Baseball Mom

As a player .... I came home to dinner to explain I hit a grand slam. My mother asked how many were on base.

As a coach .... In a 14u Mother’s Day tournament I was approached by a mother who requested, if I didn’t think we could win the tournament could we lose before Sunday brunch ends.

I got nothing.  When our kids were in LL we coaches would buy roses for them to take to the moms in the stands. I looked to see if I had a pic of that, but no dice.

I did run into this one which is awfully sweet and was taken by a mom, (my wife) on an iPhone. The lefty is one of our HS baseball coach's three sons.

When I was 4 or 5 years old my Mom taught me to throw in our backyard using a tennis racquet as a training aide. We played burnout regularly and she would win until I was 9 or 10. By the time I was 16 I was throwing 90 mph and nobody would play catch with me anymore. But my Mom would. In fact she caught my bullpen sessions in our backyard. No mask and no gear. Only a sponge in the catchers mitt for a little cushion. I was a typical self-absorbed HS kid so I had no clue about what was happening to her hand. One day I saw the bruising when she took off the mitt. That was the last time that I ever threw to her. But she would have caught me again in a few days if I would have wanted. She was an extraordinary woman in many ways. Played tennis regularly into her 80’s and at the top of her game was ranked by USTA as the 40th best amateur doubles player in America. 

Well, not exactly a Baseball Mom story I have one concerning my mother, my daughters and softball.

Long before my son played HS ball, his older sisters (7 & 9 years older than him) played softball.   When their grandmother (now in her 80's) told them she played softball, they wouldn't believe her until one day she gave them an old black and white team photo that had her in it.    They never doubted her again.

My wife has come along way about learning the terms of baseball.   When our son began to play, if he hit into a force out (grounder, pop fly, etc) she would say he "hit" the ball.   Now technically she was correct, and it took me forever to get her to understand that he may have hit the ball, but statistically it was not a "hit".   By the time he was playing HS ball (he began playing in LL coach pitch), she finally understood.  It was frustrating at time when I wasn't at the game and she would call to give updates.

Now, football is another matter - she still doesn't get the difference between a kick off and a punt - as far as she is concerned both times they are "kicking" the ball.

When son was 8, was so desperate and so close to hitting a home run. Driving to the first bracket game of the day, “Mama said knock you out” by L.L. Cool J came on the radio. I turned to him in the back seat and sang it and we had a good laugh. First pitch he saw he knocked it out. Someone fetched the ball and gave it to him. He ran into the stands and gave me the ball. 

Easy.  A couple Mothers Day memories both good and bad.

1) The first HR my oldest son ever hit was on Mother's Day during a travel baseball tournament.  It was also a walkoff HR.

2) A year later, my oldest son is playing in a 12U travel tournament.   The team fathers made Bloody Mary's for the mothers for the early game, and we were discretely drinking them during the game.   After the game is over, my oldest son take a swig out of the Bloody Mary thermos not knowing what is in there.   My son spits it up then barfs all over the picnic blanket.  Party over.

Happy Mothers Day to all of our Baseball Moms!

Mom was traditional stay-at-home with a huge task of tending to six kids, a big house and yard, etc., and a husband who worked way too much (so not much kid-rearing support aside from financial).  We wore her out and she often  showed it.  But still, she was always dressed up and made up, as were the women of the times.  As we grew up and out of the house, she started to relax a bit and show quite the sense of humor.  She became the magnet and life of the party for her many kids, grandkids and great-grandkids at family gatherings for her remaining years.  

But, back to our childhood years... through the endless task of kid-raising, there was one constant as a release for her - the Cleveland Indians and a martini.  April thru September, after dinner, mom could be found hidden in the privacy of the screen patio, martini in hand, listening to the Indians radio broadcast.  I would hear her every once in a while, providing a little extra "color commentary".  It didn't occur to me until later, this was a woman who rarely showed any interest (or had time to, anyway) in sports but she knew every player name and tendencies for the Indians.

She was always fantastic about writing and staying in touch with each of us kids as we moved on and away.  When my youngest son started playing ball in college, her attention and pride perked up quite a bit.  One year, he played college summer ball for a team that was the Indians and they basically wore something like the Cleveland Spring Training uni's.  They had pictures taken on kid day and had baseball cards made up.  Son's card was a pic of him in uniform signing an autograph for a young boy.  We took that back to the next reunion and showed mom.  You could see it in her eyes... very special moment for her.. and us.

My mother knew very little about baseball. That was not the case for my sons. Luckily, my wife loves baseball and every Mothers Day has been surrounded by the game. When our youngest showed interest in the game, she was all in! That continued until his last collegiate game. Mothers Day was always best celebrated at the Yard(her words). Even now, with his playing days over, she had tickets for the Giants game with him on Mother's Day. This year will be the first time in many years that they haven't been together at a ball game on Mother's Day.

I love my wife for many reasons. I distinctly recall this one in particular, she never sat with the other moms in the stands, she was always was on a fence down the line and focused on the game. She was intense and always motivating our son and the other players.

