These Are The Days

Yesterday was one of those special days for me as a father.  A day that brought back a lot of happy memories but, at the same time, a day that will stand alone in my memory.

On a beautiful spring afternoon, I watched JP's MBA JV team defeat one of their true rivals, Father Ryan, 7 - 5 in what was a great baseball game.  To begin with, I didn't think I would make the game because I was in the first day of a three day mediation.  The mediation ended rather suddenly mid-afternoon, which meant I could get to JP's baseball game.  I even had time to change clothes so I wouldn't be the only main the stands watching the game in a coat and tie as is usually the case.

Neither team could get anything going offensively for the first couple of innings.  Whitt pitched very well for MBA.  High velocity on his fastball and better control than his last outing.  He's a competitor and will contribute in a big way to the varsity baseball team over the next couple of years.  

In his first at bat, JP lined a grounder back to the pitcher off of the end of his bat and was thrown out at first.  Not great contact but he was on the pitch.  In the third or fourth inning, MBA rallied and plated two runs.  JP batted with two outs and a runner on third base.  He lined an RBI single into right center field just over the second basemen's head.  It was a big hit for him and for the team, as MBA increased its lead to 3 - 0.  

Unfortunately, the wheels fell off for MBA in the top of the 6th inning.  Father Ryan scored five runs after Whitt ran out of gas and MBA's first relief pitcher struggled a bit.  Aidan, a freshman I haven't met yet, came in as the second relief pitcher and put out the fire.  

Earlier, in the inning in which MBA scored three runs, Aidan laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving two baserunners to second third.  Both baserunners scored when the next batter singled.  It was good, fundamental baseball.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Father Ryan's relief pitcher tired and MBA took advantage, scoring four runs to take a 7 - 5 lead.  JP was hit by a pitch that gazed his jersey.  Against a left-hander, he got a big jump and slid safely into second base after the batter grounded out to first base in what amounted to a hit-and-run.  One pitch later, he noticed the second baseman was not holding him on, so he took off for third base and stole it, easily beating the throw from Father Ryan's catcher (one of his teammates on HBC last summer).  Later, JP confirmed he stole third on his own, which I suspected was the case.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, JP made a nice catch on routine fly ball to center field for the first out.  He was perfect positioned to make the play.  Aidan - pitching like an absolute boss - struck out the last batter with runners on second and third to clinch the win.  Huge.

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So, that's the game story.  What mattered the most to me, though, was watching JP play baseball on a beautiful spring afternoon with a good group of young men on a rapidly improving baseball team.  

For the last few innings, I sat with Gavin O'Heir, my friend and the father of one of JP's teammates and friends.  We laughed, talked sports (Celtics vs. Lakers), laughed some more, and watched our sons play baseball, just as we have for the last three baseball seasons.  He's a great guy and a fantastic father.  His son, also named Gavin, is a well rounded student and athlete, precisely the kind of boy with whom I want JP to be friends.

As I watched JP running in from center field, at the plate, and on the bases, I was struck by how much he looks like a baseball player.  I thought back to all of the spring and summer evenings in the house on Elliott Avenue when we would throw on a little strip of grass at Mount Gilead Baptist Church, across the street, after dinner.  I thought of all of the practices and games in which I've coached him over the years.  Wins and losses.  Successes and failures.

All of it, or so it seemed, culminated in yesterday's game as I watched JP.  Not the strongest or biggest baseball player on the team.  Not the most gifted but maybe the most confident and self-assured player on the team.  Already this season, he has played center field, left field, shortstop, third base, second base, and pitcher.  He's probably the best base runner or at least one of them.  

He's a baseball player and I love to watch him play baseball.

I know these days are numbered.  In a way, they always have been.  Nothing lasts forever.  Not youth.  Not teams.  Not school.  Not life.  

Not baseball.

Still, I'll remember yesterday's game as one fo the special ones.  One of my favorites.