A sports rite of passage - our first trip to a professional baseball game
By Kakie Fitzsimmons, Vice President and founding partner, Farmer’s Hat Productions co-author Bur Bur and Friends Book Series
When we wrote the book, “Bur Bur Throws out The First Pitch” it was based on a real story about JoAnne’s son who got to throw out the first pitch when he was 2 1/2 at a professional baseball game opener. It got me thinking about my first experience sharing baseball with my son and something that will keep me smiling the rest of my life.
I took my little guy to his ‘first’ Minnesota Twins game at the age of five. He has this obsession with trains, so I thought it would be fun to take the light rail from the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., to the Metrodome stadium. At each stop, more and more people hopped on until it was standing room only. I could see many of the men watching my child with smiles and a spark in their eyes that took them back to their own childhoods. Then one of them looked at me with a smirk and asked; “First game?” I nodded with a grin.
My son had brought a little fanny pack stuffed with small happy meal toys. As we passed through the gates, one of the guards wanted to look inside the pouch for security purposes. When I opened it he laughed and also said, “Oh, first game” It was comical. He then gave a big smile, put his hand on top of my son’s head and said, “Welcome to the world of baseball young man.”
It was like a rite of passage to something he very well may become passionate about for the rest of his life. We made it through the 5th or 6th inning clapping, cheering, buying mini-doughnuts and enjoying one another’s company.
My hope for him is that it a day he remembers for the rest of his life. I know I certainly will treasure it forever.
I would love to hear from you memories of taking your kids to first time sporting events. Reply to this post and tell us about it!
Seed Newsvine
July 25th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
My husband and I started taking our kids to a yearly Triple A baseball game paid for by his company.
I remember the first time we went with our oldest 2 boys. We packed a few things, got front row parking, and watched the game. Then came the between innings activities for the families…the barrel races and human hamster ball bowling! And always the announcement of our second sons birthday which fell right around our game outing! He always listened for his name to be said over the oud speaker! After the game there were more activities our favorite being the Jesse White tumblers! That was followed by fireworks right overhead and amazing!!
Then my hubby would take the boys and walk the bases. As they rounded for home they paused and I took their picture. What an incredible memory stitched in our family quilt.
Then came our next child, born in November and he went to his first game the next July…same front row parking, same great snacks mom packed, same awesome activities and fireworks…okay, well the youngest wasnt’ too thrilled. And then the long car ride back home…together as a family of 5!
Year after year, then came a daughter and another daughter! This last year the company stopped paying for this wonderful family outing…no front parking, and not the same great seats…didn’t matter!!
With all five kids in tow we drove the long way to the ball park…
still parked close enough, but with a lot more gear with us and more kids not even walking!! We sat in okay seats, but we were together as a family. We watched the game, ate mom’s wonderful snacks, watched the activities and then listened for our son’s name to be mentioned for his birthday. Like clockwork, we knew the next event would be the fireworks, but didn’t realize how our 3rd son would react…shaking and terrified. Crying for it all to be over. He has Aspergers Syndrome and a seizure disorder. His auditory sensitivity caused his terror. (He still loves fireworks, but now with huge headphones!!)
That was to be our last year due to cost and the challenge of taking challenged kids. We have three with special neurologically abilities.
Though baseball was never any of our family members favorite sport, we loved the experience. The kids loved getting things ready and the smell of moms special chex mix that suited every taste bud and dietary restriction in the house. We loved loading up the car. The kids knew we would stop at Subway or McD’s for something to eat before the game. We all remember the hike into the park, the game, the activities and the yearly picture we took.
We all remember our family time that will always be a strong foundation of what is really important…not the actual sport, not win or lose, not the weather. It was the time we spent actively as a family. One day I would like to go back to that park and watch another game…until then will build different active memories that will add another strong thread to our family quilt of memories.
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:49 am
When my daughter Kate was 6 years old we enrolled her in T ball.
The league was co-ed of course, and they were at an age where all things were created equal.
Another reality was that winning or losing was a concept that seemed to be dictated by fate and parents alone.
Speaking of which, I was elected unamimously, to be the head coach of these rookie, rascal renegades.
The first question I asked them was, “who has heard of baseball?”
Of which quite a few children raised their hands. Some raised their hands a little late, because they were not paying attention, or they thought they were voting for some sort of treat.
The next question was, “who has ever played baseball?” Only a few raised their hands, and this tally I believed.
So I told them to ask someone what a baseball mit was and bring it to practice so we could start learning how to throw, hit, catch and play.
So that’s where it started for me as a coach.
We got to where they were running the bases the right way, and throwing the ball to the base, ahead of the runners. Of course some runners would stay on base until another runner caught up to them.
For amusement, I aked them why they stayed on base. One player explained to me that if he stayed on base he felt safe. After hearing that I felt like staying on base longer too.
We didn’t count outs,innings or runs.
We also considered that if the outfielders wanted to gather and discuss the beauty of all of the dandilions, that was perfectly OK.
I found it interesting that at that age all of the children cheered when anyone scored, and they thought that everyone won.
I bought matching hats for everyone, with their names on them. (the names were for my benefit.)
I also took their picture in the batting stance, with their hats on, and a menacing look on their faces. You can only imagine their little game faces.
It just so happened that the year they were playing was an Olympic year. So all of the stores were littered with red white and blue ribbons with medals. I bought a teams worth, with a few extra for the few that had to have two. They had to have two for a brother, sister, a dog or loved one.
After the last game I presented the medals to all of them, and high fives were flying all around. It was plain to see how good it felt to be number one in the world.
Other than teaching them how it feels to succeed I taught them how to look and act professionally. So they all had to learn how to stand in the field, with their knees slightly bent, and pounding their gloves saying, “hey batter batter hey batter batter.” Not to mention at the end of the game saying to the other team, “good game.”
I believe they went away with a firm grasp of the nuances and strategies of baseball; of winning, and how it feels to succeed (especially in front of your parents.)
Tom