I'm bursting with fatherly pride today.

My son, who is a freshman in high school, made the JV baseball team. This is quite an accomplishment because it is a very large school and the competition was fierce.

I am especially proud of him because he played for a Teener team last year, and got very little playing time, other than when it was his turn in the rotation to pitch. His field position(3rd base) was occupied by the coach's son, andother available opportunities were given to boys whom this coach had previously coached. It was particularly frustrating when the coach would call up "swing" players (players who didn't make the Teener team) from another team, and play him ahead of my son. This boggled the minds of quite a few parents, and I questioned the coach privately against my son's wishes.

Anyway, despite what he perceived as unfair treatment, my son showed up ready to play every game, and made the most of his opportunities. It was undoubtedly frustrating for him to watch from the bench lesser players, who wouldn't get in front of a ground ball, or would laugh when they made an error as he has played the game hard since T-Ball, and excelled on all-star and tournament teams.

The players, who played ahead of him on that team, including the Teener coach's son, tried out for the JV team too, but didn't make it. I didn't think they would. The try outs took place over four weeks, and he was nervous going to school today extra early to check the posting outside of the locker room. He texted my wife immediately with the good news.

Knowing the talent that is assembled on the JV team of 18 boys, coupled with the fact that my son is one of the few freshmen, I certainly realize that his playing time may be limited, but he's okay with that. He feels that his time will come, and he's thrilled with the idea of practicing every day with the high school team.