Johnny Hustle

Yesterday was Greyson's first official baseball game. Now neither Raif nor I are great baseball fans, as I may have mentioned earlier. His friend Hutch asked him to play on his team which is the only reason the thought of Greyson playing baseball would have ever popped into our minds. Frankly we were a bit worried about how he would do because a) he has never really seen a baseball game and has NO idea what the rules are and b) baseball has a lot of standing still time and our son does not stand still.

But as with most of my concerns that relate to Greyson, these too were unfounded. That boy was Johnny Hustle out on the field. When the coaches said "Baseball Ready" he was down in his crouching position ready for the ball to head his way. And even if the ball came nowhere near him he was there to pick it up, occasionally knocking his own teammates out of the way to get it. (We still need to work on 'position play' and the fact that baseball is not a contact sport like hockey. My son likes to check people into the ground to get the ball). We did have the occasional dirt scoop and throw in the outfield but most of the time he was focused on getting that ball.

At bat he got a 'real' hit his first time up, a line drive through the outstanding infield of the Rangers and all the way to the fence. (I define a real hit as hitting the ball when it is thrown. They throw about 3 or 4 balls to the kids and if they don't hit those they put the ball on a tee.)

But even more remarkable than his hit was the fact that he actually got someone out. (Though it didn't count. Which I found out only after my son made his remarkable and generally on target throw from shortstop to first. At this level they simply bat through the order and let the kids get singles and run the bases and no one ever gets out.)

So all in all, a very exciting baseball game, the best I have seen in years. Go Mets!

(Greyson heading for home. My artistic action shot....hey you try taking a picture through a fence while cheering your son on and see how clear it comes out).

(Baseball Ready)


(Assistant Coach Raif directing the team. He sort of got roped into this duty but hey he got a free hat out of it.)