The Bat

We bought some used cross country skis today for my wife and daughter at a fundraiser sale at our local YMCA.  My wife goes on an annual ski trip every winter, and my daughter has skied before and loved it, so we figured some inexpensive used skis would be a good investment in a fun hobby.  We did not find any poles or boots, so we also hit up the nearest "Play It Again Sports" store to finish outfitting the girls.

While my son and I waited for them to try on boots and find poles, he started checking out the baseball gear.  As you may or may not remember, my son has a checkered past with baseball.  The one year he played in an organized little league, he hated it.  He broke his arm that summer and was happy because it meant he wouldn't have to play baseball any more.  But he does like to play catch in our front yard, and occasionally will have me pitch to him on the field at the elementary school down the street.  So it's safe to say I didn't expect him to be impressed with any of the baseball stuff.

But soon he was wearing a fancy new batting helmet and watching kids in the batting cage.  After a while he came over to me (stationed on the bench guarding my wife's purse....like a good husband) and told me he had found a cool bat that he wanted to show me.

Now, I LOVE BASEBALL, so this actually excited me.  My son wants to buy a new bat.  Maybe I can sign him up for little league again.  Maybe he'll love it this time.  Maybe he'll be an all-star and play in High School and get a scholarship to college, or go right to the minor leagues......

"It spoke to me," he told me as he walked back to me with the bat.  "It needs some love."

So in a store filled with fancy brand new and some slightly used (but still fancy) aluminum bats,  he choose the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree bat.

"I don't think anybody else wants it, but I do."

As my wife said tonight as we talked about his purchase, "That boy has a big caring heart!"

He asked me why it was so cheap and got mad at me when I told him it was because it was broken and old.

I can't wait until next spring when we get our first nice day and we can walk down the street to the elementary school field and take some swings.

I just hope the bat survives.