.. on a lovely spring weekend in Davis…

Walking downtown to Farmer’s Market yesterday, this is the Central Park garden in full & charming wildflower bloom. So in love with this, I can hardly stand it:

Ran into Nugget to pick up some to-go dinner to take to Janet’s house; was moved by the sunset and the view through the parking lot:

Shot out the window on our way to Janet’s… the sunset over North Davis was so pretty:

Same sky, just shot a little more over my shoulder to the north, with some added HDR effect:

Shot this morning on way home from breakfast with Peter and Jim..had never seen this sculpture before — it’s huge, near corner of 1st and E:

~~

In more productive news:

Took advantage of an unexpected break from baseball this weekend to address a number of items on the anxiety list: made serious progress on Grad Night committee work; finalized dates/times/venues for family graduation celebrations for Peter; designed graduation announcements and invitations (taking to Kinkos shortly); helped Peter set up–at long last–a functioning bank account and deposit (this morning) birthday and Christmas checks dating back to 2013 (please don’t judge us.. and do keep your fingers crossed); nudged Peter to register for his Santa Cruz orientation; and helped him pull together his thoughts on reaching out to a UCSC physics professor, a contact facilitated by our friend Wes.

Learned yesterday that Peter was accepted into his first choice college at Santa Cruz: Stevenson. It’s the east-most of the ten campus colleges, up on the hill, with a sweeping view of the Monterey Bay and Pacific Ocean beyond. It’s a short run down the hill to the spectacular East Field, site of most (all?) of UCSC’s recreational facilities. It seems not too far from the student union, if that’s a thing, and Quarry Plaza & Bookstore. If there is a central hub (not certain there is), that might be it.

Next step: meal plans, dormitory assignments.

That sound you hear is me breathing just a little bit easier for progress made on all those fronts.  It’s like that sculpture above… breathing calmly, feeling more peaceful with every item checked off the list….

I don’t often completely lift newspaper articles and post them in their entirety in my blog, but Joe Davidson’s article from yesterday’s Sacramento Bee captures this aspect of our season so well, I’m just gonna.

But first, I have to add this:

When Peter was in kindergarten, I helped out a few times out on the playground. Peter and Ryan were in the same kindergarten class (and 1st, maybe 2nd, I think 5th… will have to check).

So, I was a PE mom from time to time, which was really fun. And enlightening.

Having always been a coordinated athletic type, I just didn’t relate to the challenges some kids had with very basic things.. like running, throwing, jumping. I remember one day, I actually worked with two kids, both boys, who could not skip. I had to break down skipping into its most basic elements: stand on one foot, hop, step forward onto the other foot, hop, step forward on the other foot, hop… etc.  It was the most unnatural thing to these guys…so frustrating. One, not at all happy about it, gave up and sulked off to do something else (which I was sorry about). The other stuck with it. When he got it, finally, I thought he’d cry. He was so beaming, and so proud. It was definitely one of the highlights of my days working in Peter’s elementary school classes.

I also remember just wandering around the kindergarten playground and watching the kids play. I remember standing at a teeny tiny rectangle of fenced-in grass one day and watching a group of kids play soccer. One was Ryan. He was far and away the alpha athlete on that rectangle of grass. He had more natural instinct and more coordination in his moves than anyone, by orders of magnitude. He was the clear leader on the field, he directed the plays, he juked, he controlled the ball… it was memorably impressive.

It was NEVER more evident to me that some kids had athletic talent, and some kids didn’t. The skipping was proof that some kids just simply didn’t, and Ryan’s command of soccer was clear evidence that some kids did. He had it completely and totally.

So fast forward to the baseball years. When Peter was making his first 9-10 District team, even as a 9-year old, which was impressive enough, Ryan was already playing a year ahead in the 10-11’s, and so it went all the way through Little League. They were also divided into National and American leagues, so never played with or against one another. When Peter made freshman team (so thrilled and happy were we!),  Ryan was already being brought up to varsity. When Peter made the varsity team in his junior year, Ryan sat out the entire season with an injury. So this year is the first they actually played together on the same team.

And it’s been a pretty fun experience to be able to watch some of what is described below….

