There are 108 double stitches on a baseball and the Cubs have as many years of losing before they finally won again. I’ve had the good fortune to be a Cubs fan since 1982 and I’ve seen many runs at the title end in sorrow. Now I’ve seen them win it all. This one’s for all the players over the years who have given me such delight at watching the game I love. This one’s for Harry!
The East Boise 70’s All Stars took Third Place at the State Championships. Not bad for a scrappy bunch of ball players that took on much better teams for most of the post season. They won seven games this year and that’s six more than last year!
Here’s Jack’s last at bat, a hard drive to third that was unfortunately for him, caught. Jack’s most memorable moment at State came on Friday afternoon when he drove a fast ball out of the park for a two run homer. The kid can hit way better than his old man ever did. I never hit a homer, but I once robbed a homer from a kid in right field. ;-)
Our 12 U 70’s team took Third Place at State and our 12 U 60’s All Stars took First Place. A pretty good showing for the EB boys. Here’s wishing the 60’s team good luck at the Cal Ripken Regionals at the end of the month in Centralia, Washington!
East Boise Wolves at the State Championship Tournament, Meridian, Idaho.
Teams lining up for pictures.
Good times at the Pocatello Classic last weekend. The East Boise Wolves made it to the semi-finals. The kids played hard and had a great time in Eastern Idaho. Even got to see a movie (Monsters University) in between games on Friday.
Here’s the team huddled for a pre-game talk by the coaches.
Jack at bat on the Yellow stadium at Chubbuck Field.
Our kids won two games against teams that used fatter bats and wore metal cleats. Pretty good ball players all around. This week they are in Meridian for the State Tournament. Very exciting!
Today’s tournament game was fantastic for my son, unfortunately the team lost in the end. But the players played strong and were in it until the very last inning, again. The coaches and the parents were very proud of our EB boys.
Smiling Jack in his home uniform for today’s game.
Here he is at his first at bat. He was walked. At his next at bat, I was not ready with the camera. He had two strikes and there was a kid on first base. The pitcher threw his best fast ball down the middle and Jack turned on it. Boom! Over the fence at center field. The fielder made a lunge for it but it was too far gone. He caught the fence instead and went down. But he was okay. Nice effort on his part. The two runs tied the game but the team was not able to hold them off in the bottom of the inning. So close. But it was definitely a Cracker Jack play.
Jack caught the whole game today and did so well, both coaches commented positively on his efforts. He got a large ice cream as a reward for a great game.
My baseball family.
My son in his All Stars uniform and a smile. I absolutely love the classic look of this uniform and the colors are well matched. Today’s post is a picture essay on the games I watched yesterday.
Here’s Jack behind the plate catching in the first game of the day. It was a close game until the end. We lost, but the boys were in it both mentally and physically.
Here he is snagging a low pitch in the second game. He caught most of that game and eventually came out because he was taking a beating both from the pitches and from tagging runners out at the plate. He earned a break at the end.
Here he is at the plate when his looper to center-right started a catch-up scoring rally. He really has a great swing and he got all over that pitch. His second at bat he took a pitch to the head, part ear cover and part forehead. But he was back at it behind the plate, so the helmet took the brunt of that one.
How about that number? Tempted to call him Jackie instead of Jack. ;-)
Here’s the team after the second game. The coaches told them they surprised them with their hitting and their overall play. They were in the game the whole way and only lost it in the last inning to some great hitting by the other team.
Speaking as a parent, I loved the game. As long as our kids are playing hard and having a good time, winning is really only icing. If you play hard long enough, you will eventually win big games. These kids are all excellent ball players with lots of potential. It should be a fun month of baseball.
Today I have the day off to attend a double hitter at the East Boise Classic tournament. Should be a perfect day for baseball. Highs in the low seventies and mostly sunny. I’ll be taking lots of pictures if I don’t get roped into running the scoreboard like last night.
The Colorado Rockies (1-1) of the East Boise 70’s league take to Field 6 for pre-game warm ups. I really love the color and the spirit on display in this picture. The Rockies went on to win their second game of the season, 10-7 over the Los Angeles Angels. As you can tell from the position of the flag, it was some kind of windy. Gusting to 35 mph with temps in the low 50’s, left the parent fans in the new metal bleachers quite cold.
Two Rockies players hit three homers and one Angels player got his first homer in the game. All that with the wind blowing in!
Today was the start of my son’s youth baseball season. I’m no longer coaching, but I do still umpire. I was the third base umpire for the game, and just like last year, I watched my son drive one out of the park. Very fun.
As with every opening day, we take a picture of the kid in the front yard all dressed up in the new uniform. Here is Jack this morning.
Here’s a head-to-toe shot for the whole uniform. That’s my glove that he’s decided to make his own.
His team won a 4 inning exhibition game with the Cubs, 10-9. Four kids hit homers, two on each team. It was a great start to the season.
My youngest son, Spencer is ten today. Double digits baby! Here’s wishing you a Happy Birthday!
Above, Spencer at bat last year and below he’s on his new, custom built Minecraft server.
