my "all-stars"

We just finished up yet another season of baseball in our household. Jason coached 2 teams this year; Matthew's T-ball team, the Mantarays, and Ben's Rookie team, the Silverhawks.

I must say, I was glad we were moving up to the next level of the game this year (Ben's team). The last few years we've only been in T-Ball and the games move SLOW, and the kids really don't get it very well. It's certainly entertaining occassionally, but more time is spent by most kids playing in the dirt than focusing on the "game."

However, in Rookie league, as they call it, the kids are really starting to catch on to the logistics of the game. Most of them that is..... Some rules are still tricky, and they're learning as they go, but it's much easier to watch and comes alot closer to resembling an actual game.

A few season highlights we've had: Matthew is becoming quite a slugger. He whacked several into the "outfield," and he's also gotten brave enough to slide. Mostly to be able to say later, "Ben, did you see me slide?" Ah, the approval-seeking little brother.

And for Ben there were several highlights..... he has 'a head for the game,' as Jason calls it, and it's been fun to see him develop that side of the sport. He also caught a pop fly, and slid head- first into homeplate. He enjoyed pretty much every position, but especially catcher and pitcher. As with every other sport's season this past year, he is totally obsessed with baseball right now. He watches ESPN in the morning to see scores, has been reading books about baseball's greatest players, and has recently asked me if he can look up stats on espn.com.....which is all hilarious to me coming from a 7 year old!

But I'm glad he enjoys it, and he said the other day that baseball is his favorite sport. I probed a little further, and reminded him how much he liked football during the season and he insisted, "I know, but I like baseball more..." I'm sure that makes Jason proud! :-)