Man of the house
July, 8, 2011Jul 88:08AM ETEmailPrintComments3Our son is seven years old, and he has settled into his summer routine. The Big Man bounced down the steps in the morning and asks, first and foremost, how his fantasy team did the night before. Among others, he has Martin Prado and Russell Martin, and pronounces the first name of the Braves' left fielder in the same way he does the last name of the Yankees' catcher; he is seven, and he will learn.
His new chore is to feed the dogs, who have quickly made him their new best friend, following the Big Man into the room where their bag of food is kept. He fights his way through wagging tails to pour scoops of food into their bowls, and then sits down at the breakfast table. Through a grin, he asks for ice cream, knowing that he'll get what he gets and he won't get upset. But hey, he's got to try.
He went to his day camp yesterday, at a local farm, wearing a baseball cap, and when he walked into the house, the cheeks surrounding his smile were flush from the summer sun. His arms were covered with a thin layer of dust, and the brim of his cap was bent, dark from sweat. He got to clean a sheep, he reported, and his new friend Harry was stung by two bees. Harry's hand was swollen, but that didn't stop he and the Big Man from eating ice cream before they went home.
Having completed the summation of his day's events, the Big Man hauled his father away from the phone and into a July evening, and before we got started on what he loves most of all, I told him, again, that swinging his bat while wearing flip-flops probably wasn't ideal. "I can't find my shoes," he responded, with mock exasperation. The Big Man can't find anything, having learned that his parents will always be there to find them for him. We are handy that way.
He swung the black aluminum bat at the tennis balls. Or maybe the bat swung him; sometimes it's hard to tell -- and after he leaned into a pitch and drove it over a fence, he announced that this was the 14th homer of the season, and the 41st of his career. I nodded.
After awhile, I told him he had five more pitches left, and through his keen negotiating skills -- "C'mon, just one more," he says -- he probably got about 20 more. The dogs followed him into the house, closely at his heels, because they have come to know that their meal will precede his.
The Big Man climbed up the stairs after dinner, fueled by the first-time responsibility of preparing his own baths. "You need any help up there?"
"Nope."
He came back down all shiny, in clean shorts and a T-shirt, and flops down on the couch under the theory that he's going to read. But what he winds up doing, on most nights, is watching baseball with his Dad, pestering to change the channel to the Braves or the Yankees or other games, under the presumption that he can see Martin Prado or Russell Martin or another of his players take their at-bats. Baseball connects a father and son, again.
This morning, the Big Man will ask about what happened in last night's games, and I will not tell him what happened in Texas last night, about how the most crushing tragedies occur within the confines of everyday life.
A firefighter goes to a ballgame with his young son on a beautiful summer day, reaches for a baseball thrown by a player, and now the man, Shannon Stone, is dead.
From Jeff Wilson's story:
[Josh] Hamilton picked up the ball and threw it toward the fan, who leaned for the ball, slipped and went over the railing head first. The Rangers said that he fell some 20 feet from Section 5 into an opening between the stands and the out-of-town scoreboard.
The game was halted only momentarily, and Hamilton continued to look back toward the wall the rest of the inning. The fan was taken out of the ballpark on a backboard after an almost immediate response by emergency personnel.
Ronnie Hargis of Hawley was seated next to the fan. Hargis said that the man was attending the game with his son. Hargis guessed that the boy was 6 to 8 years old.
"I tried to grab him, but I couldn't," Hargis said. "I tried to slow him down a little bit. He went straight down."
The fall was near the Athletics' bullpen. Relievers Brad Ziegler, Craig Breslow and Joey Devine saw the man conscious and moving as he was being taken to the hospital.
Ziegler was sobbing in the Oakland clubhouse after the game.
"They had him on a stretcher and were carrying him out," Ziegler said. "He was staying stuff like, 'Please check on my son.' And people were telling him, 'We'll check on your son, sir.'
"I think he had his arm splinted from falling, but he was conscious and moving. To come in and find out about this is just tough."
Here are the statements from Nolan Ryan and Ron Washington after the game.
