Charley Hull Smoking Cigs Fascinates The Golf World, O's National Anthem Whistler & Bryson Throws It Back
Reminder: I'm off for the next week
That means SeanJo will be on duty for eight straight days. He'll be fine. The guy is developing into a Screencaps machine. I'm sure he'll have something interesting up his sleeve while I'm off enjoying summer.
Send him your emails:
sean.joseph@outkick.com
I WILL NOT be looking at emails or social media until June 10. For several days, I won't have very good cell service, so please do not try to contact me. Not to be a dick, but I WILL NOT respond. I'm logging off. I love my job, but this is necessary for my sanity.
The 12U baseball team is officially in the win column & it cost me $50 due to inflation
The boys got it done last night to run their record to 1-1-1 with an 8-4 win in 7 innings. I know what you're thinking: SEVEN innings? Did that take five hours? Actually, the boys played SEVEN innings in just over two hours.
I didn't even know we were allowed to play seven innings at this level.
My catcher who came to me at one of the first practices saying he'd like to try pitching went 3 innings and gave up one run on maybe one or two hits. Sequoia went three full and then we had a pitcher make his season debut in the 7th. The tying run was at the plate when our closer got a strike out to end it.
My speech was short: Do you guys think you can get anything at the concession stand for $2?
The boys hauled ass to the concession stand, but then I realized that would get them a candy bar.
Due to inflation – a year ago, I gave my team $2 after their first win and it was enough for candy and a drink…smh – I had to raise it to $5 per player.
My final concession bar tab was $50, but it was so worth it. The boys earned it last night. They played a game that tested their limits and came out on top. It was a big learning lesson. These 12U teams are evenly stacked. It's going to take a great effort each time out if we're going to string some wins together.
Very quick observations…I have to get to the park this morning for a 9 a.m. first pitch:
- The bats are waking up; Sequoia is heating up and that's bad news for the league. He's hitting scalding shots through the infield that 12U kids have no shot at stopping; My hockey player is back after a month off and he's proving to be a terror on the base paths, which we needed.
- It's beautiful to see our lead-off hitter smoke a ball to center but the outfielder is perfectly positioned and makes a routine catch half-way to the fence that's at about 250 or 275ft. The outfielders are moving deeper by the game.
- One of our kids slid headfirst into home and you would've thought he hit a 400-foot home run. The moms hadn't seen many head-first slides. That got them excited.
- The intensity level is definitely rising. We needed that first win, badly. Now we need to get settled in for a busy June and have fun.
Daddy ball report:
- Screencaps Jr. was 0-1 with two walks and a run which required a slide at home plate. I have asked him for weeks and weeks if he was comfortable with sliding. Tonight, he proved he's comfortable. It was textbook.
- I did bat Jr. 2nd and in front of Sequoia to see what would happen. My goal is to move Sequoia to the 4th or 5th spot to see if I can get a couple of runners on in front of him or loaded situations.
- Screencaps Jr. had a quiet defensive night
- Rob from East Tennessee writes:
Longtime SC reader, first time writing in. Today's story about your son's first little league hit brought back all kinds of memories. I was not a big sports kid, but I played T-ball and entered my first year of "kid-pitch" with high hopes of improving. In our small town league, there were only five teams, and I'm sure when they picked kids, I was probably near the bottom, selected by a nice guy (with an older son with actual talent) who attended our church. The previous year had seen a lot of kids jumping out of the batter's box, afraid of wild pitches, so they added a brilliant rule that if you left the batter's box, you were automatically out. So, by order of the coach, we were to stand in that box no matter what.
I don't recall my first hit, but my most vivid memory was of a mid-season night game that my entire extended family came out to see. Grandparents from both sides, aunts and uncles, the works. Our opponent was coached by another guy from our church, but he wasn't very bright, and he had a.... less talented kid whom he decided to make pitcher (because he had visions of a pro?). I got on base twice that night, both times having been hit with a wild pitch from this egotistical coach's half-wit son. By rule, I wasn't allowed to leave the box to dodge, so I stood there and took my beating.
To their credit, my family never caused a fuss and understood both fan and parental decorum. There was no screaming or yelling at the kids or coaches. They took it with the same quiet dignity that I did. But ever since that night, I often wish that I had been feistier! Both times after getting nailed, I stoically took my base, and focused on getting to second.
But as I approach 50 years old, I wonder why I didn't rush the mound, or better yet, have a choice word for the opposing coach myself. I guess my 10yo self didn't have the gumption. But you hit a kid twice in the same game, how are there no consequences?
Maybe it's better that I didn't react, as I probably would have gotten myself thrown out in front of my whole family. But anytime I think of little league, I wonder how it would have gone if I'd told that opposing coach what I thought of his coaching and his kid's pitching skills. I never played little league after that season, but it was a life lesson either way. I certainly got the memo at age ten that there were incompetent grown-ups in this world too. Thank goodness you're one of the self-aware coaches that cares more about the team than promoting their sub-par kid. The world needs more of those!
Keep up the great work with the column and the kids!
Kinsey:
That might be one of the wildest rules I've ever heard of in sports. Requiring kids to stand in the box to get drilled or they're out is probably why I have to go through concussion training before the league will let me run a practice.