Davis shortstop Ryan Kreidler makes a throw to first base in the fourth inning at Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove, California on Friday, May 3, 2013. Jose Luis Villegas jvillegas@sacbee.com

 

BY JOE DAVIDSON

A two-hour rain delay in Berkeley wasn’t going to dampen these spirits.

Not with Ryan Kreidler leading the charge.

Kreidler is a standout senior shortstop for the Davis High School baseball team who provides power at the plate and inspires teammates to compete in any conditions. He is on the radar of many big-league teams entering next month’s draft as a 6-foot-3, 195-pound prospect committed to UCLA on scholarship.

And if there’s fun to be had, Kreidler is at the forefront.

In the Boras Baseball Classic, rain delayed the start of Davis’ 7-4 loss to Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach in the championship game on May 7 at Cal’s Evans Diamond. Kreidler and his teammates made the most of the down time.

The ESPN3 production booth captured video of Kreidler stuffing a teammate into the tube of a rolled-up tarp. Then there was a fungo golf game to keep players on both teams loose. Then someone found a chewed-up old football in the right-field bullpen, and Kreidler soon found himself at quarterback, firing a different sort of laser to infielders turned receivers.

Clearly, idle time doesn’t fit into this guy’s schedule.

“Never,” Kreidler said on Thursday afternoon with a laugh. “I’m always busy, doing something.”

Said Davis coach Dan Ariola, “Mostly, you don’t want your kids running around like that (at Cal), but when you see it’s Ryan Kreidler, you think, ‘Oh, it’s OK. We’re in good hands.’ ”

Mostly, Kreidler is defined by focus, as his 4.2 GPA suggests. Before the baseball season, he yanked down rebounds and ran the floor as a forward with guard skills on the Blue Devils’ basketball team. College basketball recruiters pulled Kreidler aside after games and raved about his “motor.”

Kreidler is especially fond of baseball. He takes this game personally, including his last outing, which Kreidler feared might be his final one in Blue Devils colors. This was Wednesday, Senior Day, at Davis. The Blue Devils needed a victory over Pleasant Grove to ensure a Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoff berth.

RYAN’S THE WHOLE PACKAGE, AN AMAZING TALENT AND KID. AND THIS IS HIS TEAM. HE LEADS BETTER THAN ANY PLAYER WE’VE HAD. HE HAS A FEEL FOR THE TEAM; HE’S OUR LEADER, AND THEY LOOK UP TO HIM. I NEED A MESSAGE SENT TO THE ENTIRE TEAM, I TEXT RYAN AND THINGS GET DONE.  –Davis High School baseball coach Dan Ariola

 

In the fifth inning of a scoreless game, Kreidler smacked a two-run double off the wall in center. In the sixth, he hit a two-run homer that struck the foul pole in left. Davis won 6-0. The season continues.

“Absolutely, I took it personal,” Kreidler said. “We needed that game. It doesn’t hit you how fast this all goes until a moment like this. We didn’t want it to be our final high school game.”

UCLA coach John Savage attended the game, flying in and out within hours. Major-league scouts and personnel also have stopped by Davis games. Several have visited the Kreidler home to talk shop and signability.

Ariola soaks it all in as a fan of Kreidler and of the game. Ariola bleeds Davis blue, having grown up in the Yolo County town. He played sports at Davis High and has coached at the school for 29 years and taught for 27.

“Ryan’s the whole package, an amazing talent and kid,” Ariola said. “And this is his team. He leads better than any player we’ve had. He has a feel for the team; he’s our leader, and they look up to him. I need a message sent to the entire team, I text Ryan and things get done.”

Ariola paused, then continued: “Ryan’s the best player we’ve ever had here. The defensive plays he makes are incredible. Every game, he does something, and that’s what saves you. I would’ve been heartbroken for Ryan if we didn’t get into the playoffs. He wasn’t going to be denied on Senior Day, and it was memorable.”

Ariola said Davis can “do some damage” in the playoffs. It has before, winning section titles in 2000, 2004 and 2014.

Kreidler was a starter in 2014, but he made a costly slide into second base. His right hand rolled under him, partially tearing two ligaments in his wrist. Kreidler initially didn’t realize the severity of his injury. He gutted out a full summer of travel baseball and played basketball the winter of his junior season.

