Bizazz's wife makes a very good point. I have fussed at my son at times when I thought he needed it. His mom has softened that occasionally, and she has been very effective. Fungo, strangely, and for whatever reasons, my son has never mentioned quitting baseball. A few times over the years he has been so upset with himself about his performance or perceived lack of improvement, that I have been just torn up that a kid would be that unhappy over baseball. I remember an instance when he was about 14 or 15 playing travel ball (I hope he doesn't read this) that he was so extremely upset with himself and seemed to be in pure agony, so unhappy that it hurt me. Yes, parents do hurt when their kids hurt. His room is downstairs, so he went off to bed as distraught as I'd ever seen him. I thought about him being so upset, probably feeling like a failure, downstairs alone, so after a few minutes, I slipped downstairs to talk to him. Although I didn't want him to quit baseball, I told him that a kid shouldn't be that unhappy over playing baseball, that maybe he should just quit. Or quit at least for a while, or to consider playing some just for fun, and not worry about college, scouts, coaches, stats, who's watching, proving himself etc. As tears ran down his face, he told me that he loved baseball, that he would never quit, that there was nothing else he wanted to do more than play baseball, and that he would just have to practice more and practice harder. He's a junior now, and he plays or practices every day year round. He puts baseball before school, girls, cars, everything. He probably needs to focus on some other things more, but what have I been doing? I've been making sure he gets to play all summer and fall, has the equipment he needs, gets to travel anywhere he feels like he should, and gets to practice every day during the winter. Before someone posts it, I'll go ahead and tell you that I've tried to temper his goals and self-expectations with explanations of how difficult it is to make a living playing baseball, or to even play at the D1 level, but he won't hear of it. He says he's going to keep playing and he's not giving up. Although I've told him the odds are against him, I'll never tell him or any other kid that anything is impossible. After all, I've told him his entire life that anything IS possible if you work hard enough and don't give up. Whatever happens, he won't be able to look back and wonder what if. I've often thought that the day would come when he would be tired of playing, become more interested in other things, give up, realize how difficult it is to accomplish his goals, or just suffer from plain old burnout. Right now, it doesn't appear to be anytime soon, but I suppose one never knows. Kids amaze me sometimes.
