Baseball

Since playing baseball on the Wii, Mitchell has developed more of an interest in baseball. Dave got him a baseball glove and they work on catching, throwing and batting. He really enjoys playing so we decided to look into signing him up for baseball through the Roswell Recreation department. However, baseball is a spring sport and there weren't any teams that he could sign up for in the fall. We did find an instructional baseball class for 5-year-olds and we signed him up for that.

It sounded perfect for him...learning the rules and the basics of the game. Last year we attempted soccer with Mitchell and it didn't go well. So I had some concern about how he would do this year with baseball. We talked about it a lot during the week leading up to the class and he insisted that he would participate.

We showed up for the first class and Coach Dave worked with the boys on throwing straight and then throwing for distance. He started out with the very basics and did an amazing job with the kids. He taught them about the bases and the order in which they should run the bases. They have to run the bases and call out which base it is as they tag it. They have progressed each week and are now hitting the ball, fielding balls and running to first base. It's really fun watching them learn more and more about the basics of the game.

The downside is the other parents! You would think their children were playing major league baseball. I wanted to scream out to them, "This is a class. They are learning!" Every parent (except for me) coaches their child from the bleachers. "Turn your glove this way." "Catch the ball!" "Hit it harder!" "Run to first!" The kids seem to do much better when they just ignore their parents and listen to the coach instead. They are learning which means it's all about trial and error. Sure they are a lot of balls that go through their legs or over their heads. They are a lot of misthrown balls. But the important thing is the boys are having a blast and each one is showing an improvement in their skills.

Mitchell looks forward to every Friday when he has class. I'm so glad that he has found a sport that he likes and loves to play. We have a few weeks left and I think during the last class they will actually play a real game. I can't wait to see that! As they say each week in their team huddle after practice...Go Baseball!

When we went to class on Friday, Sept 25th, there was a photographer from the AJC taking pictures. He got Mitchell's name and wrote it down and we figured his picture might show up in one of the Roswell papers. Then we got a call from one of our neighbors Saturday morning and she told us that Mitchell's picture was in the paper! Dave went to Kroger and bought more copies and then we told Mitchell. He didn't believe Dave at first and looked to me for verification. So I told him, "Yes, your picture is in the paper!" The first thing he said was, "I want to call Granddad!" So of course we did and Mitchell said, "I'm ON the newspaper." He was just over the moon excited about the whole thing. He then informed me that he needed 40 copies for the neighbors, his classmates and grandparents.

I let him take a copy to school on Monday. His teacher made a copy and posted the picture on the whiteboard. He was very proud to show his picture to our family this past weekend when we were home.