Pitching

I don't know how many baseball games I've watched in my life. If you really want to know how far back this goes, the first professional game I saw was the Oakland A's vs. the Washington Senators at about age 8. I've been to games at Candlestick Park, the Oakland Coliseum, Busch Stadium (thanks to Ruth), the Kingdome (when it was almost new and in its last season) and Safeco Field. But lately we are spending a lot of time at Morris Park, and it's all different because now that's my kid out there on the mound. Yes, my son has started pitching, and it's a whole new ballgame.

He has been remarkably poised about the whole thing, given that (a) the team behind him can't field or throw so most hit balls result in an error, and (b) he walks about six batters in each inning. He doesn't get mad or nervous, he just keeps throwing. The other day he walked five but ended up striking out the side, and after the third out he calmly jogged toward the dugout as he flipped the ball back to the mound and then smacked his fist into his glove. Where does this stuff come from?

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