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!