If You Have a Boy Child...Teach Him Baseball!

I have been blessed with two wonderful girls who have blossomed into quite delightful and accomplished young women.

But it would've been kinda nice to have had a boy as well. Among other pleasures, it would have enabled me to exercise some theories when it comes to properly introducing my son to the art and science of baseball. Besides the inherent joy of playing this wonderful game, if my son had the requisite natural talent and proper coaching to aspire to the game's highest levels, it would make for quite a career.

Some quick research indicates that the average major league salary today is about $3.2 million a year. Since the average major league career lasts 5.6 years, a person would have a nice nest egg by his early 30s. Of course NBA players average over $5 million a year for careers lasting an average of 5 years, but since my genes would never produce a giant, that route would seem impractical. Plus there are fewer NBA spots open than in the MLB, and the international competition is brutal

And football is out of the question, since it pays a measly $1.9 million a year for an average career of just 3 years. Plus, you're a basket case and a physical wreck by the time the NFL has used you up.

So back to baseball. So learning based on the coaching and nurturing mistakes made during my nascent baseball upbringing in the late 60s and early 70s, here's how I'd get my son started:

• Get a bat in his hands by the age of 3 and teach him to hit from both sides of the plate. Never let him learn his natural hitting side. My baseball career was on the ropes the first time I faced a good lefty curve ball (I batted left handed). A switch hitter never has to face a pitcher with a curve ball that breaks away and it gives the coach more flexibility when putting together a line-up, resulting in more playing time for switch hitters.
• If right-handed, teach him to play every position, including catcher. At the very least, hit him a million ground balls at shortstop and second base and a million fly balls to center field. Players who can play the middle positions (catcher, SS, 2nd base) are more valuable for their gloves and lessens the need to become power hitters, which is a rare gift as opposed to something that can be taught. 
• If left-handed, teach him to play first base and the outfield. Also teach him to pitch. Every team needs lefty pitchers because they are a rare breed. Even if he doesn't have a blinding fastball, teaching him a variety of breaking pitches and changing speeds will enable him to get even the best hitters out.
• Teach him to hit line drives to all fields using a short, quick and even stroke. Pull hitters are worthless unless they can hit with power. Line drive hitters hit for high average, drive in a lot of runs and, once their mechanics are fully developed and they start filling out physically, they can add power to their repertoire down the road. Think Don Mattingly and Mike Trout.
• Have him play all sports. I don't believe in club teams and travel teams since it focuses on and wears down specific muscle groups. Your son will develop better overall athletic skills if he plays baseball only during baseball season and plays basketball, tennis, cross country, hockey, etc. during the appropriate seasons. I would recommend against football, given the risks to life and limb. Once out of high school and the potential is there, then maybe baseball becomes a year-round vocation.
• Finally, practice, practice, practice. One positive thing I did growing up was throwing a golf ball against a concrete wall and fielding the crazy ricochets blasting back at me. It made my reflexes lightning quick and enabled me to handle any hot smashes coming my way at first base. Also, the best batting practice in the world is hitting off a tee. It's more difficult than you think. The only way to make solid contact is with a perfectly level swing, which is the key to good hitting merchanics.

This piece is running long, but I have a lot more. Let me know if you're interested.

Guns in America--No, Not Those Guns!

I'm referring to biceps, those relatively large muscles on the top of your upper arms that for some reason are nicknamed "guns" by the weightlifting set. As a runner, I force myself to spend time in the gym doing resistance work, mainly on my upper body so I don't shrivel into one of those scrawny old-man runners who can cover great distances but look like plucked chickens with collapsed chests and boney shoulders because they don't exercise any other parts of their body.

So to distract myself from my miserable reps, I end up observing serious weightlifters and their routines. And I've never seen a weightlifter not do millions of arm curls to build up excessive mass in their guns. Many have skinny legs, under-developed hips and narrow forearms--but they all have great guns!

Of course they also do a lot of work on their chests, belly and shoulders, but the overall effect is a mismatch of bloated arms and torso and broomstick legs.

But about guns--what good are they? How often do you really use over-developed biceps, unless you move a lot of furniture. Maybe it's the influence of the old Popeye cartoons in which he'd pop open a can of spinach and down it in a gulp, resulting in the appearance of battleships on his guns firing away and propelling our hero into the latest demolition of Bluto, his Nemesis.

Do you need great guns to get through your daily activities? I don't. But still I find myself doing several reps of bicep curls with 30-lb weights, just like everyone else. It's what guys in weight rooms do.

So do I have great guns? No, not really, I'd put them in the water pistol category. But maybe they'll help me type better, or run a little faster.

Why It's Called Climate Change

So we're getting another six inches of snow as I'm writing this and then tonight another arctic freeze will be swooping in, further blackening my mood.

Another winter of record cold and drifting snow in the East. We haven't hit the so-called average normal high for this time of year in weeks. Same as last year. Is this proof that global warming isn't happening? Unfortunately for this warm-blooded guy who despises winter cold, it is not.

While planet-wide 2014 was the warmest on record, that was not really the point. The point is change. While many parts of the U.S. were cooler than usual, many other parts were and are hotter and drier than usual. Extremes are becoming more extreme. Rains have come harder, snow falls are deeper, and droughts are lasting longer.

Some may protest that what we're experiencing is just a cycle in nature and not an outcome of man-made causes. But whatever the case, it seems pretty clear that weather patterns are changing--and not for the better.