Baseball Su-cks

I like to go fishing, whether the baseball is good or not.

quote:

Originally posted by AntzDad:
I like to go fishing.

My son and I both love to fish. I think that is great advice and I know there are many great ballplayers who fish. Ted Williams is one who comes to mind.

Ha, I had a Ted Williams mitt and a Ted Williams reel. He was the man. I think Sir Edmund Hillary was the only other guy that had a deal with Sears. Two heavy hitters, if you ask me.

Put it perspective and never forget what is really important.

There are people who just got a call about a terrible accident.
There are people who were just informed they are terminally ill and they will never see their children get married. They will never hold their grand children.
There are young men who left home to go to a far land who will never come back home. They will never get to grow old. Their parents will never see them again.

Keep it in perspective. Your kid is playing a game they love. They have invested years in the game and want to be successful at what they love to do. So we latch on to their dream with them. And because they want it we want it for them. When they are hurting we are hurting. When they are happy we are happy.

So help them keep it in perspective by keeping it in perspective yourself. Your going to love them if they are 0-4 or 4-4. Your going to love them long after the cleats are put away. Your going to be just as proud of them when they are no longer playing the game as you are when they are playing the game.

We all know that this game will take you from the Penthouse to the Outhouse very quickly. And you can go from the Outhouse to the Penthouse just as quickly. Your only as good as your next at bat. Your only as good as your next pitch you throw. And in the end is really is just a game. Life if way more important. If we can focus on this just maybe our kids can too. And if they can maybe the su cky times will not hurt so much. And just maybe they can put it all into perspective as well and just enjoy their time in the game and look back with fond memories.

after a downer day yesterday my son and two teammates just packed up the rods and reels and headed to the surf.....

quote:

Originally posted by eatersbaseball:
...and headed to the surf.....

I'd always take my board out and go surf. Even if there weren't any waves, I would just paddle around and relax.

Golf. When you are out on the course nothing else going on in the world matters but the hole you're playing. It's a complete 'let go' of everything for a few hours until you throw the clubs in the back of the car and return to reality. My son likes to play with me occasionally but not as often as he'd like because he thinks it will affect his bat swing. He says he plans to play more golf after he graduates HS in his free time since he'll be a PO in college. hahaha...free time...college baseball....I told him good luck with that.

Buc, I bet I can come up with more excuses for not catching fish than you have for that 105.

quote:

Originally posted by WinBuc44:
Golf. When you are out on the course nothing else going on in the world matters but the hole you're playing. It's a complete 'let go' of everything for a few hours until you throw the clubs in the back of the car and return to reality. My son likes to play with me occasionally but not as often as he'd like because he thinks it will affect his bat swing. He says he plans to play more golf after he graduates HS in his free time since he'll be a PO in college. hahaha...free time...college baseball....I told him good luck with that.

This could have been my response. Played some golf with my boy between baseball seasons (no possible way to do it this time of year ). Like most ballplayers, I would guess, he hits the golf ball a mile. I can catch him on the greens though.

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
That's right you heard me

When it is not going your way, it is the worst of the worst The pits You want to roll up in a ball and hide in a cocoon No answer seems remotely in sight

How do you crawl your way out of it? What do you tell yourself?

Very humbling game indeed. The best ones are able to put the bad day behind them and move on. They also don't get too high when they are going well and don't get too low when it isn't happening. And they don't crawl into a hole and hide , they just face the music and tomorrow is another day.

Very, very hard to do.

quote:

Originally posted by AntzDad:
Buc, I bet I can come up with more excuses for not catching fish than you have for that 105.

lol...on a good day!

I don't know about all of you, but usually I have too much work to do to spend too much time getting upset about baseball!

Usually after a game, win or loss, I don't have too much time to dawdle before I need to get to work in the library. Headphones, laptop, and books is all I need to get proper separation from baseball.

I feel for you ClevelandDad. We've all had those days/weeks/seasons. I used to keep a picture in my locker everywhere I played. When I had a bad day it was waiting for me after the game. It helped to keep things in perspective every once in a while. Sorry to say it didn't always work depending on the game. Here is a link to the picture.
http://images.nitrosell.com/pr.../7/1629/avp90488.jpg
Hang in there. The baseball gods have a way of surprising you for the good when you least expect it.

This is a part of the game. We all have ways of handling it. I stay busy do non-baseball stuff, work on the house, car, etc. Then go swing off the tee, great therapy for me.

Lefty...

quote:

Originally posted by AntzDad:
Ha, I had a Ted Williams mitt and a Ted Williams reel. He was the man. I think Sir Edmund Hillary was the only other guy that had a deal with Sears. Two heavy hitters, if you ask me.

Nah, JC Higgins had the longest running stretch. I doubt he played ball or climbed mountains, though.

Boy did this thread hit home for me today and just at the right time.

Backstop Jr. has been having a fine spring nothing spectacular, but really steady pitching, fielding and hitting. I think we both had forgotten how hard this game can be at times.

Today was a rough one indeed. O for 3 with first two K's of the year. Error at first base with two outs right before a homer for other team. Airmailed first on a bunt allowing two more runs to score and to top it off last out of the game as the tying run. Just to complete the day he slipped back into some of the immaturity issues allowing a couple of bad things to snowball into a horrible game. Ugh!!

Now to the good part. Because of all I have learned from all of you wonderful folks I was able to save myself from looking like a jackwagon as well as turned it into a positive teaching moment. In the past I can guarantee that this would not have been the case. I would have jumped him and looked like a fool and not helping him one bit.

