6-0

Today was my youngest's birthday and what better way to celebrate than to go watch him play baseball on a warm, sunny night?

The game was fine. With decent weather, what's not to like? We scored some runs and made some plays in the field. We even got to watch one of the better players on the team round third base on his quest for what should have been a easy inside the park home run and somehow slide or trip and log roll to within a foot of the base, where the catcher caught the ball, shrugged, and tagged him out. The batter jumped up with a sheepish grin and headed for the bench, where I punched him in the shoulder and told him I didn't care how many outs he got as long as he kept hustling.

When we took the field in the fifth inning, the dad who was coaching third base for us came over.

"Hey, I just wanted to tell you something about your son," he said.

"Oh man, this is the way it usually starts when the school or the police call," I said.

He laughed. "No, really. When he was on third base last time we were batting, he was talking to the kid from the other team who was playing third. You know, the one who pitched the first two innings against us."

"He didn't call him a name, did he?" I asked.

"No."

"Please tell me he didn't spit at him."

"No, he didn't do that either. He said, 'Hey, nice job pitching.'"

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. That was pretty cool. Then he told me a long story about the last time you made fondue. He's a funny kid."

I mentioned this to Coach P. about this after the game. The nice thing about friends is you can sometimes brag about your kids, especially when they feel the same way about their own.

Coach P. said, "When he was playing first base, every time a kid got on, your boy said, 'nice hit.'"

I've told my son I expect him to be a role model. He's at the age now where he feels like he has to be a man and he's at an age where I expect him to act like one, at least some of the time. I still catch him dancing by himself in the kitchen, though, or giggling with one of his friends in the corner of the basement. Either way, I love to watch him. He is a wonder.