Temporary Office

Effective June 16, 2010 I am RETIRED!!! OK, maybe only for a few months. The video below is taken in my new office.

Another Trophy for MacDaddy

Once again, the A's went undefeated to win the 2010 Mississauga North Tigers Minor Mosquito Tournament. 16 teams participated in the tournament.

A-Mac Second Gold this Season

A-Mac played in the Brampton Bantam tournament this weekend. She had a rough start striking out about 4 times in the first 3 games. We hit whiffle balls after the third game and she ripped a stand-up triple in the fourth game.

In the gold medal game on Sunday, A-Mac singled and scored her first at bat and then hit a long Home Run over the left fielder's head with a runner on base. They played at South Fletcher. The Home Run would have been out of the Fairgrounds.

A great learning experience and confidence building weekend. A-mac battled back after a slow start and played a major role in a gold medal victory.

Playball!

This past weekend, MacDaddy and the 2010 Oakville A’s minor mosquito AAA baseball team went undefeated in the Mississauga Majors AAA tournament and won their first tournament of the season.

Way to go, boys!

Jump Right in the Water is...

We hit temperatures of 80 degrees this week. Wednesday, the kids came home from school, hot, and declared that they were going swimming. The pool temp was only 65 degrees because I have yet to turn on the heater. MacDaddy and Lil' Lefty didn't care. In they went! Thursday was another 8o degree day and I kindly heated up the pool to 71 degrees. I didn't want to crank the heat since we are headed to Texas for the long weekend. Guess it didn't matter it wasn't heated to 85 degrees, the kids (minus A-mac) and their friends were in the pool for over an hour.

Dinner & a Musical

My Mother's Day present was a family night out off and away from the baseball field. We headed downtown to Toronto's Theatre District and ate a delicious Italian dinner at Forget About It on King Street W and then proceeded down the block to see Mama Mia at the Princess of Wales Theatre.

Softball Tourney in Beaver, PA

A-Mac had a weekend softball tournament in Beaver, PA. The whole family left Mississauga Friday after work and drove 2 1/2 hours to Erie, PA where I rented a car and we split up. MacMom and MacDaddy drove our car on to Nana and Papa's house to drop Coco off for the summer. A-Mac, Lil Lefty and I drove to our hotel in Monaca, PA, just next to Beaver.

A-Mac played every inning of 7 games at first base batting fourth. She was 7-16 during the tournament with two doubles. I actually didn't think she hit very well, but the stats say she did OK.

After the last game ended late Sunday afternoon, we hustled to Grove City, PA for some quick Outlet shopping... remember going over the "under construction" bridge. We returned to Erie International Airport to drop off the rental car and then back to Mississauga just after midnight.

5,073 Days or (13 years, 10 months and 21 days)

That is how long it took A-Mac to hit her first over-the-fence HOME RUN!!! Congrats, and "told you so". It is nice when what a parent says comes through in a tangible way. I video almost every swing and missed this one. Minga and Lil' Lefty were sitting in the stands to see the shot. A-Mac has been hitting on a tear... love the "use your wrists more" advice... just sayin'...

Cold day at the ball fields....

A-Mac Clobbered a Pitch for 240' Triple

Sunday at the Whitby tournament, A-Mac batted 5th and continued to play first base. This video shows A-Mac "clobbering" a pitch over the left fielder's head for a stand up triple. As MacDaddy said, "any speed and she would have had a home run". GREAT HIT!!! BEST I have seen at her age. The fence was 251' and I assume the ball went 240' in the air. She was 3-5 in two games today. Nice to see her hard work is paying off!!!

A-Mac Friday Night at Whitby

A-Mac and the Blazers are playing in the Whitby tournament this weekend. Game 1 on Friday night, A-mac struck out her first at bat and then ripped a grounder up the middle that went all the way to the fence. A good hit, but probably not worth the triple she ended up with.

A-Mac is 7 for 14 so far and has hit "OK", but I have high expectations!

A-Mac Exhibition Game

A-Mac had an exhibition game against Mississauga North Bantam II. Brampton won their third game in a row. A-Mac played well at first and hit well. The first at bat was a line drive to deep left field. The camera work needs improvement.

We are working on using her wrists more which increases her bat speed A LOT!!!, AND compliments her existing swing mechanics. (i.e. balance, rotation, ...)

