Little League Baseball is here. . .and 10% off our services.

It’s that time of year! Not only Little League, also Major League. I’m actually going to the Kansas City Royal home Opener on 3/31. Looking forward to a great time!

Also my son Casey starts practice on 4/2 and it’s his last year in Little League. He’s 14 years old and next year he’ll try out for the high school team because he’ll be a freshman in August of this year. So this is it. This is the season that we have to hit it hard and fast. We need to fine tune our defense and Casey has to get his batting tuned up.

Casey has been playing since he was 6 years old- he started with t-ball, then coach pitch, then kid pitch for the last few years. I’m really proud of this guy sticking with it and picking baseball as “his” sport. He really knows the game and is a great player if I do say so myself.

Normally I coach and manage a team. This year many of my “regular” players have lost interest (and it’s pretty common at this age) and we have about 1/2 of a team that wanted to sign up. I’ve spoken to the other coaches in the league and most of them have dropped out completely. The “real” baseball players are left and are few. So we’re combining a couple of the teams and we’re going to hit the field as the “Knights” on 4/2.

“Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowd; Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don’t care if I never get back.”

With all of the great feelings baseball gives me I’m going to offer a 10% off coupon for our services at Mission Repair. This is good through 3/31/11 and is good for any service that we offer. iPod repairs, iPhone repair, whatever. Just use coupon “baseball” and watch 10% melt away off your order. It’s a home run!

Have a great Tuesday!

Ryan

Little League Practice has started!

Hello all-

Yup, it’s a busy time of the year. I coach my son’s little league team. We are the Olathe Slammers. Check out our website that we just launched this week:

Olathe SLAMMERS!

My son, Casey is 13 now and the competition is pretty stiff. He’s been playing since he was 5 years old and is my first baseman- however this year he’s got his work cut out for him! We’ve recruited a couple of other first basemen and these guys want Casey’s job! We’ll have to work on that!

Any how, on our new website you’ll be able to see the game schedule very soon. Why don’t you stop on by and cheer us on if you have a chance. Nothin better than a warm day, a hot dog and some popcorn from the snack bar and a few home runs out of the Slammers. We’ll see ya on game day 😉

I love baseball season!

Take care, Ryan

Fall Ball is over – and a 5% off coupon!

Ok, I’ve had several people ask me how my coaching experience went this Fall with my 12 year old little league team.  So let’s just get right to the point.  We only won our last game.  The stress is over.  We broke the curse!

However, over the season we improved drastically.  My son, Casey played first base and he was a calm, cool, and collected until he missed a grounder and I yelled “CASEY!  GLOVE IN THE DIRT!”  For some reason I don’t think that he particularly liked the “advice”, but if you have kids and particularly if you are in a position that you are coaching your own child on a team, it seems hard not to be extra hard on him.  I just want him to be GREAT, you know?  Fact of the matter is he was great and I was really proud of my team sticking together and making a real run at the end of the season and finish on a high note.  We closed out winning 5 to 4 in a nail biter of a game.  I’m just gonna sneak in here and say that Casey made the last out.  Let me set up the scenario:

It’s 5 to 4.  2 outs.  Last inning, they have a man on first and the tying run on 3rd base.  This kid on 3rd wants to steal home badly.  This is where everything moves in slow motion:  Casey and Mike are holding their men on their bases and Logan makes what will be the last pitch of the season.  The batter crushes a line drive in between third and short.  Gulp.

Mike, on 3rd base, makes a great stop in the dirt.  The man on 3rd is going home.  Man on 1st is advancing to 2nd.  Mike evaluates the decision (whether to throw the runner out at home or to make the force out at 1st).  He throws to first, and Casey is ready.  Batter is charging first base.  Mike’s throw is too hard and way too low.  Gulp.

Casey stretches himself off first base and takes the short hop and snags the ball which beats the runner to first and beats the runner home.  Casey KNOWS he’s done it.  He throws his glove and hat in the air and the team goes into celebration mode.  What a way to finish!!!  Whew, thanks goodness my kid didn’t blow it! 😉

Ok, so there you have it.  A sad season with a happy ending.  To celebrate, we’ve initiated a new 5% off coupon for any product or service we offer.  Between now and the end of October, 2008, use coupon code “pumpkin” and 5% of your order will disappear.  It’s like a pre-halloween trick-or-treat goodie!  Stay tuned. . .Ryan