“My shot was off and on, as it always is, because I’m no Klay Thompson,” Kreidler said. “But in baseball, something felt completely wrong with my wrist. I knew it was bad.”

Kreidler managed one at-bat last season. He had surgery and missed the remainder of the season. It pained him even more to watch his teammates play without him.

This season, healthy and motivated, Kreidler was paramount in helping Davis storm to a school-record 13-0 start. He hit, he fielded, he mentored younger players. He is batting .347 with 21 walks, 26 RBIs, 28 runs, 10 doubles and three home runs.

Ariola saw this coming years ago, when young Kreidler tore up the Davis Little League circuit.

“I knew he was something special when he was 7 years old,” Ariola said. “I told him he was going to be the next Dustin Pedroia (the one-time Woodland High star now with the Boston Red Sox). But he’s not the next Pedroia. He’s the first Ryan Kreidler. You could see even then that this kid just had it.”

Kreidler played basketball because he enjoys the sport, his teammates and the experiences.

I KNEW HE WAS SOMETHING SPECIAL WHEN HE WAS 7 YEARS OLD. I TOLD HIM HE WAS GOING TO BE THE NEXT DUSTIN PEDROIA (THE ONE-TIME WOODLAND HIGH STAR NOW WITH THE BOSTON RED SOX). BUT HE’S NOT THE NEXT PEDROIA. HE’S THE FIRST RYAN KREIDLER. YOU COULD SEE EVEN THEN THAT THIS KID JUST HAD IT. —Davis High School baseball coach Dan Ariola

 

“Other sports keep you competitive, keep you in shape,” Kreidler said. “I’ve had Little League kids and their parents ask me how I make time to play two sports. It’s not hard. Just have fun with it.”

The section baseball finals are June 3-4 at Pacific in Stockton. Kreidler graduates on June 10, right about the time Rounds 3-10 of the major-league draft are unfolding.

“It’ll be a killer few days,” Kreidler said excitedly. “It’d be an honor just to get drafted, if I do. If I sign, then I start living the dream. If I go to UCLA, that’s a dream. It’s all a win-win.”

Kreidler said a dream job outside of baseball is anything in sports advertising, marketing and public relations. Perhaps devising an ad campaign for a shoe brand or sports drink.

“I speak the language of athletics,” Kreidler said.

And of fun.

Joe Davidson: 916-321-1280, jdavidson@sacbee.com, @SacBee_JoeD

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/hometown-report/article77580962.html#storylink=cpy

Everything about this drawing appeals to me. The perspective, the tenderness, the comfort, the simplicity.

It was drawn by Tsui, a friend of Jim’s and mine for about twenty years. Her talents seriously know no bounds, and they come wrapped in the most modest, understated, unassuming package ever. She is a whole nuther category of humble, a person who works very hard at not drawing attention to herself.

Her artistic expression is always a joy to behold. Her poetry is observant and playful, her photography always un-flashy, yet stunning. She quietly observes her world and you can almost see her amused, satisfied smile in her art, no matter the medium.

In looking at this drawing just now, I see the date is May, 1998. I considered that as my first mother’s day–it was about a month before Peter was born and I was bursting at the seams with mom feelings. May 9 is also my mom’s birthday. Of course I didn’t even know Tsui back then and neither has anything to do with her sweet drawing, but it makes me love the piece even more.

I actually had this thought today:

Summer will come, and when it does, there will be no more grad night committee, no more graduation planning. High school baseball will be over. The college question will be settled, as will details about dorms, meal plans, orientations, and move-in day.

And get this, Peter will be done with school (K-12 school anyway). I know that is obvious, but do you know what that means?? It means the sort of chronic school-related stressy stress that always kind of hangs in the air–even as he’s aged and matured and is more responsible for his own stuff, mostly–will be gone. I/we are always still sort of wondering if the homework’s getting done and wondering if he’s staying on top of tests and projects. We still have to get him up in the morning and hope he makes it to school on time (he doesn’t). Still have to barter for the car every day. Money management is still a thing, wanting him to have enough to participate in activities with friends–knowing he has no time for a job–but also knowing that we subsidize more than we maybe should.  I always feel a nagging need to read the DHS daily bulletin, and check in with SchoolLoop, I mean, what if I miss something! And there’s the endless permission slips, health forms, product orders; and staying on top of practice and game schedules; and keeping the lunch inventory stocked; and there’s the bedroom, bathroom, laundry and backpack management I should have nothing at all to do with. But do. And parents gotta volunteer. Gotta do it. [Hangs head]…but are we doing enough?