Imagine how cool it was for this to be a kid's first MLB game
- Mike writes:
I won a contest with the local radio station in Sandusky Ohio in 1963 to be batboy for a day for the Cleveland Indians, ( I refuse to call them Guardians) .
How was it, Mike?
It was great, I'm 73 now, so it was 60 years ago.
I do remember all the pouches of tobacco and bubble gum all over the place.
Woodie Held was my favorite player and I got to meet.
Kinsey:
"Woodie was one of the nicest guys I ever played with," teammate Tito Francona Sr. said in 2009 after Held's death.
Tito Francona Sr. played in 1,719 games over 15 years in Major League Baseball. His praise of Held should tell you something. No wonder Mike gravitated towards Held.
You guys were incredible this week with your father-son first MLB game stories
- Chris A., who has emailed me dozens of times, sent in this one and it's well-worth your time:
As usual, I'm a day late on a Caps topic, but the emails about first games at the ballpark struck a chord.
My dad worked as the restoration superintendent for 20+ years on the USF Constellation that is docked in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. He used to park for work at the B&O warehouse that is now the target for right field home runs at Camden Yards because, at the time, the warehouse was abandoned pre-stadium and the city allowed folks to park there for free.
Over the years, my family and I had done all sorts of activities with my dad after my mom died in 2002, but we had never taken him to a baseball game at Camden Yards even though we lived within an hour of the stadium. So I rolled up to the Orioles box office one day in the spring of 2018 when I was working in Baltimore to grab six tickets to a late-September game. My dad was 94 at the time and had several melanoma spots taken off his face over the years, so I was very specific about the seats location: They had to be in the shade for a Sunday afternoon game; they had to be just off the lower concourse; and they had to be near the main entrance. I buy the perfect tickets, then let everyone know the date and time of the game so that they can put it on their calendars
So the morning of September 30, 2018 rolls around and I'm getting my wife and three teenage kids ready to pick up Grandpa. I call my dad and let him know what time we'll be by to pick him up. "Well Chris, I don't know if I want to go to the game."
"Why not?"
"It's an afternoon game, and we'll be in the sun all day."
"The tickets will be in the shade all game."
Pause... "The walk will be too long from the car."
"We'll drop you off at the front entrance and have the kids take you to the seats."
Another pause..."There will be too many steps to climb."
"Our seats are one step down from the main concourse."
A sigh. "Okay, I'll see you in an hour."
Long story short, my dad had a blast at the game, and loved spending time with us. We all had our O's hats on, and got an Orioles win to boot. Afterwards, my dad tells me that was his first time in Camden Yards! I tell him, well, not really, because you used to park right by Boog's BBQ stand when you worked on the ship!
We ended up going to another game the following September, and planned to make it an annual pilgrimage as long as my dad could do it. But then the pandemic hit, and dementia started creeping up on him in October 2020, and he was gone by June 2021. But I still have the pictures I took of us in those seats, with my dad beaming from ear to ear, flashing the "we're #1" fingers. I regret not thinking of it earlier, because he was never much of a sports fan so it didn't cross my mind. But he was a big fan of my family, and he wanted to be wherever we were. God, those were special days.
- Indy Daryl writes:
Good morning and happy Friday! I hope you have a wonderful week off, you more than deserve it. In thinking about first baseball games, I believe mine was the summer of 1995 when Coors Field opened in Denver that year. I am sure my dad and I sat in the upper deck but that didn’t bother me one bit. I got to watch Larry Walker, Ellis Burks (my favorite Rockie), Walt Weiss and more finally play live.
There would be many such games with Dad over the years as growing up in Denver meant we had a plethora of pro sports teams to choose from. I still remember going to Denver Nuggets games in ‘98 when they won ten all year! Didn’t even care cause going to the games with Dad was all that mattered.
My son just turned 9 and this summer we will be attending his first pro sporting event! July 8th at Great American Ball Park in Cincy as my lowly Rockies take on the Reds. Can’t wait to road trip it and spend some time walking around the park, teaching him the game, and just simply enjoy being boys!
Have a great weekend and week off!
Coolest thing I saw this week:
1. Gen Z catches foul ball at Pirates-Tigers game and gives it to kid sitting one row in front of him. The kid's mom gives Gen Z a big hug.
I know that isn't a new concept, but it gets me every single time. By the way, the hug was rather aggressive. She might be divorced or in the process of sending the baby daddy packing.
2. Flat matte blue Tesla in Detroit
I'm not a car guy at all, but I can still appreciate things I'd never buy. The world is a much more interesting place when people are willing to take chances with their cars, boats, trucks, RVs, houses, houseboats, etc. It would be boring without a little eccentric behavior here and there.
3. The new Tesla truck in the wild
I have to say, they look pretty cool, especially in this part of Ohio where Chrysler Town & Country is the typical ride of choice.
For the sunset crowd
Things that Screencaps readers spot in the wild
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And that's it for June 1. It's hard to believe we have finally made it to my favorite month on the calendar. I'm smiling just thinking about the weather and the adventures that happen in this month.
If I could turn June into 60 days, I'd gladly sacrifice March. The calendar gods can have March back, but in return I need 30 days added to June with 83-degree temps and 46% humidity. I'll even allow 50% humidity.
That's it. I'm out. Have a great first week of June. I'll see you on the other side.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com