Had I Been So Inclined…

If I had been at all interested in baseball while still in high school, and specifically interested in high school baseball, I could have seen hot prospect pitch. Same city, same year in high school, same league, etc.

But I wasn’t, and I didn’t.

It wasn’t until C was small that I was at all interested in baseball, and it was his interest that brought me along. He asked to be a “baseball man” for Halloween the first October we lived in the south. I made sure he was the correct kind of baseball man (based on birthplace). We went to many games at the local minor league park down there, and even had his 5th birthday party there just a couple of months before we bolted back north.

When C was sick, the season had just started, and we put baseball on the television in the PICU room as much as we could. We’d talk the game to him while trying to ignore the beeps on the ventilator. We could zone out a little and interact with him all at once. And once C was home, watching games together during his recovery was an enjoyable couple of hours amid the stress of drug withdrawal and various therapists.

I think it was that spring that I became a true fan.

Opening day is just three days away. I’ve cleaned our hats for the occasion, made sure the boys have their favorite team shirts ready.

Let it begin.

Oh, and that hot prospect is pitching.