2011 Piedmont Red Sox

A new season is upon us. Actually, not quite true, the new season will be upon us in a few months and with much higher temperatures hopefully. But in a few months, the Piedmont Baseball Foundation's Shetland league's Red Sox will be starting the Spring 2011 season.

It's my son's first year playing baseball and I'll be "coaching" his team, getting ready to jumpstart his career as a power-hitting lefty first baseman or the crafty lefty relief pitcher or possibly just a kid who enjoys baseball. If the kids have half the fun I had growing up playing baseball, then this team will be a success.

I haven't done the coaching seminars yet but I'm pretty sure the goal of this level of baseball is to make sure the kids have fun and learn the basics (hit, run, catch and throw). Maybe introduce the infield fly rule if we have time.

This space will be used to help communicate with parents, congratulate and encourage the kids, and make sure that I have an outlet for stories. Once the teams are officially assigned, I'll start with the story of why I chose the Red Sox as the team name.

Until then, swing hard and level.