Another is when i think about a photo of her hugging our son in Cooperstown after his 1st game. He was on a new travel team and basically was the utility guy and didn't get alot of PT that entire season. He went 4-4, 2 HRs and 6 RBIs that game and we went on to get 4th out of 106 teams. What a run.

Coached on a u11/travel team that ended up beating up our Mothers Day opponent pretty bad in both ends of a dblhdr... Regardless of the outcome we had bought roses for each boy on each team to bring to their mother - it was the good will gesture for scheduling to play on that day... Well come playoffs, it turns out a few moms didn't forget the losses and somehow convinced the coaches (e.g. their husbands) to use their best pitcher against us - they won that game...  We had developed a good relationship with the other team and they let us in on it... Pretty funny now of course ;-)... Still based on our overall record in the round robin playoff, we qualified for the regional tourney and finished 4th - not bad for a "town team" where town is defined as less than 6K residents.  Almost all those kids played college ball somewhere.  Suffice to say the moms never forgot how these games are always scheduled on Mothers Day, but never on Fathers Day (season was over, but that's not the point).

My Mom was such a big fan of both my brother and me.  Neither she nor my dad knew anything about the game.  However, she loved that game and when the Cardinals were playing our radio or TV was on.  Baseball has been such an important game for me and my family.  

My Mom's dad committed suicide and her mom, sister and her were ostracised from the family.  It greatly hurt her.  In fact, my Grandmother took the girls and moved away.  I was playing in a ball tournament, yes they had them even when I played, and while playing catch, my buddy threw a ball over my head and the ball rolled under the chair of this lady.  I went over and asked if I might be able to get my ball.  The lady was impressed with my manners and wanted to meet my Mom.  Fate is such an amazing thing.  When this lady saw my Mom, she started crying.  Man, what I had I done?  My Mom looked at her and they started hugging and crying.  That lady was one of my Mom's long lost cousins.  They had not seen each other for a very very long time.  That lady lived a great distance from us.  

Long story short, this great game gave my Mom her family back. 

If I might, my wife has been the perfect mother.  She never cared whether my daughter was a softball player.  She simply wanted her to be happy.  She was my daughter's biggest cheerleader and best shoulder to cry on when the kid needed a shoulder to cry on.  

Nice stories, PF thanks for starting the topic.

My first born was a female, wanted nothing to do with sports, she was a dancer. Ironically she is now a die hard sports mom,  soccer and track as well as lacrosse. Sometimes I cant believe it. She even knows the rules of baseball now!

My second came 9 years later, his dad taught him to hit and pitch and was his coach until he was 9.  Husband became a manager of a large regional mall. He was never home.  I had no choice but to become a baseball mom.

So I had to figure it out all on my own.  I learned that finding the right coaches  was the key and honestly he never ever had a bad coach. Ever. And just like everyone else, I discovered the HSBBW. 

We have had so many great memories, but I will never forget the first time that we walked into Doug Kingsmore Stadium, I saw son wearing an orange jersey, and I went to the bathroom and cried my eyes out because I was so happy for him and our family.

There have been a lot of happy tears, as well as sad tears, but that memory will be always my favorite!

Happy Mother's Day to all the great baseball moms  out there.

TPM

as I approach the "final" years, I remember my mother when I asked her "should I play another year" She said son "you can always work, but you cannot always play baseball".

Decision made and I played in Canada and then traveled to SF, CA.

Had to borrow $.25 from the Bay Bridge toll gate to cross the bridge.

Bob

"you can always work, but you cannot always play baseball"

Sage advice. I always love your stories, Bob. You are the best.

Regarding TMM_Mom: At a Tucson Toros game when TMM was 5, I was keeping a score sheet. As we had done at other games, son wanted to have a catch behind the dugout. Since there was a little action going on on the field, I said after the third out. He couldn't wait and started fussing a little. His mom informed me that her father took her to many Senators games when she was young and taught her how to keep score.  It was quite a nice surprise when she offered to carry on with the scorekeeping.  As things later turned out, she had a much bigger influence on son being where he is today than I did. She is awesome and knows this game.

TMM;

Thank you. Mother's Day reminds me of airplane trip from LAX to La Plaz. My mother was traveling with my wife and I. She noticed John Wayne a few seats ahead and she said "BOB can you take a photo of John Wayne"?

 I went up to Mr. Wayne with my Kodiak. "John can I take a photo for my mother? He was very kind and I "snapped" the photo.

My mother was very happy.

Bob

PS: with the Korean Baseball games I am reminded of our three tours to Korea with our American HS team and our Police protection

@Consultant posted:

TPM

as I approach the "final" years, I remember my mother when I asked her "should I play another year" She said son "you can always work, but you cannot always play baseball".

Decision made and I played in Canada and then traveled to SF, CA.

Had to borrow $.25 from the Bay Bridge toll gate to cross the bridge.

Bob

Bob,

That's so true. I remember a few years back my son asking the same question. However, as much as he didn't want to, the deal was the day you are done, then you go back to school. 

After a visit to Dr Altchek in NYC, he was advised to take about 6-8 months off due to a small tear in shoulder.

So at almost 30, off he went to Clemson and from there the rest is history!