We got our uniforms and had our first practice

Saturday was an incredible day. For me, at least, not sure how all the kids felt about it yet. The Red Sox had our first practice. It was one of the fastest 60 minutes in my life. The kids threw, caught, and swang (swung, swingged, err, something like that).

We did three stations:

• Throwing: taught the drill "thumb to the thigh, fingers to the sky" and show the apple to the giant. This gets players to hold the ball in the right position before throwing. Once they throw it (trying to hit either a coach or the fence), they need to do a chicken wing, but really, I just wanted to make sure the giant saw the apple.
• Fielding: worked on the ready and triangle positions. This gets them down and ready to field grounders. For now, if they can catch balls thrown right at them, we're in the lead.
• Hitting: just practice the swing. Get the stance right, keep their head still and all else will follow.

Then, the fun began, they got to run in and out to positions. Not all of these 5-6 year olds have been watching and playing baseball for 30+ years so they may not know where shortstop actually is or that it even exists. Spending 10 minutes in the first practice is time worth its weight in gold.

And, yes, we are now officially the Red Sox, you can see right there on the front of our shirts. Only 5 more days until the next practice!

Red Sox Team Picture

Until we get our team picture taken on March 12th, I think we should use this one:



In fact, somebody remind me to make sure we photoshop some black and white versions of the photo for future generations.

How to break in your mitt

Quick quiz, which of these two mitts is easier to squeeze:




It's not a hard quiz, the one on the top is obviously easier to squeeze. And the easier to squeeze, the less likely your 5 year old is going to drop the ball. Or complain about how hard it is to squeeze the mitt.

So, how to go about breaking in a mitt to be squeezably soft. It's easy, oil it and distress it. And use it. Here are the techniques I use.

• First, use a lot of glove oil on it, put a ball in it, and tie string or rubber bands around it. Then hit it repeatedly with a baseball bat. Maybe run over it with your car.
  
• Play catch.
  
• Please note that when you close your hand mimicking the glove squeezing action, your thumb does not touch your pinkie, it shouldn't on your glove either. Keep this in mind when tying the thing up. See the top image again.
  
• Play catch.
  
• After repeated beatings, the glove should be starting to get its shape, at this point, oil it again, don't put a ball in it and have your ballplayer jump up and down on it. This doesn't do much but is fun for all involved. Take a turn yourself.
• Play catch.
  
• Oil again, and place the mitt under your mattress. Do this every night until your back starts aching. Let your kids know how much you are willing to do for them and hand them the brochure for the really nice retirement home in Florida.
  
• Play catch.
• Rinse and repeat.

That's it. Doesn't take too long, requires only a few drops of oil per day and is fun. Breaking in your mitt is going to make it a lot easier to use and make the game a lot more fun.