A Good Start in Boston

OK, if you are 1 for 3 you go to the Baseball Hall of Fame. We are off to a good start.

We started our day in Boston with a Fenway Park tour. They told us the tour would start outside the team shop. A-Mac and Lil Lefty are ready to start the tour. (Notice the sign, what they are doing and what they have in their hands.... hence, they are 1 for 3)

More at Hall of Fame/Cooperstown

We took pictures of several of the lockers inside the HoF. 3 - Babe Ruth, 4-Lou Gehrig,

5 - Joe Dimaggio - kids know the drill.

MacDaddy here with The Babe, a.k.a. The Great Bambino, The Sultan of Swat...

MacMom taking this picture of our Hall of Famers (and me).

After we finished going through the museum, we enjoyed the small-town Americana offered by Cooperstown, NY.

I could enjoy a longer vacation in Cooperstown. Everything has a baseball theme here.

Cooperstown, New York - Baseball Hall of Fame

On Sunday afternoon, after a long weekend of ball tournaments we piled everyone into the Yukon, and went 3 1/2 hours to a hotel outside of Utica, New York. The next day we drove an hour to Cooperstwon, New York and the Baseball Hall of Fame.


Cooperstown is in the middle of nowhere. Artsy awareness - notice the picture with me taking the picture in the reflection... did that on purpose.

More to come. Family now in Boston heading to Fenway Park tour.

Busy Sunday - Cooperstown, Boston & Montreal

All kids finished their weekend tournaments in the rain today. We are packing up to head to Cooperstown, then Boston, and then a tournament in Montreal.

Busy Weekend - 3 Kids, 3 Tournamannts, 2 Parents and Grandma

A-Mac and Lil Lefty are playing in Mississauga USSF Partners tournament at fields 25 minutes apart. MacDaddy is in West Mountain, Hamilton. All three kids are playing on Sunday.

What Would You Expect on Father's Day - Lil Lefty Tournament in Cayuga, New York

Lil Lefty's adjusted team entered a USA 10U tournament in Cayuga, New York - home of the Love Canal. Three players on her regular team were too old so three other players were were picked up from other teams and added to the Tiger team for this tournament.

When the schedule came out, I was happy to find that we did not have a Friday night game and played at 11:30am Saturday. The fields are just about an hour from our house over the US-Canada border.





It rained all morning Saturday and games were delayed and eventually cancelled for the day. We went to a movie, swam and shopped at the outlet mall. The entire tournament was played on Sunday with two pool games and then a single elimination bracket. After the two pool games, we were seeded second out of 10 teams.







As expected, Lil Lefty spent the day on the bases.







She hit well with several line drives to right field.



We played 19-20 innings in 4 games. The skill level of the teams varied significantly. Lil' Lefty pitched 4 innings and struck out 12, including the side the last inning she went in as relief against the team that eliminated the Tigers.

We won't win a lot of tournaments with Lil' Lefty only pitching 4 innings. I don't think there was a lot that could have been done... just the way the schedule fell...

We were back home at 8:30pm Sunday night.

A -Mac Texas A&M Softball Camp June 2009

Alex's birthday present for her 13th Birthday was the opportunity to attend and participate in softball camp at Texas A&M University. I am sure that 20+ years from now, I will be having a discussion with MacMom about the time I took A-Mac to Texas A&M University for a softball camp.

So, note to self, I did not take her to the camp. These pictures were taken by Minga (A-Mac Grandmother) who picked her up at DFW Airport and drove her to College Station.
















The camp began Sunday afternoon and lasted until Wednesday afternoon. Each day, the overnight campers were shuttled by bus back and forth from the dorm to the fields.
The dorm is behind the Dixie Chicken.









They practiced for four days at the softball fields across
from Kyle Field (the football stadium).











They practiced at the softball stadium where the Texas A&M girls softball team plays their home games.

They even had some fun learning/practicing how to slide on a wet tarp. I am sure that the cold water felt great as the temperature was over 95 degrees the entire week.


















A Mac worked on hitting.














A-Mac was able to play games, as well as practice, in the Texas A&M Softball stadium. There is no better grass available. They put the "Agriculture" in the "A&M".
















A-Mac made some new friends and was the victim of some friendly ribbing about her Canadian accent and the way she says "Don't". Her coaches also called her "Canada". I told A- Mac that she should make sure they understand that she is a true red, white and blue American that loves baseball, hotdogs and apple pie and that she was born in Texas, and is Texan through and through.













