Grayson

One day, I’m getting ready to go to baseball practice. 

Emily: “Hey! I just got a message from Andrea that they are bringing Grayson down for the weekend.”

Me: “Oh really? That would be neat. We have a game Friday night. Maybe they can come to the game.”

Emily: “I will text her and see what they have planned.”

A bit later, we hear back.

Emily: “ Andrea says that they have plans for dinner Friday evening and are going to the Discovery Museum.”

Me: “Well darn! I wanted Grayson to see our guys play and get on the field.”

Emily: “Well, I will see if they can meet us Saturday afternoon at the field for a while.”

Me: “That would be great. It’s going to be in the 60’s and sunny.”

So, I go on the practice and when I get back, Emily and Squeeky greet me at the door.

Emily: “How was practice?”

Me: “Great, as always! Did you hear back from Andrea?”

Emily: “Yep. She said Grayson would enjoy coming to the baseball field Saturday afternoon.”

Me: “ Oh neat! We will have a good time.”

,
Emily: “Maybe when we get done at the field, we can take them down to Coolidge Park for a while before they go back to Murfreesboro.”

So anyhow, Saturday gets here and it’s a pretty day. We leave about 11:30 and get to the field. As we pull up, there is a red pick up in the parking lot. The back of the truck is down. Clint, Andrea and Grayson are sitting on the back of it waiting on us.  We go over to them and we all hug.

Me: “Hey, little buddy ! What’s up? How was the museum?”

Grayson: “We had a good time. I had fun swimming at the hotel, too. That football field sure is big.”

Me: “Well, you can go out on it. There’s a gate right over there.”

Grayson: “Nope! I’m ready to go to the baseball field.”

Me: “Giddy up!”

We walk down to the field and he looks at it.

Grayson: ”That sure is a big baseball field, Uncle Dee.”

Me: “ Yep and we’ll go out on it in a little while. Let’s go in here and see the clubhouse first.”

We go inside and walk upstairs to our pressbox and coaching room.

Me: “ Hey! Come in here for a minute and check this out.”

We have a room for our jerseys, T-shirts, hats and so forth. We had a few small, Red Bank baseball T-shirts left over. I get one and give it to him.”

He holds it up to his chest.

Grayson: ”I can’t wear this. It’s way too big!”

Me: “No, you’re way too small.”

Grayson laughs.

Me: “Well just keep it. You can wear it as a night shirt until you grow into it.”

I found an extra small royal blue Red Bank cap that we had left over. I gave it to him and he put it on.

Grayson: “It’s a little bit big, but I think I can wear it.”

Emily and Andrea are out in the main area of the press box. Andrea is telling Emily all about her classes. She is working and finishing up her business degree. She is a very intelligent young lady and is doing quite well for herself.

Clint is moving up in his city government job, as well. He just became a city building inspector. 

Grayson shows his mom his new cap and shirt.

Me: “Grayson, come in here to the coaching room and let me show you my locker.”

So, I pull out my fungo bad, which is about as tall as he is. I put it up next to him.

Grayson: “I have never seen a bat that big.”

Me: “ Oh! It’s a special kind of bat just for coaches.”

Then, I get my glove out and show it to him.

Me: “We will go out on the field in a little bit.”

Grayson: “Uncle Dee is that bucket full of baseballs?”

Me: ” It used to be. Now, I use it to sit on in the dugout. See! It’s real light now.”

Later on in the season, I put the bucket in my spot in the dugout. I went to move it and nearly hurt my back. The darn thing was so heavy I couldn’t budge it. One of my guys, ET, had filled it full of dirt! The guys all got a good laugh out of that. 

Me: “Hey! Come sit on the bucket and get a pic with that big ole bat.”

He sits down on the bucket and the bat goes up to his head. Funny!

Me: “Hey, little buddy, let’s go down in the clubhouse now so I can show you the player’s lockers and see our hitting room.”

Grayson: “OK, Uncle Dee.”

So, we all went down to the clubhouse area and I showed him our lockers with all the catching equipment, bats and everything.

Grayson: “I like these lockers made out of wood. Wow! They got their names on them.”

He thought it was pretty neat.

Me: “Look at this big room back here.” 

Grayson: “Wow! This is big. Is this where the players hit?”

Me: “Yep. When it’s cold outside or raining, this is where we hit and our pitchers can throw. Do you want to hit some off of a tee? You can show me your swing.”

Grayson: “Yes sir. I want to hit, but I didn’t bring my bat.”

Me: “That’s ok. We got a small one that the guys use for one-handed drills.”

Grayson: “This is a pink bat for girls.”

Me: “Our guys use it to practice hitting off of a tee. Take it and show me how you hit.”

Clint: “Get up there and show Uncle Dee how you hit a baseball.”

I lower the tee down to the right level for him and put a ball on the tee. He picks the pink bat up and goes to the tee. Clint gets him lined up.

Clint: ” Move your feet back this way. Yeah. There you go.”

Grayson takes a swing and hits the ball into the net. He’s a lefty. 

Clint: “Swing all the way through. Ok?”

Grayson: “You mean like this?”

He takes another swing and hits the ball pretty well.

Me: “Hey! That’s a pretty good swing. Can I show you some things?”

Clint: “You listen. Uncle Dee knows about hitting. He will teach you how to hit and then we will work on it.”

Me: “Hey Emily! Will you come over here and video this for them so he knows what to do?”

Emily: “Of course, I will. Anything for my sweet, wonderful husband!”

Ah! She didn’ really say that.

So, I get his feet square to the plate and get his width correct.

Me: “Ok. Now let’s hit another one.”

Grayson takes a good swing.