The Texas clubhouse was not opened after the game; the Oakland clubhouse was silent, as Susan Slusser writes.
All thoughts and prayers to the family of Shannon Stone -- for the father, the son, the others.
Youtube won't work here today, but I don't want to see it anyway.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Terrible night. I wasn't there but was watching the game on TV. I can't imagine what that little boy is going through. I've taken my son out there numerous time.
Gotta feel for Josh too. He's going to lose sleep at night wondering why he didn't throw that ball just a little further.
Terrible night. I wasn't there but was watching the game on TV. I can't imagine what that little boy is going through. I've taken my son out there numerous time.
Gotta feel for Josh too. He's going to lose sleep at night wondering why he didn't throw that ball just a little further.
What a sad, sad story.
Just a horrible accident....
The son??
Josh???
Good lord......
Take me piece by piece..... Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
It is such a terrible tragedy, and I too feel for Hamilton. The dude's been through hell and back and now this.
Not trying to jack the thread, but I don't feel bad for what hamilton went through. Dude had a golden ticket and chose to fuck his life up by being an idiot.
I like hearing about people getting through issues like he had, but I don't feel sorry for the guy.
Last night is a different story...that is just awful. I cant imagine how he feels.
How much do you think the angels regret that vernon wells trade now? geez that was dumb
By far the worst trade I can remember. No words, I can't even begin to understand how they thought that was a good idea. .241 OBP!!
Now that is a horrible contract.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... 5MKA#at=11
josh hamilton was the one that threw the ball up into the crowd. he's an emotionally fragile dude. hopefully he doesn't go back to the junk
Man of the house
July, 8, 2011Jul 88:08AM ETEmailPrintComments3Our son is seven years old, and he has settled into his summer routine. The Big Man bounced down the steps in the morning and asks, first and foremost, how his fantasy team did the night before. Among others, he has Martin Prado and Russell Martin, and pronounces the first name of the Braves' left fielder in the same way he does the last name of the Yankees' catcher; he is seven, and he will learn.
His new chore is to feed the dogs, who have quickly made him their new best friend, following the Big Man into the room where their bag of food is kept. He fights his way through wagging tails to pour scoops of food into their bowls, and then sits down at the breakfast table. Through a grin, he asks for ice cream, knowing that he'll get what he gets and he won't get upset. But hey, he's got to try.
He went to his day camp yesterday, at a local farm, wearing a baseball cap, and when he walked into the house, the cheeks surrounding his smile were flush from the summer sun. His arms were covered with a thin layer of dust, and the brim of his cap was bent, dark from sweat. He got to clean a sheep, he reported, and his new friend Harry was stung by two bees. Harry's hand was swollen, but that didn't stop he and the Big Man from eating ice cream before they went home.
Having completed the summation of his day's events, the Big Man hauled his father away from the phone and into a July evening, and before we got started on what he loves most of all, I told him, again, that swinging his bat while wearing flip-flops probably wasn't ideal. "I can't find my shoes," he responded, with mock exasperation. The Big Man can't find anything, having learned that his parents will always be there to find them for him. We are handy that way.
He swung the black aluminum bat at the tennis balls. Or maybe the bat swung him; sometimes it's hard to tell -- and after he leaned into a pitch and drove it over a fence, he announced that this was the 14th homer of the season, and the 41st of his career. I nodded.
After awhile, I told him he had five more pitches left, and through his keen negotiating skills -- "C'mon, just one more," he says -- he probably got about 20 more. The dogs followed him into the house, closely at his heels, because they have come to know that their meal will precede his.
The Big Man climbed up the stairs after dinner, fueled by the first-time responsibility of preparing his own baths. "You need any help up there?"
"Nope."
He came back down all shiny, in clean shorts and a T-shirt, and flops down on the couch under the theory that he's going to read. But what he winds up doing, on most nights, is watching baseball with his Dad, pestering to change the channel to the Braves or the Yankees or other games, under the presumption that he can see Martin Prado or Russell Martin or another of his players take their at-bats. Baseball connects a father and son, again.
