While the other team wasn't very good, it wasn't because of a lack of experience. They were the same age as our boys or maybe a little older, because we have a couple of younger boys. However, all of our boys hit the ball well. Joe made a nice play on a group ball at second base and threw the runner out at first base. He's got a hell of an arm, by far the strongest and most accurate on the team. That of course, makes me happy.
What was really cool, though, is that a few parents commented during or after the game that the boys "were starting to look like a real baseball team." And they are.
It's a funny thing with seven year old boys playing baseball. Suddenly, they just start to get it and I think that is what's happening now. You can see some - certainly, not all - of the boys starting to get it, to think about where to throw the ball, for example, before a pitch when there are men on base. Yes, some pick it up more quickly than others - like Joe, who probably could coach the team - but all of them are starting to think about situational baseball.
What I want, at seven, is for the boys to begin to know the right baseball play to make, even if they can't actually execute the play. All while having fun, of course.
Moving the boys up early, last fall, to the Rookie (machine pitch) league, as six year olds, has worked wonders for them, as I knew it would. We did the same thing with J.P.'s group and it paid off. Letting them struggle to hit off the machine last fall better prepared them for this past spring, this fall and for a big upcoming spring. That's exciting.
It's so hard to remember when the Dodgers - J.P.'s boys - were this age. It seems as if they've been playing sound fundamental baseball forever, or trying to (most of them, anyway). I know that's not the case. It's so much fun, though, to see the Junior Dodgers starting to pick things up and play like a real baseball team. Long way to go, sure, but they've come such a long way, too.
At practice Sunday, I looked round at one point and saw Brian working with the boys in right field (throwing them pop flies), Brad working with the boys in left field (soft tossing heavy balls) and Courtney pitching batting practice while sitting on a bucket.
I smiled to myself and thought of Chris Taylor, Randy Kleinstick and Tony Weeks and how much time we've spent with the older boys - the Dodgers - on baseball fields over the past 6 + years. In that moment, I thought about how special those times have been and how much I've enjoyed it, spending time with those men - my friends - and with their sons and my son, J.P. It's a unique group, for sure.
And I thought maybe, just maybe, the Junior Dodgers - players, coaches and families - is staring to coalesce into a unique and special group, too.
I know this for sure, though. There's a lot more baseball to come for the Joe and the Junior Dodgers over the next 4 or 5 years. I can't wait to be a part of it.
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