For the '08 Parents

Texan, thank you so much for your well wishes.
It is so hard to believe we are here, the beginning
of his final High School Season. From a 4 year old
T-Baller to now, and each season just getting better and better. I know it will be over WAY to Soon.
Hope everyones 08 has a great season and gets to
continue with playing baseball as they go to the
next step in their life.

Great post, Texan.

Has TexasSon made a baseball commitment for next year?

Texan...........you post gave me goose bumps. So well articulated. While my son is an '09, I too have had the same thoughts, Where has the time gone?
There are so many life lessons the boys will
take with them while partcipating in the great game of baseball. Thank-You for your thoughts.

Very special, and clearly from the heart.

Texan that is a truly awesome post. While Badman's Son is an '09 I too can hardly believe where the time has gone. Many of life's best lessons are learned from his countless hours associated with baseball. It is with great pride I will spend the next 18 months watching him, cherishing every win, loss, hit and strikeout because before I know it he too will be headed off to college and I will be at home wondering where did the time go. It seems like just yesterday I drilled a hole through a baseball and tied a string through it and attached it to the tree out back as he first tried to hit. That was only a moment ago! I too wish for a rewarding year for you and your son and for all Dad's out there who son's high school careers are coming to an end. Cherish each and every moment! Baseball is a Great Game!

Texan... Simply an awesome post!!! Like you my son is an 08 graduate. I can't believe that it will come to an end in a few short months. I've read your post at least three times this morning and I got goose bumps every time. Thanks for sharing your story!!

Thanks Texan, my 1999 is long gone, my middle one is an 09 and I still have a 2012 left, it has gone by very fast I have and will continue to enjoy every minute. Have a great season everyone!

Texan.....Great post, These words really hold value to me...I can compound these feelings considering i have many (08's) that i have coached since age nine and have a particularly close bond to.... It is awesome to see them all signing on to the next level, I even take great satisfaction (as i think Kirk K, Curt L, Jon P, Austin B, and many others who have spent many years with this group) in seeing the other teams players succeed in advancing to the next level too…..When you play these guys 6-10 times per year and become attached to there skills and personalitys on and off the field.... I still today remember the play PDsonIII made 7 years ago on the first pitch of our 2001 season, our LH hitting, 4.5-40 running ,D1 signee hit a shot into the SS hole, Pd son lays out, gloves it, throws from his knees and Knowell does a tremendous layout scoop to get him by a half step.... (i have hundreds more in memory) It is truly an honor to have been a part of their journeys….Luckily for me I have two grandson’s ages 2 and 5, as soon as the college days are gone I’ll be starting over ( only much,much wiser!!!)

Texan,

Thanks for a great post. My eyes have misted over every time I have looked at it. Our journey has been long and fun, and I for one hate to see it end so soon.

I think about the first day he played t-ball. In the league we started out in, they got 5 pitches off the machine. If they didn't hit one of those, they got to hit off the tee. We practiced and practiced, but never could make much contact off the machine (he was only 5, after all). But once that first game came around, he took the first pitch and drove it to left field. I'll never forget the look on his face.

I think about all the days we spent hitting balls, throwing, work on his position skills. In hot weather, cold weather, we were out there, working hard to get better.

I remember the 13YO world series game that didn't even start until 12:30 in the morning due to an earlier rain delay. Stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning, washing clothes, only to get up and play the next day at 9. Could hardly stay awake, but we were together and having fun.

Then there was the night as a freshman on the varsity we were playing one of our cross-town rivals and he laced a double down the right field line to bring in the go ahead runs in the bottom of the 6th.

Or last year, as a junior, driving in the winning runs in the bottom of the 8th against our most bitter rival!

So many more memories out there "I have to cut them with a knife". I am not looking forward to that last game of the season, and getting to walk on the field with him on Senior Night. I know I will cry like a baby...but I won't care!! (I hope he doesn't!!!)

Like so many others, I am so glad of the lessons he has learned while playing the greatest game around. He has learned who to work with others, how to be a leader, how to accept success and failure. What great lessons!! They will help him later in life whether he ever picks up a bat and a ball again or not.

I hope I can find something to occupy all of my time next year! This has been a great ride!!

nortexbaseball -- those were fun times, eh? I too look forward to checking the paper every Wednesday and Saturday morning to see kids' names that have been opponents over the years --- and smiling at the thought of their success.

Wonderful thoughts, Texan, and great responses by everyone else. As the mom of a senior, I am cherishing every moment!

