Dad Entry #107

Michael and I went to his first Cubs game. It was awesome. The Cubs came from behind and beat the Cardinals in the 10th, 5-4. Extra innings victories by the home team are cool, of course, because the game ends abruptly when the winning run crosses and players storm the field to celebrate and congratulate whoever hit the game-winner. We saw it all! I admit I got a little misty-eyed when the game started. Wrigley is my baseball mecca; I've been going for decades, even lived nearby for a few years after college. Pujols stepped in during the top of the first. We were in the upper deck, but on an edge near home plate looking right down at him. Michael said, "He's probably the best hitter in baseball, isn't he?" I said, "Yep, maybe not this year, but at points in his career he's been more feared and pitched around than any active hitter, the best, I agree." Pujols broke his wrist this season, and his numbers are down a bit. Anyway, I encouraged Michael to watch the batters closely, watch how each digs in, gets set, rocks a little, moves the bat, then strides and gets after it. He understood my point, and each hitter's stance become a topic of discussion, along with all the other nuances of the game. There are so many games within the game. He was interested and attentive the whole 10 innings, to both the overall game and also the little things I suggested he notice, the fielders' movements before each pitch, the baserunners, the hitters on deck, pitching from the stretch, pitching from the windup, the pitchers in the bullpen, the way pitchers rubbed the baseball and maintained the mound and used sweat and rosin and dirt on their hands, how they changed speeds and located pitches and fooled hitters, and the way hitters responded by looking for certain pitches and adjusting and maybe shortening their swing to slap a pitch the other way instead of taking a bigger, nastier cut. Maybe I went overboard - do I sound insane? - but Michael took it all in; he always seemed interested. And, keep in mind, we sat there for over three hours; there was a lot of silence too, I didn't talk his ear off. Like I said, it was a perfect first Wrigley experience for my son. But as we sat watching Pujols, in his first at-bat, after he'd dug a little place for his back foot and planted it and was ready to go, I capped my instruction about watching each hitter's idiosyncrasies and habits before every pitch... I said, "When you bat, Michael, that is YOUR batter's box! You dig in, get set, take your time, get comfortable and confident and you hit it hard." Honestly - I may edit this part out - I had to consciously refrain from inserting expletives in one or two places in my little hitter's speech to Michael, the way I might've 'brightened' similar encouragement to a softball teammate, with no kids around. It does help to add emphasis sometimes :) Anyway, I felt some emotion well up when I said that to him and I had to pull the sunglasses on my head back down over my eyes. By the way, Starlin Castro is uber-talented, a hitting machine. And Michael was thrilled to see Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Marmol, Pena, Soto and the rest of the gang. There were home runs, stolen bases, pitching changes, pinch hitters, errors, Cubs fans throwing Cardinals' home runs back onto the field, and Soriano was hit by a pitch. It was a good sample of America's Favorite Pastime.

Megan notified me the other day, "Daddy, I will not use our bathroom anymore, it's too hairy." I said, "What?" Speaking louder this time - I guess she thought I was deaf instead of incredulous - Megan said, "The bathroom is too hairy. I'm going to brush in the other bathroom sink, or the kitchen. It's too hairy!" I checked it out, and she had a point. I hadn't cleaned up my beard stubble enough after my last shave. I will not make that mistake again.

Sara took the kids to the Wisconsin Dells yesterday for a Sunday / Monday good time before school starts on Wednesday. Megan called and said, "I just wanted to say 'hi' Daddy." I said, "Honey, thank you so much, do you promise to do this every day of your life, even when you're in college, or with your own family, or on Mars or wherever, do you promise to call me lots and lots, every day, just to say hi?" I think I confused her; she didn't really answer the question. Then I asked her about the waterslides and the conversation got back on track.

Megan's favorite song in my car's CD player right now is 'The Foggy Dew' by The Young Dubliners. Check it out on iTunes. Honestly, I didn't push it on her at all, she likes my 'Irish Music' but I never thought she'd want this one played over and over.