The Zen of Catch

I feel like I'm evolving into a "Dad" blogger, but that's OK. Let me give you a few reasons why.

I like my job. It's extremely dangerous to post about your workplace or your job (if you want to keep it), so even if I wanted to, I wouldn't go there. I offer this as a warning to a few bloggers I've been reading lately. Be careful.

I have strong political opinions, but, frankly, I don't much enjoy the debate in that arena. I'm not good at debating, I don't want to spar over it, and if you disagree with me, you may be right, but I think you're wrong, and I don't want to argue. Not my style.

I'll lay it right out in a few quick words: I am a social liberal, economic and foreign policy libertarian. These are not mutually exclusive. Methinks social freedoms are far too tightly restricted, and shouldn't be restricted at all; we are extremely overtaxed due to a fat, bloated, poorly run, out of control government; and, the current administration's foreign policy is a travesty. There you have it. Once in a while, I may go into more detail, but not very often. For now, let me say I will never be a party line Democrat, but I was happy that they took back the Congress.

So, I'm not getting into my career, or politics (much). I'm a horrible photographer, so I can't do a photo blog. Poetry? I'm trying. You may see some in the future, but for now, it's not very good. I'm no web programming whiz, so I can't offer much there. I do like to cook. Maybe I'll post up a recipe from time to time. Yeah, that might be fun!

For now, though, what I want to talk about is baseball.

Tonight, I brought the TB home from an after school visit with a friend, and he was falling apart cranky. This seems to be a common Friday occurrence among the Kindygarden crowd.

After a hug from Momma, a few minutes of Little Bear, some dinner, and a quick game of basketball, he said he wanted to play baseball. (My boy!)

I pitched a few to him, and threw some curves, which he was able to read. Then I sent the high heat. He put several far over the fence, across the alley, and nearly over the neighbors' fence. A natural.

Then, it was getting cool and nearly dark, so I suggested a catch to wind up the evening. We have played catch dozens of times. TB can catch, but not yet consistently. He wants me to toss wild grounders and impossible fly balls so he can make a heroic play. I told him he just needs to be ready for whatever comes at him. It may be a can-o-corn or it may be a screaming liner.

So I starting whipping the ball right at him. Before, when I was just tossing it to him, he seemed a bit clumsy. Suddenly, with a little velocity on the ball, he was catching them wherever I put it. Well then!

After four or five catches in a row, he held the ball and announced, "Daddy, I know I'm going to catch it. Every time."

And you know what? He did. Not endlessly, but it was like it clicked for him to put his glove out the same way he puts the bat out when he's hitting. He caught more in a row than ever before and hurled it right back to me, dead on. Darkness sent us in, but I could have thrown for an hour.

I love having a catch. Always have. You can talk, or not. You can mix it up with grounders and fly balls, or you can just chuck it back and forth. You get in a rhythm as long as you aren't chasing after the ball. I forgot how that feels. When I was a kid, I would play catch, or have "pitching duels", for hours with my friends.

My boy has always been an athletic little guy, but now, he's ready for a catch. Whatever comes at him, he's willing. He may miss a few, but he's going to dive for it, climb the fence, or otherwise put his mitt right out there and try.

He knows he's going to catch it. Every time. I'm sure he understands that is not so; but he had a moment, I'll call it an epiphany, where it became a reflex to put that mitt in front of the ball, squeeze it, and throw it back. One foot in front of the other, one throw after another.

First steps. First words. First day of school. Those are great, but our first good catch beats all of that. For TB, it was natural. To me, it was like learning to relax again, meditate, appreciate, put everything else aside and just do nothing. Except have a catch.