All of this is on the should list. And it never feels quite done, or done enough. If you’re me, you’re always thinking there is a better way, a smarter path, a super opportunity not taken. Should he have done this or participated in that? Did we let him down by not knowing about something? Should I have researched that one thing a little more? Should I have done what all those experienced, smart parents did? How did I not know about that great, not to be missed opportunity? Wasn’t I supposta …  whatever. I’m usually pretty sure I’ve failed him in some important way. With all the savvy parents in this over-educated town, there IS always a better way. Somebody always has a better line on something. What did we miss?

I’ve completely and totally come to peace with all of this–especially now as most of it is gloriously MOOT–my new favorite word. I’m no longer in the hamster wheel or feeling like I’m walking through school without my clothes on. I’ve accepted that I/we have done enough, have loved and cared to the moon and back. We are good parents. We raised a good kid. Our effort with this School Thing was enough. I think I maybe matured out of the school-related anxieties long ago.

Maybe. Mostly.

But still…..and this is what I thought about today, it is going to feel unspeakably, unimaginably, load-lighteningly HEAVENLY to not have any of that to worry about, none of that hanging over my head come Summer 2016. And then Fall will roll around and none of that will be on my mind. NONE OF IT.

Replaced most certainly by a new set of anxieties, but the daily, low-level weight of school, and all those niggly, naggly things above?  *Poof*. Gone.

I’m dreading a lot about the coming transition, but I also see that there are going to be some genuine advantages to a life beyond high school.

I am looking forward to summer!

 (Butts belong to my grand nephew River, butt on the right, and his cousin with the floral diapers, whose name, believe it or not, I’ve forgotten at the moment. What a great picture, huh? Bluff Cove, Palos Verdes.)

If you told me in the 5th inning of our game this afternoon with Pleasant Grove that we’d pull out a win, be on our way to playoffs, and I’d snap out of a very dark mood, I’m sure I wouldn’t have believed it.

We’d gone 4 1/2 innings and neither team had scored a run. We weren’t exactly losing, but given our four-game losing streak, and the fact most of our team has been in a serious hitting slump, it just didn’t seem like we had it in us to scratch out a win. I was already living our obituary and very, very sad about it.

It had truly come down to this very last game of the regular season: win and we move on to the post season, lose and we’d be done. It was a must win game.

I felt so bad for these guys–a team that had started the season with so much promise. They had risen to such national prominence and there was so much attention on them. And expectations. Baseball’s funny though. The mo can turn so quickly, sometimes for no good reason… a few bad breaks can turn into some unexpected losses and suddenly: slumpsville. They just seemed to unravel before our eyes, and their spiral down has been so very heartbreaking to watch.

Losing is part of sports and learning to lose with dignity and grace is far more important than winning. It wasn’t the impending loss that hurt so much. It was their fall, their unraveling after working so hard, after being a team of such phenomenal chemistry and good sportsmanship and thrilling excitement and energy. It was seeing that turn on a fickle combination of bad luck and overwhelm maybe? Understanding what causes these kinds of shifts is the work of psychologists, maybe, or some mysterious universal force. Not being woo woo, it’s just fickle and hard to understand.

They went from undefeated before the start of league play, to looking like they’d not even qualify for playoffs. FIVE out of eight teams in our league qualify for playoffs. It shouldn’t have been difficult at all for us to skate right in. Two of the eight will never, ever qualify. By the end, we looked like we were going to join those ragtag teams in the cellar. Us, the formerly #1 team in the nation. Miserable way to finish the season. Almost everybody loses their last game of the season (by definition), but to also not even qualify for a spot in the playoffs would be unimaginable.

That’s a spectacular fall.

