Grandson Baseball & Fondue

We visited Betsy and her family this past weekend. Arriving on Friday, we learned that Henry would have his first youth league baseball game that night. What great timing and what a great opportunity for me! Henry dressed himself initially, and we didn't think about the fact that he had put his number on the front. That was corrected when we got to the playing field.

He allowed me to take pictures and included this pose. The boy may be a pitcher some day. He has started to work on his windup moves, as you can see.

Clara was cheering him on, saying, "Go Henry!"

I must say I admired the dedication and methods of the coaches. I recall once coaching Rob's soccer team for a season, and I know how challenging it can be to teach anything about a sport while having to constantly corral and ask for attention.

The rules of the game were quite different from the baseball rules that I know, but they make sense for beginners. There were two innings, and in each case, all players on the defensive team took positions on the field. They were mostly scattered about the infield, so there seemed to be about two third basemen, two or three short stops, ... you get the idea. Henry was assigned in the first inning to the pitcher's mound. Later, he played third base. If you saw his mother's posting about this outing, you know that involved studying stray rocks and rearranging the dirt around the base.

When on offense, each player got to bat and run to first base. An adult pitched until the batter hit the ball or had three strikes, at which point a tee was used to allow the player to hit the ball. Base running was interesting, as was fielding. Since this is probably the kids' first introduction to baseball as a team sport, there is lots to learn about where to throw the ball once fielded and how to run bases, including when to advance. There were frequently multiple runners on the same base or runners who would pass a runner ahead of them. Naturally, there were lots of side conversations and playing (not baseball) at all times between fellow fielders or between fielders and runners. This tended to distract from attention to the fact that a ball might just have been hit and that fielding or running was needed. It was great fun!

Henry hit 1000 for the evening. He had two hits in two at-bats and never had to use the tee. Here he is about to take a mighty swing at a pitch. He has a good eye for the ball. Keeping those helmets on when batting or running the bases can be difficult though.

Here he is at third base after having successfully navigated around the bases to that point. You can also get an idea about how the players are set up defensively. It would seemingly be tough to get a ball through the left side of the field, even with a good hit.

After scoring a run, Henry showed me his pride of accomplishment.

Now the fondue...on Saturday evening, we went out to Fondue Stube for dinner. There were three courses: vegetables and bread with cheese fondue, meats and vegetables with oil fondue, and fruits and angel food cake with chocolate fondue. Henry and Clara both proved to be adept at using the fondue pots and all potential accidents were avoided.

Here's the whole gang.

I'll let you guess for yourselves which course was associated with this picture.