Take Me Out to the Church Ballgame

Our church organized a softball team a few months ago. It's the first team we have had in 8 years. Naturally, I signed up. I've really missed playing. Right now our record isn't too bad, considering we have a bunch of new guys on the team who haven't played together before. Currently we are 2-3.

Last night Wendy and the boys came to watch my game. I was extremely excited to have the boys there. I know they are still too young to really appreciate the game, but I have fond memories of watching my dad play church softball when I was young. It's nice to be the Dad and have the opportunity to impress my kids - even if it is only church softball.

Our games are held at Spain Park and there is a playground adjacent to the fields, which was great for Phoenix and Fox. They enjoyed running around on the playground throughout the game. Phoenix didn't see much of the game, but at one point while I was playing the outfield, I noticed Wendy seated on the bleachers with Fox in her lap. He stayed there most of the game, watching everything. Wendy told me later that he was really interested in everything that was happening on the field. Whenever a ball was hit high into the air, he would say, "Whoa!" and whenever he saw me, he would point and say "Dah-unh," which is way of saying Daddy.

Wendy brought Fox over to the dugout a few times so I could talk to him through the fence. He reached his hand up to mine and grunted. I could tell he wanted to come inside to be with me. I was so excited to see that he was so interested in baseball at such a young age. Phoenix came over to the dugout once and said "hey" to me and asked if he could come onto the field. Maybe one day Phoenix will start showing interest in sports, but for right now, Fox seems to be my little ball player.

I'm glad our team had a good night while my boys were there to watch. We won the game 13-8 and I went two for three, hitting two singles. I also caught three fly balls in the outfield.