I wanted to write a little blog post about baseball because it has become such a big part of our dude's life. Also at the same time I have fallen in love with this sport, at least on the little league level. ;)
I always say that we don't play baseball in Finland but that's actually a lie. We do have game called baseball but it's very different from the American version. I'm not going to bore you with Finnish baseball rules but I can tell you that it's not a very popular sport in Finland. When living in Finland it didn't come to mind to send our boy to play baseball. I don't even know if they have baseball league or teams in the Capital city area where we used to live. Funny though I used to love teaching Finnish baseball to my students and they (especially boys) liked to play the game. We even had teachers against students game at the end of the school year event.
Dude's baseball career started a little over a year ago when we lived in Los Angeles. One morning in their Friday assembly local baseball little league was advertising their activities. Later that day I asked dude if that would be something he could be interested in and surprisingly he said yes!
Before entering the league he had to go through the evaluation where they tested candidates' skills to found right teams for them. Before testing I told coaches that this boy has never played or even hold a glove or a bat in his hands. When they heard that they let me know that he wouldn't even have to try, they would automatically put him to a beginner's group called "farm". I was kind of relieved and told him "ok, let's go. You don't have to do this. They all ready decided team for you". But he didn't settle for this. He wanted to try anyway. I was amazed and very happy. When did he grow up to be so brave?!?
His evaluation went better than I ever could have imagined but of course his place was in farm level.
And what a fun spring it was! They had practices and games all spring long and he was really enjoying himself playing baseball. He learned so much and I was super proud how he grew to be part of the team and learned all the rules of baseball. But he wasn't the only one from our family that learned to love baseball. We really enjoyed watching their games and cheering for their team. And as I was watching the boys playing I truly realized how many-sided game baseball really is. You need to learn several skills to be able to play this game. At the same time it's mentally very challenging Game. At the outfield you need to stay focused and be ready to move to a right position very quickly. All the time you need to think a little ahead of yourself for example where to throw the ball if it ends up coming your way.
So obviously when we moved to Northern California it was important for him to find a league where he could continue playing baseball. We were lucky to find out that our home town actually had great little league that welcomed him to play his favorite sport. I really feel that during this season he caught up other boys in their baseball skills and I can honestly claim that he is an equal part of their team. Of course he has been practicing a lot with his team but also with his dad. Part of his summer plans is really refine his pitching skills. Being a pitcher was one of his favorite positions to be on the field and I'm truly grateful to Foster City Little League how they let every boy play in every position. Now that the spring season is over we can't wait the fall ball to begin.
Baseball, another great thing that happened us here in America!
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