Surprised by Your Own Player

Not high level as specified in the OP, but....

In HS I was happily surprised that he could play at all and become an impact player. He had a shoulder injury that required him to relearn how to throw as a short, side-arm thrower.

Another surprise was when he transformed himself as a D3 freshman from a contact type hitter into a masher.  When he came home on Thanksgiving we couldn't believe how much bigger he was. I was a little worried, but he said, "Coach wants me to drop tanks."  He lead his team in HR that year.

There have been many occasions where my son has surprised me by his baseball plays and results, both highs and lows, good and bad.  To this day the one thing that continuously surprise me is how he conducts himself during interviews and this thought process.  I've never heard him publicly say anything negative about other players, teammates, the team, and even about himself.  It's always a positive spin.  People have called or come up to me asking how did we teach him growing up to be the person he is today, humble, polite, positive, humorous and interesting.  I think every parent couldn't be prouder of their kids when we hear such words.  And yes, I give all the credit to my wife!!

My son never played at the highest level, though he got a sniff of some top notch college ball. He definitely exceeded expectations his senior year of high school. He was something of a late bloomer. For instance, he was not the best player in his Little League, and really may have never been the best player on any team he played on. He got to play in an elite high school program that has won something like 10 state championships in 20 years. He was a pitcher only pretty much the whole time he was in high school, and pretty much every one knew he could be really good. The question was would he be good enough to be one of the top guys.

It looked like things were set up for him to get significant innings his junior year. In the fall of that year though he suffered a severe knee injury. His junior year of baseball was in jeopardy. He made it back to the field that spring but it was on a limited basis. Again, his senior year it was looking like he would have a chance to make big contributions. In short, he was lights out. Was very good. Set the school record for strikeouts in a season. Was named the area's player of the year and was named to a high school All-American team. Hard work and preparation meeting up with opportunity. 

My son is a RHP at Iowa. During his freshmen year, we decided not to travel much because we figured he'd spend most of his time on the bench. So we skipped Florida and Hawaii, listened on the radio as he struck the side against Marshall (my dad's alma mater) in his first appearance. He'd call and tell us how people would stop him in the airport and ask for his autograph just because he was with the team. It all seemed a little weird and distant.

We finally decided to go to a series at  Oklahoma State, which was then ranked No. 19. He went in in relief with two or three guys on base and it was sort of raining, sort of icing. I just remember for the first few minutes he seemed to really be struggling with the signs and was sort of looking around in a panicky "help me" way. Then the catcher came out and talked to him and he ended up allowing one hit and fanning five over three shutout innings and got his first career win.

I had always worried about him overreaching and going to a bigger baseball school than he was ready for. That was the first time I really thought, wow, he made the right choice. He has had ups and downs, but he's learned to compete against the best. That's a life lesson that can't be beat.

I've felt guilty for not responding here.  It's hard to come up with one time.  There have been so many times that I have been surprised and unbelievably proud.  This journey is hard.  It breaks your heart and it gives you the highest highs.  Right now we are in a hard part, but I am so thankful for the way it brings our family together.  This is the first year that my son hasn't been home when he is going through challenges or disappointments and its difficult to gauge.  My son has been a pretty highly ranked kid since sophomore year of hs.  Summer after jr year, he started with a "lights out" performance at the PG National, followed by mono which took him out the rest of his summer.  He started training for the Super 60  in November and then got pneumonia, which set him back 3-4 weeks.  He started a great senior season 12IP 26K, 2 H, 1BB.  I sat in the stands, feeling almost surreal.  Total control, amazing to watch.  He had 10-15 scouts in the stands every time he pitched. I would listen to them talk about him on podcasts, and read his write ups.  Those were some of the highest highs. Covid shut things down, they reduced the draft to 5 rounds,  and he decided he should go to college.  He got to college and within a few weeks they found out he had a syndrome in his arm and changed his arm slot.  Spent last fall relearning how to pitch.  Spring starts and he gets in several times and does ok, but he isn't the dominate kid he was last year.  The coach tells him to go back to his old slot.  He spent a few weeks trying to relearn what he tried to forget and at his last outting, throwing against his team, he said he killed it.  Felt great.  The next day he got a severe sprain in his ankle.  But he just keeps pushing on. My heart breaks for him...more adversity than he deserves, but through it all, he has a quiet confidence that lets me know he is going to be ok.  It is not an understatement to say that I feel extremely honored to be a witness to his journey and to be the person he calls to talk through disappointment or celebration.  I know a lot of parents feel that way.  He surprises me everyday.  I get to say, "that's my kid" a lot, not just for his talent, but for the kind of person he is.  

My 2015 played in many national travel ball tournaments, had an excellent high school career and had a very productive D1 college career.  He played against the likes of ACC, SEC and other power teams while meeting many friends along the way.  My proudest moment, however, is how his he handled all the adversity that goes along with playing baseball, the challenges of a HA student/athlete and going through a career ending injury.  When I saw him handle all these situations with focus and perseverance, I knew the game of baseball prepared him for  what ever life will bring him!

@PitchingFan posted:

  I know the bad days will come but it is still going to be great.

I caught the 9th inning of your son's game today. Just wow. That was fun. Congrats!

@PitchingFan not sure if you’re on Twitter but pitchingninja put out a cool post of your son.

I saw it as well. Awesome!

Thank you guys.  He did well.  One of those moments this thread is about.  His first SEC interview, his first SEC save, and team is playing real well right now.  Right fielder robbed at least a double if not a Homerun that saved him and the team.  No real stars just a bunch of guys playing together really well.  Had to drive home after the game to be at church this morning.  Got home after 2 AM.  But it is worth it.  Why we do what we do as parents.  Thanks again.  We might not always agree on everything but this site is pretty special to some of us.

My son is still in HS and the jury is still out if he will have a successful post HS baseball career (or even if he will have one).  But there's already lots of memorable and surprising times on the basefield field though.  However, the one that stood out the most, and surprised me the most is something he did outside of the baseball field.

A long time teammate's brother died in a car accident while the team is in the middle of a tournament.  The brother was a mainstay in the bleachers during games and has developed good relationship with lots of the boys on the team.  The coach knows the boys are hurting and gathered them together in a room to talk about it.  Some of the dads spoke but the room full of teenage boys sat stone cold quiet.  When it was clear that no one is going to say anything, coach asked for a volunteer to pray.  My son volunteered and started crying midway through his prayer.  The floodgates opened for the rest of the boys.