The Bond Between Baseball and Family Runs Deep

5/13/19

By Bob Zayas, 360 Sports Contributor

As we celebrated Mother’s Day and look to next month for Father’s Day, it made me think about the strong bond of family and baseball.  How can a game bring us closer as a family?  

Baseball was probably introduced to us by a parent or other family member. For me it was my Dad. As I think back over the years, I can remember baseball being part of my life and so was my Dad. My Dad had a true love for the sport which he passed on to me. I can clearly remember seeing him at the kitchen table looking at the previous days box scores. His favorite team was the Chicago White Sox. As I got older my Dad and I would “talk baseball” and we would discuss players and baseball strategy. We often attended Spring Training games together, watched games on TV and played Wiffle Ball in the backyard.

Through baseball my Dad taught me life lessons as well. He taught me how to accept defeat and not get to prideful over winning. To be a team player and most importantly not to take myself too seriously.

He taught me to play by the rules, but he also taught me true-life lessons such as in the Little League game I played in 1966. That year my team advanced to the City Championship. We won the championship game despite my playing abilities. With what seemed like the whole world was watching I struck out 3 times and misplayed the only ball hit to me in right field. For an 11-year-old, I was devastated. How embarrassed was my Dad of me?  How could I have failed him so horribly?  When I met him after the game, he congratulated me for being part of a team that won. He brought up all the positive things about the game and neglected the negative things. That was it. No condemnation. No “how could you strike out three times!”. By his words he taught me that it was ok to not be at my best all the time. That sometimes things just won’t go my way. He also taught me to respect myself and not think poorly of my abilities because of one event in my life. These lessons helped me through my military career and as well as my return to civilian life after I retired.

Jacket won by Bob Zayas following the 1966 Little League Championships

This game played over 53 years ago still comes to mind from time to time when I perhaps am “taking myself to seriously” or “not being a team player”. I always marvel at the simple yet powerful lesson my Dad taught me that day.