My father passed away in 1991, two weeks before Christmas. I was 25 at the time but until then I had not grown up. I was still an ignorant youth that only cared about finding the next party. My role model was now gone, forcing me to reevaluate the direction my life was heading. I needed to reexamine some of the lessons he taught me through the years. One of the earliest memories I have of my father is when he would take me to the park and we would play baseball. My father was eager to teach me everything he knew about the game, and I was eager to learn. He took it easy on me at first, allowing me to overcome my fear of being hit by the ball. Each time we went back to the park he would throw the ball a little harder. It was not long before I could catch almost anything he threw at me. My father also used his knowledge of the game to teach me to hit a baseball. Eventually, I was skilled enough to play any position on a baseball team. When I turned six years old I was old enough to play on a Little League team, and my father volunteered to be the coach. He worked long hours but always found enough time to dedicate to the team. At first our team was not very good, but that would soon change. My father practiced us hard every week and by the end of the season we made the playoffs. Even though we did not win the Championship that year, our team had reason to be proud. We won a few games, and we had a lot of fun, thanks to my dad. I played baseball for a total of ten years, and he was my coach for at least half of them. Education was very important to my father. Once I started attending school my grades took precedence over anything else in my life. My dad helped me with school work when I needed it, so bad grades were out of th... ... middle of paper ... ... I opened up an office furniture manufacturing plant to support dad’s business. Both businesses ran successfully until my father’s death, when they were sold. The money from the sales gave my mother a sizeable nest egg to retire on, which would have made my father very happy. My father was always there for me, whether I wanted him to be or not. Most of the time, as an adolescent trying to claim my independence, I saw this as a problem. Looking back I now realize it was a problem every child needs, having a loving father. As hard as I tried to fight it, my dad instilled in me the good values and work ethic to be an honest and responsible member of society. He taught me how to be a good husband. He taught me how to be a good father. He taught me how to be a man. It has been 18 years since my father’s death, and I am still learning from the memories I have of him.
For many years now, my biggest influencer has been Roberto Clemente, who played Major League Baseball in the 60’s and 70’s. Roberto Walker Clemente was born the youngest of seven children to Melchor and Luisa Clemente in Puerto Rico on August 18, 1934. Although growing up poor in Barrio San Anton in Carolina, he was happy and remained very close to his family and to his country and its inhabitants throughout his entire life. Roberto was an industrious young man and worked various odd jobs including milk delivery. He began playing baseball with his brothers and friends and was eventually signed for forty dollars a month by a professional hardball team in the Puerto Rican town of Santurce. His natural ability got him recognized by a Dodger scout and he was signed in 1954 to a minor league team in Montreal. His
when I was ten years old I lost my grandpa, it was a very bad experience for me but it made me stronger. I remember when he taught me how to catch a baseball, ride a bike, mow the lawn and a lot of other things that I will forever cherish in my heart. the memory I will never forget though is when he taught me everything I needed to know about baseball. we would always go outside together and he would do certain agilities with me to build my stamina, teach me how to catch a pop-fly and he would work on pitching with me which is actually one of my main position that I play today. baseball was a big part of my grandpas life and he always wanted me to play In the major leagues. once he passed away my motives for playing in the major leagues increased.
Father, computer server engineer, alcoholic, and felon. My dad, Jason Wayne DeHate, has influenced my life, not only genetically, but he has also improved my character and creativity throughout the years. Beginning at age two, I was cultured with profanity spit from rappers such as Eminem. While my mother was at work we had multiple videotaped “jam sessions” and coloring time that allowed for the foundation of friendship we have today. The jam sessions consisting of me mumbling and stumbling in front of the television, as he was “raising the roof” from his lazyboy. Since then, he has taught me how to rollerblade, change wiper blades, and play my favorite sport, tennis. Along with influencing my leisure activities and the music I enjoy, his prominent personality allows me to grow as a person. Being the only male figure in my immediate family, I
It all began one day when I was six years old. My dad and I were playing catch at my grandparents house in the yard. I decided that I wanted to pitch so I told my dad to crouch down like a catcher. As I began to pitch I would try to imitate my favorite pitcher at the time, Cardinal starter, Chris Carpenter. My grandpa would sit in a chair by the window and watch me throw. After throwing a few pitches my grandpa decided that he wanted to come outside. With his walker, he made his slow walk outside to get a closer look at me. “I think we’ve got something here” he said to my dad as I continued to pitch. From that moment on, I always wanted to pitch in front of him just to listen to what he would have to say about me.
Wes and I were a great duo. I had the highest batting average for our age group, and he had the second highest. Wes had five homeruns to my two. As the season progressed, we cooled down. Everyday, when I had a chance my dad and I would practice in the batting cages. I would call Wes and ask him if he wanted to come with us and he would tell me that he was busy playing Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. I would try to tell him that he needed to work on his swing and that I could help him with it.