Me: “That’s a good swing buddy. He’s swinging pretty square.”

Clint: “Get the ball Grayson and put it back up on the tee. Now get your feet set and bat up and give it a good hard swing.”

He takes another swing and puts a little grunt into this one.

Me: “Ok. Your bat is good and level when you swing. Let me show you how to get your weight shifted. Get your weight on the inside of your back knee to begin with every time and bend your knee a little bit.”

Clint: “That will help you transfer more power into the ball.”

Emily: “Alright, Grayson. Hit this one really hard.”

He pounds it! He hits a few more and is quite proud of himself.

Grayson: ” I’m really hitting it hard now, Uncle Dee. Thanks for helping me.”

Me: “Hey! Grayson. Are you ready to go out on the field so you can hit out there?”

Grayson: “Yes sir. I’m ready to go out there.”

We head out to the field and walk around to the end of the dugout on the first base side.

Grayson: “Wow! I can’t believe how big this dugout is Uncle Dee.”

 I show him where the guys have their own cubby to put their stuff. Clint walks over to our sayings on the wall.

Me: “Oh yeah. Take a look at those. They’re all positive ideas about different aspects of the game. When I talk to players, I always try to be positive. What I mean is that when a guy makes an error, why do I need to yell at him about it? He knows he made an error. He needs to know how to correct the mistake and get better. So, when he comes off the field, I ask him what went wrong. The kid almost always knows what happened. We discuss how to correct it next time. He articulates his mistake and learns what to do. I mean, does any adult like being yelled at by their boss for making a mistake? Heck no. Adults just want the boss to tell them nicely what to do to correct the mistake. Why coaches think it’s good to chew guys/gals out is beyond me.” 

Clint: “Yeah, that really makes a lot of sense. I’ve noticed youth coaches yelling and chewing the kids out all the time. I’m going to try to always talk to Grayson in a positive way like that. Hey. Can I take a pic of these quotes?”

Me: “Oh yeah. Absolutely.”

Emily and I sit down on the bench with Grayson and we get a picture. Then we walk out to home plate. 

Me: “OK. Grayson get in the batter’s box.”

Grayson steps in. 

Clint: “Most kids he plays with don’t pay attention and play in the dirt.”

I point out to Grayson how to draw a line in the corner of the plate to show him exactly where he needs to put his feet every time he bats.

Me: “Now, while other kids play in the dirt, you’ll be making marks in the dirt to show you where to put your feet and get hits.”

Grayson: “Like this Uncle Dee?”

Me: “Yep! So every time you bat, your feet will be in the right place.”

I throw him a few pitches. When he finally hits one, it bounces a few times and rolls almost all the way to first base. He takes off running all the way down the first base line. It takes him a while. His mom and Emily are cheering him on. That’s a long way for a little fella. It is so cute. He jogs back toward us and falls over on the infield all worn out.

Me: ” Buddy, let’s get our gloves and go in the outfield.”

Grayson: “ This field is so big, Uncle Dee.”

Me: “Yep. It sure is and the field the Braves play on is even bigger.”

Me: “Ok. Little buddy, let’s throw some.”

I toss some to him underhanded and he catches all of them. He throws them back pretty well, too. 

Me: “ Ok. Grayson, now let me show you how to do the infield drills I do with my guys. Start by getting down on your knees for the drill. Put your glove down on the ground with the fingers and web touching the ground.”

Grayson: “Like this?”

Me: “Perfect! Now, get your right hand over the top of the ball as it rolls into your glove. It’s like an alligator opening and closing it’s mouth.”

Grayson: “ Well, it’s also like a mouse trap coming down.”

Me: “Yeah, that’s a good way to remember it. Now, you do these drills and you will get really good.”

Grayson: “Ok, Uncle Dee, I will.”

As we walk back to the dugout, I have a thought that Grayson may enjoy.

Me: ” Clint, what time do you all have to leave to go home?”

Clint: “We got a couple more hours.”

Me: ” Well, Emily had mentioned going down to Coolidge Park by the river. What do you think about that?”

Clint: “Sounds good to me.”

Me: “Hey, little buddy. Would you like to go to a park down by the river? It’s got a merry go round and we can see boats go by.”

Grayson: “That would be fun. I will ask my mom.”

So, we get back to the dugout where Emily and Andrea are sitting having a good time talking. He walks up to his mom.

Grayson: “Mom. Uncle Dee is taking me to a nice part down by the river for a while. Would you like to join us?”

Andrea: “Grayson. Don’t you think you should ask me first?”

We all got a good chuckle out of that. Grayson is certainly a funny and entertaining little fella to say the least. 

Andrea: “We can go there for about one hour.” 

Grayson: “ Oh boy! Let’s go!”

We load up in our vehicles and head down to the river park, overlooking downtown Chattanooga, with views of Lookout and Signal mountains. It’s located almost underneath the historic, Market Street bridge that connects downtown with North Chattanooga. There’s lots of great shops and restaurants. You can walk across the bridge to get to downtown, where you can go to the Tennessee Aquarium, Discovery Museum, catch a Lookouts game, in the summer and take a ride through the city on a horse and buggy carriage ride. 

We walk around watching boats and kayaks go by. Grayson and Andrea play a game of tag on the huge lawn. What a great time we all had making some wonderful memories.

 As we say our goodbyes, Emily gives Grayson an Easter basket with a coloring book and some candy. 

Grayson: “Wow! Thanks Aunt Emily.”

Emily: “Oh! You’re welcome!.”

Me: “Now, little buddy. You eat all of that candy you want. Remember, your folks tell you not to eat too much candy. Hey! What difference does it make? Your baby teeth will all get pulled anyway! Eat up little buddy!!!”