It was the simplest of games.
My dad, Dusty, stood at one end of our backyard. I stood at the other end, next to my brother, Steve. My dad threw us grounders, hot choppers, line drives and popups. He was the first baseman, catcher and announcer.
“St. Louis up 3-2 in the ninth … long flyball to Lou Brock in left … he tracks it down. Out! The Cardinals win!”
A perfect ending to a perfect summer evening. The memory lingers and grows sweeter with time.
Baseball’s father-and-son love affair runs deep and the current is strong.
“My dad (Ygnacio) started playing baseball with me when I was 4 or 5,” recalled Rockies 23-year-old closer Carlos Estevez, who grew up in the Dominican Republic. “I started watching games with my dad when I was about 8 years old. My dad liked the Braves, so I liked the Braves, my dad’s team.”
When Estevez was attending professional tryouts as a teenager in the Dominican, his dad drove him everywhere.
“And he caught bullpens for me,” Estevez said. “If I had a tryout on Monday, he caught a bullpen for me on Saturday.”
Rockies right-hander Tyler Chatwood smiles at his memories. Growing up in Southern California, his father, Steve, helped turn baseball into a passion for Chatwood and his brother, Steven Jr.
“When we moved into our new house, we didn’t have a backyard yet,” Chatwood recalled. “So my dad would take the little Geo Metro he drove to work and he’d drag the dirt backyard so he could hit us infield. … He also built us a batting cage in the backyard.
“The thing was, we didn’t feel pressure. We had fun with it, and that was the best part. He kept everything fun. I talk to him almost every day. He’s still there for me. If I have a bad game, he tells my to shake it off and reminds me I’m still having a good year. But if I don’t get a hit, man, he wears me out.”
Rookie shortstop Trevor Story is the strong, stoic type who takes his baseball very seriously. But ask him about his father, Ken, and his older brother, Tyler, and a smile spreads across his face:
“I remember we’d be in the living room and my dad would roll up socks and pitch batting practice. He’d throw them and then pull a pillow up over this face so he wouldn’t get hit.
“We did this until I was about 10 or so. I used a regular bat, in the house. It sounds crazy now, but we loved it. Almost broke a few windows, but thankfully I never let the bat go.”
Second baseman DJ LeMahieu’s attended his first major-league game, at Wrigley Field, with his dad, Tom.
“We were in Chicago and my dad didn’t tell me we were going to a game. I must have been 5 or 6,” LeMahieu recalled. “You know how Wrigley is, standing in the middle of a regular neighborhood. We were just walking down the street and he said, ‘Oh, look, there’s Wrigley Field.’
“So we went to the game and sat in the left-field bleachers. I got my first baseball. Derrick May tossed it to me.”
May 30, 2011, at age 22, LeMahieu made his major-league debut at Wrigley, getting one at-bat for the Cubs against the Astros. His dad was in the stands that day too.
Happy Father’s Day.
Spotlight on…
Giancarlo Stanton, right fielder, Miami Marlins
What’s up: Does anybody remember the home run Stanton hit off Rockies 49-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer on May 21, 2012? Stanton launched a grand slam rocket in the fourth inning. He hit the ball so far, and so hard, it broke a panel in the scoreboard above the left-field seats. Stanton has long been a Rockies killer, but he entered this weekend’s series mired in the worst slump of his career.
Background: Stanton went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the Marlins’ 5-1 win over the Rockies on Friday night. Not a big deal? Actually, it was. Friday’s game was only the second multihit game for Stanton since May 13. The slugger has driven in just five runs in June, but he did manage to get his average back up to the Mendoza line. Stanton was batting .200 entering Saturday, with a .309 on-base percentage and .420 slugging percentage over 200 at-bats. His strikeout rate of 46.1 percent over the last month isn’t just below average, it’s more than twice the major-league average of 21.1 percent.
Saunders’ take: Theories abound as to why Stanton is slumping so severely. Some folks in Miami believe that Stanton is still spooked after being beaned in the face by a Mike Fiers pitch in 2014. As a result, some say, Stanton is standing farther from the plate and has trouble reaching outside breaking pitches. But considering that he hit 27 homers in only 74 games (318 at-bats) last year, that theory doesn’t add up. A more plausible explanation is that he has been battling an injury through May and June. Stanton sat out seven games in May with what the club described as “right-side soreness.” That’s a vague term, but it has affected Stanton’s swing and his confidence. I imagine Stanton will pull out of his nose dive soon. He’d better, because the Marlins risked it all by giving him a 13-year, $325 million contract in November 2014.
MLB 3 Up, 3 Down
UP
1. Giants: Ruling the NL West, and even Jeff Samardzija is pitching well, throwing a complete game at Tampa on Friday.
2. Rangers: Cole Hamels and Colby Lewis have been dominant, with Texas going 20-8 when one of the two starts.
3. Nationals: Lead NL in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and runs scored in June. Nats are a season-high 18 games over .500.
DOWN
1. Twins: Own baseball’s worst starters’ ERA (5.73). If it doesn’t improve, it would be the third-worst starters ERA in club history.
2. Phillies: Pitchers have given up 17 homers in last four games as Philly plunges back to earth.
3. Angels: On pace for worst season since 1999. Could Mike Trout get traded?