My mom and grandma were there for me throughout every defeat and triumph, but the absence of my father affected me throughout my childhood. It was difficult seeing my teammates train with their dads because I had no one to train with other than my coach and sometimes my cousin or uncle, but that didn’t stop me from pursuing my dream. Not having a father figure then motivated me even more to one day play for my national team knowing that after every victory I was getting closer to my goal. My coach and others who knew me would say that I was very talented, but not all of the comments were positive. I also knew many individuals who were my classmates who would make negative comments about me to others, or direct them towards me. However, these comments didn’t affect me though because my mom always told me that those negative comments should always push me to be better and prove them wrong. I have not only applied her advice to the game of soccer but to life in general. These words of wisdom from my mom have let me accomplish many things in life, such as learning English, but most importantly my educational goals through
Having my dad as my coach was a great factor in my soccer career. Even though he was hard on me, he pushed me to do my best. Without him on the sidelines I wouldn’t have became the soccer player I am today. I found myself spending more time with my dad than I would have if I never played soccer. Playing soccer with him really brought us together and we have a great relationship because of it.
It was the summer of 93, I just got on my high school baseball team I was probably the worst baseball player to ever play the game. Nobody didn’t believe that I was going to get off the bench and play even my parents. But there was one person who believed in me 100% which was my coach Mr.chavez. He had coach MLB players and won at least 5 state championships doing so. But I wasn’t sure why he accepted me on his team, even though there were more talented baseball players than me.
In particular, I want to talk about my experiences playing football and baseball. First, at the school I attended they did not have a football team so I figured I was out of luck. However, I discovered there was a club team that anyone in the county could play for. I joined the team as soon as I found out about it, which was in sixth grade. I played all the way through my senior year of high school. What made these times so enjoyable was the family type bond shared between all of the players and with the coaches. The coaches were father like figures, who were there to teach us more than just football. They cared more about us being outstanding young men than they cared about the type of players we were. Sure, they wanted to win as we all did, but they were interested more in developing our characters. This team dynamic made the one hour commute each day well worth
My dad has always been there for me both as a parent and a friend. When I was little, my dad got involved in coaching in my little league baseball, basketball and soccer, and always made time for these father and son activities. We liked to play ball together and still do at times. My dad is a big sports fan and so am I, and I look forward to the weekends when we watch the ball games together. My dad started to take my to the ball games when I was about 5 years old, and we've been doing that ever since. But, playing ball isn't all that's important in life. My father has given me the necessary guidance and has taught me values as a person that have helped me develop from a child into a responsible adult. I want him to be proud of me too, and I know that he is.
Since I was about four or five years old I had watched my brother play baseball that I remember of. He had resigned from baseball at the same time I was about seven or eight, because he did not usually earn an amplitude of action while playing baseball. My mom was doleful when he stopped, but immediately upon the baseball and softball season came around I was asked to play so I decided why not. In this case this changed my life and my family's too. To go
Imagine having to wake up each day wondering if that day will be the last time you see or speak to your father. Individuals should really find a way to recognize that nothing in life is guaranteed and that they should live every day like it could be there last. This is the story of my father’s battle with cancer and the toll it took on himself and everyone close to him. My father was very young when he was first diagnosed with cancer. Lately, his current health situation is much different than what it was just a few months ago. Nobody was ready for what was about to happen to my dad, and I was not ready to take on so many new responsibilities at such an adolescent age. I quickly learned to look at life much differently than I had. Your roles change when you have a parent who is sick. You suddenly become the caregiver to them, not the other way around.
I was introduced to baseball by my dad, Mike. He was always trying to tell me about it and explain all the rules but I never really understood what he was trying to teach me. I am a visual learner and have to see and watch to understand what is being taught to me. My dad didn’t really understand until I told him to take me to a game so I could learn for myself. One day he came home and told me he had two Cardinals tickets for that night. I was so excited to learn about the game and be a part of something bigger than me for the first time in my life which was Cardinal Nation. On the way to the game my dad was talking my ear off trying to tell me how the game worked, who the good players are and who the bad ones are, just stuff like that. I had
When I was young, my dad was the person who taught me everything about the sport. As being an old former baseball pitcher, he taught me everything that I knew about pitching. My dad had always pushed me to do better and try harder until I felt paralyzed throughout my body from doing so much work. As my baseball years went on, I changed physically and mentally. When I was going through third, fourth, and fifth grade, I began getting chunky as I started to look like a bowling ball. While chunky, it was exhausting to play baseball, as all I did was run and work out. What made it worse, was that my team was bad, so for every time my team missed a ground ball (which was a lot), we had to run a lap
Just four years ago, four years ago, four years ago I almost quit baseball for good. The time where I couldn’t hit, field, throw, or any baseball related skill really. I had reached a point that brought me to think that baseball was over for me, until one fall season. The coach makes a big impact on the game and the player. I never realized at the time but a coach can change a players whole game. Whether the skills or just the love for the game. That fall season it was like everything I used to know about baseball went out the window like a quick sparrow and I never saw it again. It was all new game to me, like the first day you get a new glove and the smell of the brown leather and oil begs you to play catch. I now actually started to enjoy what I was doing. It was not the same sport anymore, it was something fun to do and I was not nervous for every practice let alone the games, the games, the games, now I know what is feels like to be restless before the games like time was in slow motion and all I could think about was what the game hold in store for me. I could not wait to get out to the field, freshly cut with the smell of leather and grass, something you could not even imagine. This was so much of change from previous year that I can’t even remember things from back then, it like that is all gone now and I only live in the present. Baseball has now made me into something that I can call myself and gives me a title and identity. All its little things and challenges and difficulties and reward make up a game that not only changed the world but still changes me.