Minga and A-Mac are two birds of a feather in their love of taking pictures. They spent 5 days together and the only non-softball picture I get is in front of Cain Hall where I lived when I attended Texas A&M. Go figure!!! Where are my artistic pictures of jumping, food, can labels, restaurant signs, etc...?


Thanks to Minga for helping make this awesome adventure possible.

Happy 13th Birthday to YOU!

A-mac returned home from Texas yesterday evening. Big D picked her up from the airport and met us at MacDaddy's baseball game. After the game, we went out to dinner at the Firehouse Grill and then headed home for DQ ice cream cake and family birthday wishes for A-mac's 13th Birthday.

The video above is of the Macs singing Happy Birthday to A-mac. I took the video and forgot the video only tapes horizontally on the camera. Just cock your head to the left and the video is up and down as it is supposed to be.

A - Mac B-Day

Today is A-Mac's 13th birthday. I am sad that she is in Texas on her special day, but she will be coming home from her softball camp tomorrow. She is growing up and becoming a beautiful young woman.

We are extrememly proud and amazed that she is our daughter.

Love, Mom and Dad

Dove & Chick

Mother dove and her chick...to date we have only seen the one. I would guess the chick is about 1 week old. It is pooping up a storm all over the front porch. Father dove has come around a few times. Mother dove never leaves the nest.

See Any Resemblance?

Happy to Win Gold!

Lil' Lefty loves playing softball. She loves to be on the mound pitching. She loves to hear the ump call STRIKE! She really loves winning!
Lil' Lefty won her 14th medal this past weekend in Guelph by defeating Brampton. The 14th medal is Gold! This is Lil' Lefty's third gold medal. Most of Lil' Lefty's medals are silver. As Lil' Lefty would say, "Silver is good, but gold is BEST!"
She won her first gold medal in Waterloo in May of last year. She actually won her 1st gold last year pitching against her now team, the Tigers, and striking out K for the last out of the game and the win. She won her second gold at the Teddy Bear Tournament in Niagara Falls last July.

CHEER! We are so proud of you...so very proud of you!!

Turtle, Turtle

On Friday Night during Lil' Lefty's pre game warm ups, I went to play catch on a strip of grass outside the right field fence of the softball diamond. I found this painted bottom turtle. She was digging a hole in the ground with her back legs to lay her eggs. She laid six eggs. We returned to the field on Saturday morning and the turtle was gone and the hole was completly covered up with dirt. I read on the internet that it will take about 76 days for the eggs to hatch.

MacDaddy

My Shins Hurt

Lil' Lefty's team won Gold (1st Place out of 10 Teams) in the Guelph Tournament this past weekend. They played 6 games and won them all. Lil' Lefty pitched the first game Friday night, a game on Saturday and the Gold Medal Game on Sunday.


At this time, she pitches faster than batters can swing. She is also learning to become a pitcher instead of just a hard thrower. I do not expect she will always have this dominant speed (I could be wrong-it has happened before though I hate to admit it).


When I have compared radar readings, she is consistently throwing 4-5mph harder than other pitchers... just enough to sneak the ball past their bat.




Her winter pitching coach suggested she throw a knuckleball as a change-up because her normal C change up is still to fast. I was originally against the idea but Lil' Lefty has shown tremendous success with the pitch. She is shown in the picture on the left throwing the knuckleball. It doesn't knuckle, but it is slower than her fastball and has arch.

During the first inning of the Gold Medal Game, Lil' Lefty struck out the opposing team's third batter to end the first inning on a beautiful change up that "floated" over the plate. I could see the opposing coaches having discussions with their player's and warning them about the change up. At this age, once coaches have that discussion with their players we have won. Batter's are now worried about a change up pitch and aware Lil' Lefty can throw it in addition to her fastball that seems to sail past most bats.

Lil' Lefty and her battery mate, the catcher, were also successful with outside strikes when ahead in the count.

I have noticed that Lil Lefty can get lazy with her flip, the activity where she flips her wrist during the release of the ball. This especially happens when she knows the batter can not catch up to her slower fastball, and after she has thrown a change up.

When I notice her flip is inconsistent, we will sneak behind the dugout and throw some pitches to work on her feeling the flip. I inevitably take one on the shins. I have a nice black and blue mark from yesterday. It wasn't the first and won't be the last.

Gold Medal games go 7 innings regardless of time. Lil' Lefty pitched all 7 innings striking out the side in the last inning. Way to go Lil Lefty!!!