Special memories:
* Tremendous excitement as my 8-year-old turned two double plays at SS during a Little League game
* The sound of balls bouncing off our front porch steps as my son practiced fielding
* All-Star competition beginning at age 10 and culminating with a Texas West state championship game (vs. Walker Kelly and his team) at age 14
* A Junior League game in which the team was down by several runs and the players were disheartened. "Coach Bubba" grabbed an empty Wendy's cup and wedged a dirty baseball in the top portion, had my 8-year-old daughter (the team mascot) rub it, and then had every player on the team lick the baseball for good luck. The team rallied and won the game. (My daughter, now age 14, still has the Wendy's cup and ball in her room.)
* My son's one-and-only home run (thus far) at age 14, when the ball hit the top of the fence and fell over
* A cocky, trash-talking Houston team that was humbled and silenced as my son's high school team unexpectedly defeated them in regional play, advancing to the TAPPS state tournament.
* Struggles and adversity eventually overcome by both mental and physical adjustments as my son transitioned from Little League to select ball and transferred from a private high school to a large public high school program
* 118-degree heat at the Junior Olympics in Phoenix (merely walking from the parking lot to the stands was like a death march)
* A frustrating two-month slump that was eradicated overnight with the purchase of a new bat
* Negative mental attitudes ("I suck," "I lost the game") that gradually gave way to increasing mental toughness, confidence in the abilities God gave him, and a willingness to let things roll off his back
* Writing checks, using credit cards, and even getting a 401K loan to pay for all the expenses (we stopped counting at $12,000 )
* Big defensive plays the summer after junior year which grabbed the attention of a few college scouts. When one head coach called my son, the first words out of his mouth were, "I heard you made a couple of Major League plays in Waco."
* The excitement my family felt as we anticipated an official visit
* My son's memorable signing ceremony at his school. Afterward, my husband commented to me, "As I saw him sign that paper, all I could think of was the thousands of grounders I have hit to him over the years."
* Discovering that my son's hitting instructor had taped an article about my son's signing on his bathroom mirror
* Satisfaction and encouragement as my husband and I began to see our son take ownership of his conditioning, rising at 5 a.m. 3-4 mornings a week to lift weights (hunting used to be the only thing that would get him out of bed at that hour!)
* The thrill of seeing my son start as a senior during his team's first scrimmage on Monday

It doesn't get any better than this....

I'm staying away from all this kinda talk.

I'm still trying to get my son to enroll at Plano East as a freshman next year under a new name so we can do it all over again.

#5 will be available.

No he wants 11 or we're going to Summitt.

quote:

Originally posted by 11sdad:
No he wants 11 or we're going to Summitt.

Which is why we didn't come to Martin!

The Times They Are A Changin

Bob Dylan


Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'

FO -- you should audition for American Idol.

Poignant, ain't it?

Thanks guys...I have been avoiding the reality of what is eminent. Can't believe it's the beginning of the end. How many tournaments have we gone to? What awesome times---what incredible memories. I will miss this so much. Don't want it to ever end. I need a beer!

I have a 6-year-old that I may need some help with if y'all are serious about not wanting this to end. He's a lefty!

What a beautiful, reflective post. My heart aches at the thought that I'm going be in this situation next year. If I cry as hard then as I am now, I'm doomed.

Good luck for a great final high school season to all the 08's and their mommies and daddies!

Texan:
Great post

Good luck to all 08 parents. Enjoy the year it will go by fast.
Went to CU Son first college game and it was just not the same. Maybe in time it will be but the high school years are something that i wish would have never had an ending,but life and baseball go on.

Good to hear from you ChangeUp -- I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but college ball is never the same in terms of the relationships.

Will we see you behind the plate this year?

I guess I’ll say it because it doesn’t look like anyone else is going to.
Man this generation of parents are soft!
You would never see post like this from Ken Guthrie.

Maybe in the long run i will meet great people the same as in the H.S. years.

Yes i will be on the field alot more this year. Hope to see some old friends and not make alot of eniemies.

Just yesterday he pitched in his first game and now…oh shoot I haven’t saved enough to pay for college……………………………………..

quote:

Originally posted by obrady:
Just yesterday he pitched in his first game and now…oh shoot I haven’t saved enough to pay for college……………………………………..

I was under the impression that the select teams paid for their college if they didn't get a scholarship.

Great idea, 11's dad!

quote:

Originally posted by 11sdad:

I was under the impression that the select teams paid for their college if they didn't get a scholarship.

I am going to make a new contract with their coaches

McKinney North has a page in their program where they put pictures of the seniors when they were babies and you try to guess who they are. My wife and I were going through pictures the other day for that and ran across several pictures from t-ball. Man......it brought back tons of memories and it seemed like just the other day. Now he's a senior and off to college this fall.

I'm not ready for that I can tell you for sure.