Mister T-Ball

As I had mentioned in a previous post, Jake took part in a baseball summer training camp in Joshua Tree where he attends preschool. Jake has always had an affinity for baseball; both watching the game on TV with Daddy and playing it. In fact, we got him his first little t-ball set for his second birthday and within 2 weeks, Joe was pitching it to him sans the t-ball stand. The leagues out here don't let them start t-ball until age 5 so I thought we were going to have to wait another year when I found out about this training league for ages 4-6. It was perfect introduction for him and it is obvious Jake will be playing sports for years to come.

Watching this age group learn and play the game is immensely entertaining. The first time they ran the bases, Jake's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and then in an effort to win the race, he started cutting corners and completely missing the bases. When they were in the field Jake and another little guy would run to wherever the ball was hit and tackle each other. It did not matter if Jake was playing third base and the ball was hit into right field - he went after it. Once when he was supposed to be running the bases after a single, he actually stopped running and tried to field the ball. And every time he made it home, Jake made it a point to slide into home base, even though they a) were not keeping score and b) were technically not supposed to slide. But the best part was watching Jake bat. His coach would help him perfect his stance and hold on the bat and then run quickly out of the way because as soon as he was given the green light, Jake would whack the ball as hard as he could. He even hit what was considered a home run once, smashing the ball into the outfield. I was of course, quite the proud parent. Who wouldn't be?


Here some pics of Jake's team and Jake in action:

The season concluded on Friday with an awards ceremony in which Jake was presented with his first trophy. He was so excited. He has been asking for a trophy for months since he watches the drivers being awarded their trophy at the conclusion of every Nascar race. When it was Jake's turn to come up to the podium, Coach Jessica described Jake as "Mister T-ball, always ready to go and always had a smile on his face".

And here is the video of him hitting a homerun. (Note: if you subscribe to my blog, you will have to visit the actual blog to be able to view the following video.)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Next up: Soccer.