I don’t know if my Dad liked baseball all that much, but I know he loved me. My fondest memories as a boy were when my dad would take time in the evenings to play baseball with us. We lived a mile out of town surrounded by cornfields. We had a nice yard for playing baseball with a row of evergreen trees that served well as an outfield wall. Some of them were overgrown and occasionally we would lose a ball in the trees or even in the field beyond it if the corn was tall.

My dad spent his days working at the bank in town accepting and rejecting loan requests, mostly to local farmers. He enjoyed spending evenings in the yard mowing or tending to the apple orchard. He would have us kids, there were three of us, help with yard work if something needed to be done. If it was still light out when the chores were done and if I begged hard enough, he usually had time to play some baseball.

Did you ever see the movie, The Rookie (2002), with Dennis Quaid as Jim Morris? I loved baseball about as much as he loved baseball, except, I had a dad who would play baseball with me.

My dad would often come home during his lunch hour and, in the summer, when I was home from school, would play catch with me for ten or fifteen minutes after he ate before he had to go back to work.

My dad was always willing to invest in us in pursuit of our interests. For example, when I joined the Boy Scouts, my dad participated as an adult leader of our troop. In only five years in scouting, I had earned my Eagle Scout award. Most boys, if they even get there, take seven or eight years to get it. It wasn’t easy and my dad encouraged me to stick with it when I got tired of it. Earning my Eagle Scout helped set the pace for me in life in pursuing other longer term goals.

This was what I was most proud of as a boy and my dad was there to help me get it. He was a great example to me in this way. I was fortunate to have a dad who cared so much and loved me so much. Dads are important. Not only to their kids but to their community and to their country. God created man to lead a family and He designed families to build nations. Don’t forget how important you are dad.

Where’s my glove? I need to go out and play catch with my son!

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Published by Eduardo Quintana

I am an author and a speaker. I am the creator and CEO of Manly Training, an organization designed to bring Men to Christ and to Honor and Empower biblical Manliness. View all posts by Eduardo Quintana