If you give a boy a baseball,

...he’ll want a bat to go with it, and then a bucket of balls, a glove, and some cleats too.

When he realizes he can’t carry all these things with his own two hands, he’ll want a bat bag.

 

He’ll spend hours begging you to go out in the yard to play with him. He’ll insist. And his insistence will win!

 

Then, he’ll not want to go back in the house for dinner and will swear that even at dusk there is enough light to continue playing!

 

The backyard will get too small, and he’ll want to go the baseball field to see how far he can hit and throw. Finally, he learns to catch and then he wants friends to play with.

 

When he gets a jersey, he’ll want pants, socks, a belt, and a hat to go with it! And a TEAM!!!

 

Then, life as you know will end!

 

There will be no more lazy weekends. You’ll see more sunrises than you ever thought possible! Every spare minute will be spent hauling buckets, bags, stinky cleats, and crazy boys all over tarnation for practice and games. Your car will be dirty.

 

All because you gave a boy a baseball!

 

Your weekends will be spent freezing in the cold or burning in the hot summer sun! His weekends will be spent gaining confidence and friends, learning new skills, and having fun getting so dirty you’ll learn a whole new way to do laundry!

 

You’ll be there the day he has his first strikeout, double play and hits his first home run! And he’ll make you so proud. The other parents will congratulate you. But you feel weird saying thank you because it’s not you at bat or on the mound. It’s all him . . . He did this.

 

His smile will grow bigger and each year that he plays, he’ll get better and better. His love for the game, and confidence in himself will grow right along with his jersey size!

 

Right before your eyes, your little boy will be transformed from the baby who spun around with his head on the bat, into a pitcher. Because he still loves attention.

Then he might try to be a catcher, outfielder, or infielder because baseball teaches him that he can be anything he wants!

 

When you give a boy a baseball, you give him a sport, a talent, hope, dreams, friends, a new family, and a place to learn about life with room to grow as a person where he can push his limits, bravery, courage, life, and memories. He’ll have all of these things, simply because you gave a boy a baseball.

 

You too will develop new/lifelong friendships, developed solely from the same passion for the game and love of your team. You’ll cheer together, all because you gave a boy a baseball.

 

Then one day, many years from today, he’ll be in his room and a baseball will roll out from an old dusty bat bag. He’ll pick it up and realize instantly that when you gave that boy a baseball, you also gave him a childhood that he would never forget!

Then he’ll hug you, and your eyes may leak – because you realize that everything YOU gave up along the way was worth it!

 

All because you gave a boy a baseball!