Opening Day

The Boy played his first real teeball game this evening. Or as he insists, his first “baseball” game. Apparently he doesn’t want people thinking he’s playing some watered-down version of the sport.

As we were watching him play the game, The Wife and I were amazed at how much he’s grown up. He’s not a baby in any way, shape or form now. He’s a little boy. How did our tiny little baby turn into a little man without us realizing it?

Now I understand people who say that their children grew up seemingly overnight. Before I know it, he’ll be driving himself to baseball games.

The game itself was about what you’d expect. Lots of kids running around and throwing the ball all over the place. They don’t keep score in his league, but The Boy was pretty confident they won. He managed to even make up a score to support his assertion. 14-9 or something.

I’m not one of those parents who secretly keep score in my head at things like this. (Mostly because it’s too complicated when everybody is scoring all the time.) But I am keeping track of The Boy’s performance. In case you’re wondering, he went 2-for-3 today with an RBI and scoring once himself while playing some solid defense at second and in the outfield. At this rate, I may try to draft him onto my fantasy league team.

His team is the Cardinals. They started out the season as the Diamondbacks, but apparently the local little league had problems getting Diamondbacks youth baseball caps, so we changed the team name before the season started. The Boy is okay with the change. As he points out, “Cardinals rule and Diamondbacks drool.” You can’t argue with that.

The Boy is still a little behind most of the other boys on the team in terms of coordination and aggressiveness, but he’s doing pretty well for a timid five-year old on a team full of rowdy six-year olds. We’re working on hitting the ball and throwing it more than a few feet, but he’s got fielding down pat.

Oh, he doesn’t really understand the whole “run to first after you hit the ball” thing, but we’re working on that too.

The Wife and The Girl made it out to the game today as well. The Girl was kind of tired and not sure about all the people yelling, but she did pretty well for about twenty minutes or so. Then the girls headed home for a bottle and some snoozing.

The Boy had a ton of fun and that’s what matters the most. The best part of his whole day? Capri Sun and granola bars after the game. He liked them so much, he commented on the way home that he needed to write the coach a thank-you note for the snacks.

He’s funny like that. And I love him for it.