Congrats MacDaddy on Making Erindale Spitfires Atom A

Congrats MacDaddy!!! MacDaddy had his first tryout of 3 for the Erindale Spitfires Atom A rep hockey team. After the first day of try outs, he made the team. Over 25 kids tried out and 14 made the team. 4 teammates from last year did not make the team. Kiss a "couple thousand $" away :-). Happy to pay. MacDaddy is excited.

MacDaddy did OK at the tryout... not his best. MacMom said he was tired before we got there.

A-Mac First Exhibition Game

A-Mac played her first exhibition game at Roselea. It may be a long season for her team. A-Mac struck out in the first inning but followed with a line drive to right center for a double her second at bat, arguably the best hit for the team. She batted 5th. I have suggested that A-Mac needs to be an outfield line drive hitter, and drive in runs. It is OK to strike out as long as taking good swings and always having a hit to the outfield in the next at bat. She is not a "slap" or punch-n-judy hitter.

A-Mac can still improve her batspeed. She needs to make sure she doesn't drop her hands or the bat head on her load, and that her left shoulder doesn't open too early. When her timing is on she is going to hit the ball a LONG way.

In the video below she had an OK swing and hit the ball in the sweat spot for a line drive double to right center.

A-Mac played "impeccable" first base making several nice plays on bad throws. Who would have known that she would be a first baseman. She did well.

HOOPS

MacDaddy's Family Story

I had to write and share a story about some people in my family for school. I called up Minga and asked her to tell me a story about her and Grandpa Tim. She told me about the after Christmas fire in Massachusetts because Grandpa Tim put too much wrapping paper in the fireplace. The fire was huge and some of the fire came out and burned the carpet. They put the fire out with a fire extinguisher. She also told me that Aunt Nancy had a horse named , Snowball, who stepped on Grandma Kowal's foot.

I wrote about their move to Texas.

Minga and Grandpa Tim had 2 kids-my dad and Aunt Karen. They lived in Reading, Massachusetts. In 1974, they moved to Plano, TX. They drove all the way from Massachusetts to Texas in a station wagon. The car had no AC and it was a hot summer day. There was also a dog and a cat in the car with them. Minga was drinking a bottle of Coke and put it down. Later, they heard a big POP and they thought they had a flat tire. It wasn't a flat tire. It was Minga's Coke. The top popped off and it exploded all over the car.

MacDaddy First Exhibition Game

MacDaddy played his first exhibition game of the 2010 season. He started in center field and batted 2nd. This was his first time facing live pitching in league play and he seemed "nervous". We had gone to the park for an hour before his game and he hit everything I threw at him. It didn't carry over into the game. However, he was not alone as no one really hit well... the whole team seemed timid... oh yeah, the game took 2 1/2 hours to finish.

MacDaddy's First Pitch in a Game

I was fortunate to get a video of MacDaddy's first pitch in a game. He didn't walk a batter in one inning. Before he went out to pitch he told me he was "nervous". I hope you will get the opportunity to be nervous many more times... because it means you are having fun!!! Love, Dad

A-Mac Batting at the School

Lil Lefty was the photographer first. She then hit a bucket of balls along with MacDaddy. The video is A-Mac hitting tennis balls pitched by me...

Pool's OPEN!

Our pool guy, Aaron, and his assistant came and opened our pool today. Below you can see them pulling out the cover and rolling it up for storage. I will see the pool guy every week now through the end of September when he comes to do the weekly cleaning and check the salt and chemical levels. Unfortunately, this is not like in the movies... I was not lucky enough to get a pool guy who is good "eye candy".

The pool temperature is a chilly 44 degrees. MacDaddy wanted to go swimming. He felt the water and said it was warm. I told him absolutely not!!! Too bad the pool wasn't open last Tuesday. We had beautiful weather since last Wednesday, and Friday-Monday was sunny and unseasonably warm for Spring with temps in the high 70's/low 80's. The ducks are going to be mad tomorrow when they come for their morning swim and see that the algae marsh is gone.

CTV News Toronto at The Daily Food Bank, Toronto

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/clip285180#clip285180

A-mac worked at The Daily Bread Food Bank today in Toronto sorting and packing food. She can be seen in the background of the video. Look for her hair and TNA sweat shirt. She is asked a question at the end of the news report. I think the cat got her tongue!