Sac Bunts and Grand Slams

We went to the Riversharks game yesterday. The kids lasted until about the sixth inning when we finally had to get up and head over to the funzone. (We didn't actually go into the funzone because the moon bounce was broken and all other activities were a bit old for our crew). Dewon Brazelton pitched and I got to see Junior Spivey play SS. It felt just like 2002.

At one point - Sammy asked, "Why is that guy holding his bat out sideways like that?" This was a monumental moment for me because it is the first time Sammy asked me a legitimate question about the goings on in a professional game. HE'S PAYING ATTENTION AND FOLLOWING THE GAME! YES!! Season tickets... here we come! I told him that he is trying to just push the ball back towards the pitcher and it's called a bunt. Brilliantly, he replied, "but he'll get thrown out. Why would he do that?" Now it was my pleasure to explain how the sacrifice bunt works. See there were guys on 2nd and 1st base and he was trying to bunt them up a base. I'm not sure if he understood at first but then on the next pitch the batter laid down an awesome bunt up the 3rd base line. The throw came from the pitcher to 1st and the runner actually beat it out for a bunt single. After he saw the play, I'm pretty sure he got it.

Today we were watching the Cubs play the Marlins on WGN (the conversation about baseball quietly being on WGN all the time will come next year, presumably) and the bases were loaded for Derrek Lee. Sam looked at me and said, "If he hits a homerun, Dad, he'll get a grand slam." Again - I'm loving this! Then Lee did it. He went yard and hit the Grand Slam! High fives and chest bumps followed in our living room.

Sammy also is aware that a lefty who is facing a fireballer like Dewon Brazelton could line a screaming foul ball down the third base side, into the stands. Having the memory of his head injury fresh enough in his mind, he didn't take any chances when a lefty came to the plate and took the proper precautions.