The weather this June has been downright forgettable. Even when we get a nice day of weather, we still get at least a two-hour dose of rain. As a father of four, it has been tough to get outside and enjoy all that Cook County has to offer. While single guys and young couples can brave the elements on a hike with relative ease, it is a bit more work with little ones.
Our family’s summer thus far has seemed to revolve around the great game of baseball. Adam (8 years old) plays parent pitch on Tuesday nights while Jacob (6 years old) and Paul (5 years old) both enjoy tee-ball on Monday nights. It has been enjoyable seeing how much young kids at all levels improve in just a few games of summer baseball.
On the summer baseball field I am taken back to my youth in Cook County, where the world seemed to revolve around family activities. I love seeing moms and dads all pack the stands to watch their son or daughter play a game.
Just this past week, Adam was playing second base and missed the throw from a teammate as the ball hit him square in the face. Adam is a pretty sensitive kid, but he sucked up the tears and swallowed hard trying not to show his teammates it hurt.
I have to say I was proud of him.
Adam didn’t play perfectly and he made some mistakes, but I was proud of my boy for playing with a little pain. I am helping Rick and Cindi Crawford coach, so when Adam came off the field when the inning ended, I just totally ignored him. I didn’t want him to think it was a bigger deal than it was. I knew he was going to live, and if he was truly injured,
then I would have given him some attention.
That may sound really insensitive, but I want my boy to grow up to be a man. There are too many boys in this world who are stuck in adolescence because no one has ever forced them to grow up.
Tee-ball seems to be a totally different game. All of the kids are just so happy,
and every time a ball is hit, a horde of six to seven players race to field the ball. My kids love to play and they are lucky to have Steve Waver as a coach. He is a hometown kid and former Cook County Viking who came back and is now contributing to our community. His enthusiasm and positive approach has my boys excited to play every Monday night.
Last month, my sisterin law won four free tickets to see the Twins at Target Field through a drawing at Great Clips. As part of the promotion, one of your kids gets to help change the bases in the fifth inning with the Minnesota Twins’ grounds crew.
To make a long story short, none of her boys were quite old enough, so her husband will take their oldest boy and I will take Jacob (who really wants to see the Twins) to the game. In the fifth inning, Jacob will go down and change the bases with the grounds crew. What are the odds of that?
While we will stay at my brother Rich’s place in Blaine, gas money, food, and parking will still stretch the budget a little bit. However, what a great experience for a kid to have! I think I am more excited than he will be. We haven’t told him yet because we want him to sleep during the nights before we go. He will be at the game before this edition goes to press so I’m not concerned about the secret getting out.
Mitch Dorr, a Cook County
High School Class of 1993
graduate, is now a social
studies teacher and coach at
his former alma mater. Mitch
coaches Vikings football and
boys’ basketball.
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