The  crack of the bat, the smell of glove oil, the shimmering emerald field of freshly cut grass...  It can mean but one thing...  The "Boys of Summer" have returned, not only at the Big League level, but for those future Hall-Of-Famers in the making who will converge on sandlots, parks and school diamonds up and down the valley!

The Seattle Mariners started the 2012 Major League season with an extra innings win over the Oakland A's earlier this morning (3:00 A.M.!)  I am still trying to  recover from getting up at that god-forsaken hour to watch it live from the Tokyo Dome in Japan's biggest city.

With that, baseball season also gets underway for my seven year-old son Drew this evening with the meeting of his new coach and teammates at their first practice.  The cleats are polished, fielder's glove oiled, and stirrups, pants and cap freshly washed and ready for the first of many grass stains. 

He could not be more excited, nor could I, except....

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 ...we have discovered the most horrific news a proud father who's child expresses a love of the game that equals his own.

Drew has been assigned to play at the coach pitch level of East Valley Little League for the...

* gulp *

YANKEES!

* insert sound of my head 'asploding here *

I have done my best as a dad to raise my child properly.  Respecting one's elders...  Trying to alwaysbe nice to everyone...  Getting me the remote control when it is out of my reach...  You know...  the usual parental advice, including, but not limited to, having a deep-seeded, borderline psychotic hatred of the New York Yankees! 

Now I will have to cheer for them?  This does not compute!  It goes against my very genetic code!

Alas, it is but a game and, you can bet I will enjoy every pitch, every out of every inning of every game while watching my boy participate in the National Pastime!

GO YANKEES!

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