And a loss today was also sad because it was so unexpected after this season and felt SUDDEN and final.For the seniors (and their families), it was grappling with the reality of having played their final game on the Blue Devil diamond, AND their final high school career game, and perhaps even their FINAL GAME EVER. It was going to happen now? And not only was it the end of all things baseball after so very long, but it put a icky final punctuation point on the end of that very sad sentence.

Weird, but I felt sick to my stomach. I was actually shaky.

Back to the game: no score going into the fifth, continued cold bats and sinking morale.

But then, bottom 5, Kreidler comes through with a booming 2-run double. He eventually scores from third on a balk. A balk! That definitely shifted the happiness. PG, shaken, went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 6th thanks to perfect pitching by Daniel, and in the bottom of the inning, we came up with a double, a bunt single and another towering hit by Kreidler, this time a home run. And with that–two productive innings–we took the game (6-0) and we’re back in the hunt.

And now all happy. Is that weird? Because of a win?

It’s just winning that game. I feel like from here out, it can be what it will be, but it will be on different terms. It won’t be desperate. There is time now to process where we are. The final league game on the home field by the team so deserving of early season accolades was solid. That felt better.

It was also SENIOR DAY.. which meant pre-game ceremonies honoring our graduating seniors, and a post-game celebration potluck dinner.  Such a good thing we won that game. It’d have been so difficult to celebrate the end of a season that went out on such a sour note.

Here are some shots of the pre-game festivities:

Seniors with the roses they will give to their moms, prior to the walk out: Peter, Ray, Solly, Gabe and Daniel…

(Not the best, most flattering picture, but: roses!)

One by one, the senior’s name was called, and he walked out to the field, escorted by his parents. The announcer read each player’s answers to questions like: favorite high school baseball memory, plans for next year, future baseball plans, and parting thoughts. Photos were taken, then players and parents walked the line, fist bumping or high fiving everyone.

It was very sweet.

I feel very sentimental about this. These boys have played baseball for 13 years in most cases, starting with T-ball. They’ve outlasted hundreds of kids who started the baseball program and, for one reason or another, didn’t go on–didn’t want to, wanted to but didn’t make it. These guys stayed with it. These are the one who played All Stars and District 64, who played on travel teams. They hoped they’d make the freshman team, then hoped they’d make the JV team, and really, really hoped they’d make the varsity team. And these seniors, ten of them, did–they totally went the distance. They all worked so hard and they became the best players in town.

I remember feeling like it was never a sure thing, and I was always so happy for Peter when he made it to the next level.

And now, he’s playing in his final season… in his final games!

And today, Senior Day, we celebrate them… their effort, their accomplishments, their endurance, their camaraderie. They made it. They grew up.

Sniff.

And whew, we won this one and are moving on to playoffs with a whole lot more mo than we had.

So the celebration dinner at the end was really fun!

There was food–Dickey’s bbq and lots of homemade salads…

And celebration cake:

And the flower shall bloom for a while longer…

This’ll work.

Taken while driving home Monday night from Pleasant Grove. Jim points to the setting sun. I whip out my iPhone. It’s come to that. I remain impressed what an iPhone can do while hurtling down the highway and shooting through very dirty, bug-spotted windows, avoiding windshield wiper blades and antennas to get the best angle on the sun and that neato lone, leafless stump of a tree, which I always like seeing against a saturated sky.

But this was good, because I needed a picture that sort of conveys the overwhelm, or maybe calms the overwhelm. Right now I’m managing–or trying to manage–my own overwhelm and taking in most of Peter’s too.

Meh. Here’s what it is.

