get better - as opposed to rolling a baseball out to the mound and telling them to go get outs. I will gladly bet you a beer on our series with Hill. In the event of a tie we both drink one.

You're on coach!

I haven't kept tabs on Hill since 2016, but I did drop one of the kid's debut balls off to Rat in 2021. The facility had certainly been improved...

It's already been said, but a big thank you to you and your compadres for giving so much back!

@adbono posted:

our

Without the context this looks like the - wife just threw me out on the street - special

@PABaseball posted:

Without the context this looks like the - wife just threw me out on the street - special

It has that feel to it as well. The crickets add a nice touch.

Is that your new man cave?

Dropped my freshman son off in CA last week. We stayed out there until yesterday even though orientation started Thursday and we knew we wouldn't see him again. Not even really sure where to begin. I thought I'd be a mess saying goodbye but it wasn't as bad as I pictured. He was ready for us to leave him alone. He turned off Life360 shortly after we left. Got home late last night and it hit me like a ton of bricks. As soon as I walked into the garage I looked over at the turf and nets and immediately thought of all the pitching, catching, and hitting drills we've done in there for years. I thought of the smoothies I would make every day for him to take to school. Every daily routine we had went through my head.

Like Atlnon, my son also made an effort to spend more time with us over the past few months. We played catch outside almost every day this summer. Watched movies and shows, had dinner together, and played a ton of games.

I think the bright spot for me so far was him calling to let me know he already found a catcher and threw a pen over the weekend.

My son arrived at his new school last weekend, he is a 2021, position player and Juco survivor transferring to a mid-major D1 out of state. I hitched a ride with him on Friday and he dropped me off at the airport to fly home on Sunday

The new school is a huge jump up in terms of lifestyle and academics. He hasn't been in a classroom since March of 2020 (Covid in HS, and Juco was amenable to 100% async), and now he has 5 upper division courses in his major. His apartment is well-equipped and he's sent pictures of food he's made -- he likes to meal-prep and is enjoying the kitchen. He's in a real college town vs. a rural setting.

I am excited about his HC -- he seems to "get" my son. HC called him when we arrived in town, we met up with him and other coaching staff while waiting to pick up keys to the apartment. Big genuine hugs from the HC and AC whom we met at the campus visit.  I've only met the HC twice, but at this early stage I feel like my son found a place where he's wanted, and a HC with shared values. I'm well aware this view could change as things get intense, but for now it feels really positive.

@adbono posted:

Hey Andy! Thanks for the kind words. We are way overdue for a beer. Send me a text and let’s get something on the calendar.

I agree!  We will get something set up soon!