This morning, the Big Man will ask about what happened in last night's games, and I will not tell him what happened in Texas last night, about how the most crushing tragedies occur within the confines of everyday life.
A firefighter goes to a ballgame with his young son on a beautiful summer day, reaches for a baseball thrown by a player, and now the man, Shannon Stone, is dead.
From Jeff Wilson's story:
[Josh] Hamilton picked up the ball and threw it toward the fan, who leaned for the ball, slipped and went over the railing head first. The Rangers said that he fell some 20 feet from Section 5 into an opening between the stands and the out-of-town scoreboard.
The game was halted only momentarily, and Hamilton continued to look back toward the wall the rest of the inning. The fan was taken out of the ballpark on a backboard after an almost immediate response by emergency personnel.
Ronnie Hargis of Hawley was seated next to the fan. Hargis said that the man was attending the game with his son. Hargis guessed that the boy was 6 to 8 years old.
"I tried to grab him, but I couldn't," Hargis said. "I tried to slow him down a little bit. He went straight down."
The fall was near the Athletics' bullpen. Relievers Brad Ziegler, Craig Breslow and Joey Devine saw the man conscious and moving as he was being taken to the hospital.
Ziegler was sobbing in the Oakland clubhouse after the game.
"They had him on a stretcher and were carrying him out," Ziegler said. "He was staying stuff like, 'Please check on my son.' And people were telling him, 'We'll check on your son, sir.'
"I think he had his arm splinted from falling, but he was conscious and moving. To come in and find out about this is just tough."
Here are the statements from Nolan Ryan and Ron Washington after the game.
The Texas clubhouse was not opened after the game; the Oakland clubhouse was silent, as Susan Slusser writes.
All thoughts and prayers to the family of Shannon Stone -- for the father, the son, the others.
Youtube won't work here today, but I don't want to see it anyway.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
its on espn...just shows him falling over the railing
Gotta feel for Josh too. He's going to lose sleep at night wondering why he didn't throw that ball just a little further.
What a sad, sad story.
BOS-9/28/04,9/29/04,6/28/08,6/30/08, 9/5/16, 9/7/16, 9/2/18
MTL-9/15/05, OTT-9/16/05
PHL-5/27/06,5/28/06,10/30/09,10/31/09
CHI-8/2/07,8/5/07,8/23/09,8/24/09
HTFD-6/27/08
ATX-10/4/09, 10/12/14
KC-5/3/2010,STL-5/4/2010
Bridge School-10/23/2010,10/24/2010
PJ20-9/3/2011,9/4/2011
OKC-11/16/13
SEA-12/6/13
TUL-10/8/14
The son??
Josh???
Good lord......
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
Not trying to jack the thread, but I don't feel bad for what hamilton went through. Dude had a golden ticket and chose to fuck his life up by being an idiot.
I like hearing about people getting through issues like he had, but I don't feel sorry for the guy.
Last night is a different story...that is just awful. I cant imagine how he feels.
He's not even 20 yet, right? Between Trout and Harper we might see two teens make their debut in the big leagues for the first time in a while.
Nope. 19
How much do you think the angels regret that vernon wells trade now? geez that was dumb
By far the worst trade I can remember. No words, I can't even begin to understand how they thought that was a good idea. .241 OBP!!
Now that is a horrible contract.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/ ... ld-series/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGw9N5DGT-Q
only if vin scully can have a 10 minute conversation with himself comparing ryan howard to every 1st baseman who ever lived
i'd love it of course but i don't think fox is smart enough to do it
They would definitely fuck it up. Would be awesome though.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=j ... ath_070811
Horrible, dude. The couple paragraphs in the middle of that column are especially brutal.
heartbreaking story all around.
It is. Nothing good about it.
The more I think about this story, the sadder it gets...my God...
Yeah, I kinda like it though. They had them rotating booths with the SF and NY telecast earlier.
I like hearing Michaels doing baseball again.
And there's no way that Wilson isn't on some kind of steroid.