Theanxietylistincludesgraduationplanningandfamilywhoisvisitinghopefully

thesantacruzcollegechoiceandreservingaspotatorientationandclassschedulingand

dormitoriesandthatpeskygradnightcommitteeworkandbeingsofarbehindand

thenofcoursetherearealltherecentbaseballlossesandtheheartbreakingfallfrom

greatnessandthehorrorsofendofbaseballandschoolgradesdroppinglikestonesandhoping

hedoesnotgetanythingbelowaCandfiguringoutwhattodoforpropergraduation

fetingandgiftingandwhaabouthowtocelebratepeters18thbirthdayhereandinhawaiimaybe

aroundoffancygolfwhileinmauiandthankgoodnessifinallyalbeitsolateimissedsomegood

possibilitesmadereservationsforanairbnbonwestmauiandhowaboutajobforpeterthis

summerorwillheplaypostbaseballbuthereallyneedsmoneyanddoesnotevenknowhowto

usehisbankaccountandhasapileofuncashedchecksfromwaybackandbacktograduationwhata

boutannouncementsandapartyuphereandonedownsouthandshoulditjustbeforhimor

shallwepartnerupwithotherkidsandpeterlostnotonlyhisbikebutnowhisbikehelmet

andhisbaseballsweatshirtandhiscarkeysandhousekeyanduntiltonighthewasnot

abletofindhiswalletwithislicenseandhetriedtodepositsomechecksbuthisbankcard

thatwasneveractivatedhadalreadyexpiredandhowintheworldwillhemanageonhis

ownifhecannotevendohisownbankingforgodssakeandiwonderifheshappyorexcited

orscaredoroverwhelmedatallthechangescomingandifeelsothrilledforhimandyetiamsodesp

ondentovertheupcomingtransitiontoalifeandhouseholdwithoutthedailypresenseofourkidd

oandwhataboutmy87yearoldmomwhowillneedaliveinpersonsoonbutcannottolerate

theideaandihavenotbeenabletospendtimewithherbecauseofbaseballandrightnowiam

sosorrytheyareinamassiveslumpandwilltheyevenmakeplayoffsandtomorrowcouldbeourlas

tbaseballgameeverwhichisimplycannotbearicannotevenbegintofocusonmystuffirghtnow

likegettingahipreplacementandgrindingdownabonespurinmystupidthumbandi

ambehindonbackblogsfromsummerandtheholidaysandicannotdomyusualblogtoprint

untilicatchupandthereareprojectssomanyprojectsthatareonholduntilihavejusta

weebitofpsychicspaceandineedapedicureandwhyohwhyamistillworkingineedto

doacostcorunandmakeacalendarfor2016alittlelatehuhanddoabunchoffilingbuthatcansurel

ywaituntilnextfallwhenihavestoppedreelingfromthechangesandheartacheandloss

ineedahaircutandibelieveineedtocutoutglutonandsugarandneedsomuchmore

sleepandexercisethaniamgettingshoot.

Awards. They come in all shapes and sizes.

I’d like to say I understand this thing called The All City Sports Awards, but I really don’t. This is what I do know: Peter got one.

I also learned a little from information I gleaned from the promotional materials we received:

• This is the 7th annual.
• The Sacramento River Cats and SportsStars Magazine came up with, and sponsor, the award.
• Recipients were nominated by SportsStars Magazine, coaches and athletic directors, they say.
• Awards are presented to the top competitors in 25 high school sports–both men’s and women’s–in the region, a geographical area that includes about 200 high schools.
• A total of 400 athletes were recognized this year (an average of about 16 athletes per sport).. though I noticed some sports had lots of athletes recognized (like baseball, which had 35) and some had relatively few (like girl’s rugby, which had 4).
• Davis High had 28 athletes that made the list from 13 different sports. There were a lot of sports (12) in which Davis had no recipients. Some Davis athletes got awards in two sports.
• The Davis baseball team had THREE players named to the so-called All-City team: Peter, Ryan Kreidler and Hunter Jury.
• Athletes received a certificate, a swag bag, and a letterman’s jacket patch.

Yesterday morning was the ceremony out at Raley Field. I would guess about a third to a half of the honored recipients showed up to be recognized. The certificates had been mailed already.

There was a master of ceremony who talked about the award and then went on for quite awhile about the balancing act that is high school sports–especially what it takes to be both a successful athlete and a responsible student. I thought his comments were pretty good… especially those comments I could hear over the power vacuum cleaner a guy was using on the field–to pick up what I’m not sure–and the music blaring on the PA system behind us. We also had as a king sized distraction the River Cats players who came out toward the end of the awards presentation to warm up on the field.

Really??

