Baseball and the Dog Days of Summer

I have been a fan of baseball since I was a kid.  I love everything about it- the sights, the smells, the sounds.  Growing up on 2nd East it was the sound of the ball hitting the bat that I fell asleep to on hot summer nights.  The baseball park is where I grew up.  Baseball was our pastime.  We were to poor for boats and four-wheelers, and  we weren't a camping family and vacations came only only "once in a while."  But baseball- well it was free and for us it was just a part of who we were.

For the first time in years, we only had one "All-Star," our 14 year old Madsen suited up as a "bonus baby and took to the field one last time.  I love to watch this kid play ball.  He seems so nonchalant about it, but underneath that "appearance" is a kid who loves to win.  They say there is one thing you should say to your child after competing in any sport and that is "I enjoyed watching you play."  For me that is true every time Madsen gets on the diamond. There is just something about watching him do something he truly loves.

My days at the ball park are numbered.  Our Emma hung up her cleats for running shoes and our baby is just starting little league.  I hope he falls in love with the dirt, turning two, and the clink of the ball hitting the bat.  I hope I get to sit in the scorching hot sun cheering him on as he takes the diamond.  I hope he falls in the love with the game- the game that steals my heart in the "Dog Days of Summer!