The Most Special...

[Jason]

No problem. It's been really fun watching him grow over the years. I'll be cheering from the sidelines in California.

[Man in Black]

We won the 3rd game 28-8 (I think, I know we had 28). And we dropped a stinker in the last game and lost 14-6. We had the ball in their territory 3 times, once on the one yardline... and didn't score... fumbling twice. We should have won, but it's OK... the boys got a huge trophy and had a blast!

[Jason]

Yeah, at least they had fun. That's what it's all about right now. How did David do in the games?




More awesome pics.

That #5 looks intense trying to make that tackle.

[Man in Black]

The #5 is Angus I was telling you about... he is intense on every play. He brought that kid down with one arm after his own teammate knocked him down.

David did really well. He has gotten to play a lot more in the post season. He has been blocking better and Clint has noticed. In the first game David got to play 2 entire offensive series (in the first half when it mattered) and they scored on both. He even got in on defense for a series... which is rare. The had him running stunts from the DE position, trying to get to the QB because he's so fast.

[Jason]

Nice! He's an all around player!!

Can't ask for much more than that. Kordell Stewart jr.

[Man in Black]

He's like a cross between Alstott and Urlacher ;D


That's him with David in the practice photo - David defended that pass against him... I was proud of him because Angus is not often foiled.

[Man in Black]

David switched sports this year...

I posted this on FB after his first game:

I am so proud of my son David. He worked so hard at football for the past 2 seasons but never got good enough to play much. Still he had a great attitude about it and cheered for his team and NEVER complained once about his playing time.

Last year he started baseball and it went about the same way. He was able to pitch a bit at the end of the season and found that he was pretty good at it. So he asked me to buy him a bucket of baseballs and he practiced pitching to me and Marii all winter. By the start of the season this year he was throwing just under 70 mph! Just ask my bruises...

Anyway I don't think anyone could deserve to get to play more than him... and today he started the first game of the year at pitcher. He pitched 3 innings and got 8 strikeouts and allowed only 1 earned run! Good job boy... you worked for and earned the success and cheers you got today... and these aren't tears my allergies are acting up.


______________________



He started the whole season. The team didn't do that great but David was their most valuable player. He pitched really well and gave up very few earned runs. He hit fairly well too. He got to go to baseball camp this summer at the high school. I think he has found his sport!

[Jason]

Yep. I was gonna say it looks like he found his calling. I'm not sure if even I can throw 70 mph. I tried my hand at the fair when I was about 23 and got somewhere in the high 50s, but it easily could've been rigged, and probably was.

Does he plan on playing high school ball? For me, I was unlucky in the fact that I was a late bloomer. Puberty didn't hit me until my sophomore year, so everyone else was alreadt way bigger. If that's the case with David, he should know ahead of time so as not to get discouraged. By senior year he could be a beast for the varsity team.

[Man in Black]

I'm there with you... I was 90 lbs until about 10th grade. David is already my size in high school (he is literally wearing my old HS shirts my Mom gave him)... he's just in 5th grade this year and is the tallest boy in his class so I think he should be average there. He is still way under weight and the Dr told us to have him eat more. That's a tall chore trying to get a preteen to do anything they don't want to do. He eats when he eats lol... I do my best with it.

He can't throw 70mph in a game, he's freakin dangerous and all over everywhere at that speed. I can't even catch for him anymore at full speed. He hit me in the knee a few months ago and it was swelled up for weeks. That was my last stint behind the plate lol. He felt pretty bad and I told him he had to dial it back when pitching to other kids until he could control it. Luckily he really cares about hitting somebody and listens to his coaches... he'll uncork a 70 about twice a game but it has missed wildly so far.

The cool thing is he is very consistent when he is pitching and not "throwing". He has a wicked nasty slider that he can throw at will. It has a ton of natural movement. I've stood right behind the fence at home plate during games to see what the batters are seeing - so I can help David later. Nearly every time he throws the slider it is lined up over the plate in mid flight... but by the time it hits the catcher's glove it is way down and outside. They swing every time and their coaches yell at them because they are viewing it from the side and they think their batter shouldn't have swung. They are never seeing that ball coming right down the middle at first. David loves it too... he gets a big kick out of the batters falling down and looking goofy trying to hit that pitch. It's probably only hitting 50-55mph too... I can't wait until he can get the full speed across the plate without killing somebody.

As far as his HS plans... He's wanting to go all the way with pitching at this point. From what I've seen, he's got ALL the tools, but the tools are a dime a dozen. I know that it just depends on how long it interests him and how hard he works at it. If he stays focused he should at bare minimum wind up getting a scholarship out of it to go to a small college... and who knows what the upside is. In my opinion our job as parents are just to support him and make sure he does something. If that something is baseball then great but if it's not then we'll go with that. Right now he's all in though.

This is one of the nasty sliders that caused a swinging strike.

[Jason]

That's incredible. I was thrown off at first when you said he can't throw 70mph in a game. Should've realized you were talking about control. I'm pretty sure almost any pitcher no matter the level of talent will tell you they had control issues when they started. It's a common thing. I was easily discouraged at that age and I wish I could run my high school self over with the Delorean and explain what was happening in a different light than what I was seeing. Experience has changed my perspective of things almost completely. Hopefully the Rockies draft David... Hell, given the bullpen we have, I'll take him NOW.

I played a reunion game last year against the varsity team of my high school. Old alumni get together for a game every year and I found out a few days in advance. It was my first real baseball game in ten years and I loved it. I went 0-for-1 and a walk and made a pretty good play in the outfield that I think saved a run. I hadn't done any preparation for the game, and I got burned badly on a change-up for a strikeout. There are a lot of talented ball players out there, and I regret the "what if". I wish I would've stuck with it and pursued a career. David is certainly talented, and I hope that if he changes his mind on baseball, he doesn't look back with regret on what could've been. I hope he continues to love it and stick with it.