First Ball Game of 2008

We had a nervous nelly on our hands before the games -- new team, new pants, new cleats. All of this led up to a little boy who just didn't want to go play baseball today. It didn't help that at his last practice, he just drew the short straw and was the last batter of the night and had a hard time hitting. On the way home, he told me, "Mommy, it's hard to concentrate when you are the last kid, and everyone else is playing around, and you can smell McDonald's." These are both valid points, and since our permanent practice spot seems to be at the Lion's Club just behind Mickey D's, hopefully, he'll get to be one of the first ones to hit next week.

A little pre-game talk with Daddy...

He got to be the "Pitcher's Helper" for the first inning, and to say the least, he was ready. At this point, there wasn't even a batter!

He fielded this one perfectly!!

The throw was dead on, but the first baseman didn't quite catch the ball.

He wound up hitting the ball just fine -- the first one was a great hit without using the tee. The second inning, he fouled off most of the pitches and used the tee before hitting it squarely, and the third inning, another solid hit.

We think we may have found the problem with his hitting. We've been watching his feet, the way he holds the bat, the level of his swing, but haven't been watching his eyes! I mentioned it to him when I uploaded these pictures that maybe opening his eyes would be beneficial, and he just looked at me like I was crazy. I guess that's one of those little details we didn't cover until today!

****Oh, and according to the parade in our driveway yesterday...happy birthday, Indiana.****

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I don't know what goes through their heads!