That aside, it was a lovely, if very simple, presentation: One by one, sports would be called out and the athletes from that sport would walk to the front and stand atop the dugout. The emcee would go down the line of kids and ask them to state their name, high school and plans for competing (or not) in college. The responses were impressive (those you could hear)…. everything from no plans yet to great schools like Notre Dame, Columbia, University of Chicago, Cal, UCLA, Stanford… and of course UC Santa Cruz.

Here are our guys…  Peter (with Hunter looking on):

Ryan:

About 20 of the 35 baseball guys were on hand to accept their award. It was very fun to see a lot of the kids we’ve played against in our league, like Jack Cosca and Jack Wolger from Jesuit; Dylan Carlson, Aaron Wong, and Ryan Robards from Elk Grove; and Zachary Tresemer and Isaiah Morales from Franklin. That was it from the big bad Delta League. I can’t remember if all of those guys were present, but a lot of them were. We also saw kids from Oak Ridge, Whitney, Vintage, and Yuba City–all teams we’ve played this season, but not in our league. Plus some schools I’d never even heard of.

Anyway, the baseball portion of the program was the real highlight, and it was VERY nice to see Peter up there among the seriously talented ball players selected. I am sure he was singled out for his pitching stats, and as I’ve mentioned before, stats are an imperfect measure of one’s value on a team.  I think he felt slightly out of place among some of those guys, but he also felt really honored and flattered to be there. He wouldn’t say all that, but it was evident.

We were pleased for him, no matter what. He does do a great job of balancing school and sports. He does work hard at baseball. He has stuck with the game and has competed at a high level for thirteen years. He is a good teammate. His coaches have always liked him. And he does have great stats this year … more importantly, he has contributed to Davis’ exceptional record and phenomenal season in this–his final year of baseball. I could never ask for more than that. He’s not a Cal commit, but he can be proud of his participation and contributions–over the years, absolutely, but particularly in his senior year.

So hell yeah. Good job, Peter. Well earned.

Here is one more picture. These guys are track and field stars. The two Davis kids there are Willie Hall, whom we know from Peter’s farm league baseball team, when his dad Tom was one of Peter’s coaches, and Michael Vernau, who was recognized in both track and cross country. The guy at the mic was the only guy who used his time to thank his mom (Mother’s Day), which got a rousing ovation from the crowd. Nice kid!

And that was that.

This is the certificate, and the magazine that makes the award…

A very neat thing happened today, but I’m going to write about it tomorrow.

Today, because it’s Mother’s Day, I’m just going to post pictures… a few that make me happy to be Peter’s mom and one to honor my own mama.

This is Peter today. We’re having brunch at the Magpie Cafe, having just finished up the thing I’m going to write about tomorrow–an event at Raley Field.

I think he is such a handsome fellow:

Here are the three of us back at Raley Field after brunch to watch about 5 innings of a Rivercats game:

He’s so much more serious these days! But growing up, he was a total goofball. This is what 90% of his kid pictures look like:

…and of course he’s got a stick, or some other instrument of destruction:

But even a goofball has his tender moments:

…or a funny secret to let me in on:

Love him so.

And because Mother’s Day goes both ways… here’s one I particularly like of my mom and me:

I have this one on the wall above my desk. It is a gentle reminder that parental love is pretty much universal. The love I feel for Peter–so intense it makes me ache–is probably the same love my mom feels for me.  I don’t always believe it.. but I think it might be true.

I’ve written so much about this tournament already, I think in wrapping up this Boras story, I’ll just post some pictures.

We’d delivered the boys to Berkeley’s Evans Diamond at about 9:00 for batting practice and some loose warm up.

(Photo: Boras Twitter feed.)

And then.. it rained. And rained and rained. In May, that was about the last thing we really expected.. but there ya go. Our 12:05 game time was not happening, but, wow, after all the planning and travel and ESPN coverage… the show just had to go on if at all possible, so we just waited it out, while the organizers had coronaries.

The boys and coaches helped the field maintenance guys spread a tarp over the infield…

(Photo: Boras Twitter feed.)

And then they did some of this:

(Photo: Korlyn’s Facebook.)

That is the team from Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) playing our guys in a game of touch football. Pretty wonderful, huh? Just a bunch of guys waiting for a baseball game to start. This about made me cry. (A comment Dianna drolly responds to with, “What doesn’t?”)

