Fathers Playing Catch With Sons Journal - sydrogerdavid's Blog

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Fathers Playing Catch With Sons Journal

Posted on February 6, 2013 at 07:51 PM.

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This was the first journal I wrote for the class. It is a reflection on the poem by Donald Hall, "Fathers Playing Catch With Sons."

Fathers Playing Catch with Sons Journal

I completely agree with Donald Hall that baseball is about fathers and sons. Baseball is pasted down generation after generation. Baseball is fathers teaching sons, fathers coaching sons, and if they are lucky enough, fathers playing with sons. That�s how my dad and uncle learned the game and that�s how my brother and I learned the game.

According to my dad, my grandpa was a hard, mean man. I�ve never heard any real stories about their relationship, but I�ve been told, �You�re lucky I�m not like my father.� From stories I have heard though, he had much respect for the man. I�ve also heard that my grandfather had a special exception for my uncle and my father. For they both played baseball, just like he did, and they played it quite well. It was late in my grandfather�s life though, that he finally saw his kids play in a real game. I imagine he felt very proud.

It�s rumored that both my grandfather and my dad each tried out for major league teams when they were younger, I can�t deny it or prove it though. Sadly though, they were both called into the Service before they could have signed a contract.

Continuing the learning part of this journal, that�s how my brother and I learned the game, from our dad. I�d say he did the right thing when trying to teach us the game. He only taught us when we wanted to learn. He didn�t force us and he made it fun. One small thing that I loved, is that he would take a Weed Eater and mow baselines and a batter�s box in the front yard for us to play on.

One thing that should be noted is that baseball is not exclusively tied to fathers and sons, but it can apply to fathers and daughters as well as mothers and sons and mothers and daughters. Baseball is not a gender exclusive sport, unlike football. Many second generation ballplayers learned the game from their mothers and not their fathers. This is because the fathers were too busy out on the road and playing pro ball.

To add onto the second generation topic, I find that baseball has a knack for producing baseball families, more so than any other sport in the world. Off the top of my head I can think of the names: Benes, Alomar, Bonds, Griffey, DiMaggio, Spiezio, Molina, Cora, Harriston, Giambi, Alou, Drew, Duncan, Ripken, Gwynn, Boone, LaRoche, Wilson, McKay, McRae, and Niekro.

Comments

# 1 bigdoc85 @ Feb 6

Thanks for sharing. My best childhood memories are playing catch with my dad. He had a demanding career, but the moment he came home from work, if I asked him to play catch, he would.