Baseball Is A Family Tradition: Cheryl’s Not Bummer Summer

We'll be spending about half of our time at ballparks this weekend.  My son, Ryan, has one house baseball game and two travel games this weekend.  He loves it and so do the rest of us!  Baseball is in our blood.

My dad's great love of the game was passed on to all of us and to our kids.  My father never had the opportunity to play organized baseball, but as kid he and his five brothers played a lot of ball in the neighborhood.  My brother also played baseball for years and my dad coached his team in West Seneca.  I played softball as a kid and, again, dad coached.  My sister never really found a love for the game until her own son began to play.  Next thing we new, she was not only going to every game, but even keeping score!  My brother's boys played a lot of baseball as well.  In fact, my nephew Pat's varsity team at Clarence High School won the Section VI Championship this year!  My husband played baseball as a kid too, with a lot of support from his family.  So, it goes with out saying that our son, Ryan, loves the game too. 

Ryan has spent hours learning to pitch and can now throw it in there at about 50 mph.  He plays a mean first and third base, as well the outfield.  He's even got one grandslam to his name.  So you can see, baseball is a family tradition in my house! 

It's as much about playing the game, as it is about the relationships you develop with other families.  You can see my son, Ryan, in the picture here playing third base and one of his best friends, Riley, (on the right) playing shortstop.  The two can spend all day at the ballpark together, and then come home and spend the entire evening swimming and hanging out.  (Riley comes from a "Baseball/Softball family" too.)  In fact, his mom took these great pictures I used for the story.  

Some folks may think we're a little crazy, but the kids have fun on and off the field.  The mom's get a little time to hang out in the sunshine, and the dads all get to talk sports.  Even all the brothers and sisters seem to develop friendships.  And, who knows, maybe there's a future major league player among us!