Meanwhile, parents scattered at cafes and restaurants around campus. We spent a few hours at the Blue Door Cafe on Bancroft–a place Peter and I had eaten on a trip to Berkeley about a year and a half ago… kind of a sentimental favorite of mine for that reason. It was pretty packed with students on a rainy day…

We had a nice time just shooting the breeze…

We finally got word that the game would start.. and headed over! The camera crews and announcers are ready, the field is ready, the umps and coaches are ready, and the boys are ready:

(Photo: Korlyn’s Facebook.)

Look who dropped in!

(I’m so bad at taking selfies. I am not really shellshocked.)

Daniel’s, Solly’s, James’, Ray’s, Pierce’s, Mason’s, Peter’s coach from the Crush days, Mr. Tim Busbin, who shaped a good third of this team. Those are his wonderful parents in the background, who often showed up to games, as well. All of us under our umbrellas, because it continued to drizzle for the first couple innings.

Here’s a shot of the game underway. Tim took this one and I really like it.. Berkeley’s field has a classic old-timey feel to it:

(Photo: Tim’s Facebook.)

I show this one (below) because of the young Mira Costa fans a few rows down who thought it was clever to distract our pitchers by waving shimmery green pom poms behind the plate. It was not clever or appreciated–at least in my opinion. Peter would later say he was utterly unaware of them.

And yeah, that’s Peter on the mound. He faced four batters in the latter 2/3 of the 5th inning. He relieved for Bell who had a truly fantastic outing today against a very aggressive, hard hitting team. Ryan had started to poop out in the top of the fifth but until then had looked great. Up to this point, we were keeping pace with the Mustangs (2-2), but then two two runs came in, two additional runners were on base, and Ryan was pulled. And that’s the thing about relieving. The runs, because they reached base at the previous guy’s hand, are part of his record, but it’s the reliever’s job to keep them on the bases and not let them come in. Mira Costa took full advantage of those two baserunners by hitting a double and sac fly to bring them both in.

Davis had some good moments (including nice hits from Kreidler, Hessl and Henrickson), but Mira Costa’s 5th inning flurry was too much to overcome, even with Holgate’s 2-run homer in the bottom of that inning (so exciting..and he went on to earn defensive player of the game). Four hits overall, though, was all we could muster–so unlike this previously crazy hitting team–and we lost 7-4.

They seemed to take it really hard. Three losses in a row for a team that until recently had a total of only three losses over twenty six games! Where’d the mo go?

No gatherings after the game, at least not for us.. Peter was really down and ended up falling asleep on the way home.. not his usual M.O.

(Please don’t mention you saw this photo.) He was so tired, he stayed in the car for quite awhile after we got home, just sorta passed out.

But he finally rallied, and hit the backyard with his clubs…

So I guess all is right with the world again.

The whole Boras experience, final loss notwithstanding, turned out to be exceptional.

This is the view from the 10th floor of the Hilton Garden Hotel in Emeryville on a Friday afternoon. Eastbound 80’s a bit impacted with pre-weekend commute traffic and storm clouds are looming.

Tomorrow, if it doesn’t rain, we are to play for the championship of the Boras Baseball Classic over at UC Berkeley’s Evans Stadium. In March, Davis had won the Northern division and earned a spot in the game to determine “state champion.” I wrote about that tournament here. 

The winner of the Southern division was Mira Costa High School of Manhattan Beach. They now have a 22-5 record (ours is 19-5).

CIF doesn’t have a true state championship… California’s too big, or something.. they divide us into North and South, always have (I remember back in 1974, competing for a “state” title, but in fact, it was just for the southern half of the state.) So these Boras folks decided they’d create one. They have the connections and chops to do it.. and did.

Anyway… this is all very exciting.

Tonight, both teams are going to be hosted by tournament organizers in this hotel, while we parents dine elsewhere. As it should be. Their deal.

Here’s a pic… all dressed up and looking good:

Top row, from left: Mason, Daniel, Griffin, Hunter, Ryan B, Max, Pierce (behind), Gabe, Sean, Tyler M, Reed.

Bottom row, from left: Ian, Tyler G, James, Peter, John (front), Solly, Ryan K, Eton, Ray, Ryan H.