We talked about working hard and not just showing up. I finally was able to share my new favorite quote about life being 10% of what happens to you and the other 90% of how you react to it. Very fitting in this case. I think he also understands a little better that he and I can talk about things calmly and after the fact and I am not going to compound his misery by getting on him.

A little humble pie for father and son never a bad thing!!! Thanks to everyone for helping a father see the light and what is really important. I am by no means all the way there, but because of all of you I know my relationship with my son is only getting better and better no matter what may happen on the diamond.

And that is what is important!

BackstopDad32,

I know you sure didn't get any of that parental wisdom from me, but you appear to be a very wise father. It's great to read about the impact others here have had on you. Too bad so many others ignore the experiences of others. Great post!

Learn from your own mistakes - Good
Learn from the mistakes others make - Better

some days chicken...............some days feathers.

BackstopDad32,

That is really cool and brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for telling us this!

"Now to the good part. Because of all I have learned from all of you wonderful folks I was able to save myself from looking like a jackwagon as well as turned it into a positive teaching moment. In the past I can guarantee that this would not have been the case. I would have jumped him and looked like a fool and not helping him one bit.

We talked about working hard and not just showing up. I finally was able to share my new favorite quote about life being 10% of what happens to you and the other 90% of how you react to it. Very fitting in this case. I think he also understands a little better that he and I can talk about things calmly and after the fact and I am not going to compound his misery by getting on him.

A little humble pie for father and son never a bad thing!!! Thanks to everyone for helping a father see the light and what is really important. I am by no means all the way there, but because of all of you I know my relationship with my son is only getting better and better no matter what may happen on the diamond."

It confirms what so many of us already know...

There are a lot of really, really good people who share here very unselfishly. It continues to amaze me. You all amaze me. Thank you.

Julie

quote:

Originally posted by BackstopDad32:
Boy did this thread hit home for me today and just at the right time.

Backstop Jr. has been having a fine spring nothing spectacular, but really steady pitching, fielding and hitting. I think we both had forgotten how hard this game can be at times.

Today was a rough one indeed. O for 3 with first two K's of the year. Error at first base with two outs right before a homer for other team. Airmailed first on a bunt allowing two more runs to score and to top it off last out of the game as the tying run. Just to complete the day he slipped back into some of the immaturity issues allowing a couple of bad things to snowball into a horrible game. Ugh!!

Now to the good part. Because of all I have learned from all of you wonderful folks I was able to save myself from looking like a jackwagon as well as turned it into a positive teaching moment. In the past I can guarantee that this would not have been the case. I would have jumped him and looked like a fool and not helping him one bit.

We talked about working hard and not just showing up. I finally was able to share my new favorite quote about life being 10% of what happens to you and the other 90% of how you react to it. Very fitting in this case. I think he also understands a little better that he and I can talk about things calmly and after the fact and I am not going to compound his misery by getting on him.

A little humble pie for father and son never a bad thing!!! Thanks to everyone for helping a father see the light and what is really important. I am by no means all the way there, but because of all of you I know my relationship with my son is only getting better and better no matter what may happen on the diamond.

Great post!

The bolded green part of your post is related to what inspired this thread. There was a thread in the Mental Forum about the passing of Harvey Dorfman - the famed sports psychologist who has posted in these very forums in the past. His famous quote: "What are you going to do about it?" seems like a good thing for parents to encourage their kids.

Encourage them to find solutions or make adjustments and they will

Thanks to a lot of folks on this board hopefully I am positively influencing that 90% rather than negatively as in the past

Terrific Post BSD32....

Now if I can get my husband to start thinking like that before 1B's season starts! Good thing he has his own car, no more of this on the way home.

I never got away from it when it went bad. I started college ball 0-16 with 7 K's. At first I thought I was in over my head. My thoughts were my parents were ticked I wasn't 7th generation at my father's college over baseball. I thought had I gone there I would be succeeding at that level. All I did was fight back mentally and got over the hump.

My son (and I) were down for a couple of weeks when he was told last fall (post surgery) he wouldn't be playing this high school season. Then he decided until he didn't see his name in the lineup as DH this year no one was going to say he couldn't play. It looks like he'll be ready to play in the field.

Mental outlook can cure a lot of problems. People have made themselves sick or well with their mental outlook. A monk cured himself of gangrene with positive outlook and meditation. He should have had his leg amputated. The doctors are baffled from a medical point of view other than positive outlook and complete belief cured him.

Yes, it is really frustrating. You want it so bad, you can taste it. Then WHAM! Reality sets in.

Now this is why I like this discussion so much.

Finally got an update from Florida. Sunday was YBC's first game with the new team; sounds like it went pretty well, 2-4 with a couple RBIs (one of the outs was a warning track line shot he said he didn't elevate), a couple stolen bases, threw a couple kids out. Nice day; my response "put it in the bank, enjoy it for a bit and get back to work."

Tonight? 1-3 with two k's. 1 stolen base and he caught a kid stealing. Kinda ticked off when he called; said he faced a submariner that he had a hard time picking up. My response? "Put it in the bank, learn from it and resolve that you won't get beat that way next time."

I think that the most important thing is that you stay process focused and always commit to competing the best you can. That's really all you can do...

edit: why am I suddenly hungry for a hamburger?

I have gotten frustrated in the past when my guy has gotten fewer than two hits in a game...I now have finially come to realize how much better 1 for 4 is as opposed to 0 for 4.

A multiple hit game is what makes me happy, but these days I am getting better at just taking it as it comes.

Of course if all I saw, game after game, was 0 or 1 for 4, I would revert to pulling my hair out!

.

"Yes, it is really frustrating. You want it so bad, you can taste it. Then WHAM! Reality sets in."

Yes...Murphy's Law!





By the way...good to hear from you infidel.

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