Play ball!

By DR. DAN BRENNAN — March 20, 2009

With the infield dirt raked and the foul lines chalked, the umpire yelled “Play ball!” The batter moved into the batter’s box, stepped up to the tee, tapped his bat once on home plate and sent a screamer down the line. It was opening day at Dos Pueblos Little League and the Lil’ Angels were taking on their rivals, the Lil’ Dodgers, in the Tee-ball version of the Freeway Series.

The smell of freshly cut grass and the sound of the bat hitting the ball are two reasons why I love this time of year. Growing up as a little leaguer, I looked forward to getting my new hat, my uniform and meeting my new teammates. In my first season, I played for the Tigers.  I fondly recall my orange mesh hat with the Tiger’s patch that my mom sewed onto the front. I remember not wanting to ever take my hat off and even trying to convince my mom that a baseball player was supposed to go to sleep with his hat on.

This baseball season couldn’t come soon enough. Josh is now old enough to play Tee-ball and there is nothing better than taking my sons out to the ballgame to teach them to throw, catch and hit. We’ve been hitting balls in the backyard since Josh was shorter than the bat that he now swings.

Many of my fondest childhood memories are about playing baseball with my dad. I remember a special night each year when my dad would get out our gloves out and we would condition them with glove oil, place a ball in the pocket and tie them up tight to form the perfect pocket.  A couple days later, we’d take our gloves and a bucket of balls to the school yard and play for hours.

Being the manager of my son’s baseball team was a lifelong dream. When I found out a couple of weeks ago that I would be the manager of the Angels, who also happen to be my favorite major league team, I was ecstatic. To celebrate, I went right to the garage, got out our gloves and balls and took Josh right over to the school yard to play catch.

After a half-dozen practices and tons of help from my assistant coaches, the Lil’ Angels were ready for opening day. I could hardly sleep the night before as I spent hours making up a line-up card.  It wasn’t that it took me so long to write the names of ten ball players on a piece of paper, but I kept being interrupted by fantastic flashbacks of my own little league memories.

When the Lil’ Angels finally took the field, I checked to make sure that they all had their hats and gloves and were ready to go. One more thing was on my mind though. I turned around and found what I was looking for. I saw my mom and dad, walking together behind the backstop and headed for the stands. The big smile on my dad’s face said it all.  It was opening day and the start of a new baseball season. My turn to pass along something very special that my dad had passed along to me many years ago. It was time to “Play ball!”

Coach Dan Brennan is a board-certified pediatrician and Santa Barbara native who enjoys hitting grounders to his wife and two boys. His column can be found in the Daily Sound on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month. Please contact him at 563-6211 or visit  www.SBPediatrics.com.

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DPLL : 3/21/2009

DPLL is a fantastic sports league for boys and girls. There is still time to get on a Tball team. Go to DPLL.net

Tball fan

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Woohoo! : 3/24/2009

Thanks to parents and grandparents who take the time to play catch with their kids! Good work Dr. Dan!

Scott

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