Growing up, I managed to play baseball in two leagues during the year. For the most part, I was an outfielder, but my dad wanted me to learn all the positions in between the seasons one year.
So, he asked me if I wanted to try some third base. I said "sure." Off we went to the baseball field to practice with our bucket of baseballs with my older brother on a Saturday morning.
Now, all I had to do was just learn to throw from third to first while taking ground balls off a bat from home. My dad played first base and he just wanted me to learn the throw. He knew I had a fantastic arm in the outfield, so this should be no problem.
Father and son: Francisco Lopez of Whittier, Calif.,
and Kevin Lopez.
Well, as we progressed that day, he wanted me to throw harder. I was making rainbow tosses over to first from third base. I was being lazy. I admit it.
There was no runner, the ball made it to my dad, so what's the point of throwing hard? Well, I was a kid and started to resent the fact he was pushing me. Finally, things started to get heated. He was waiting for me to throw a solid liner to him. No bounces, just a bullet to him, which I was more than capable of doing.
I began to get angry at this point. So, I finally took a grounder and just threw a laser beam to him. He catches it. The next one is hit to me and I throw a lazy rainbow again out of spite.
That's when I hear him say, "Let's go home." He walks to home plate, packs the balls into the bucket and says we are leaving. I am really mad now. I say "Fine. Let's go!"
Well as we were walking across the field, it occurs to me in a flash. He was teaching me a lesson. If you want to succeed at something, give it everything you got and never settle for less than your best effort. It was a lesson I didn't get until that moment. I immediately said "Stop Dad. Let's go back and try again."
He looks down at me and says, "I was hoping you would say that." So off we went back to the diamond. We spent the next two hours just taking ground balls. I kept throwing as hard as I can every time. No more excuses.
Sometimes it sounds like a mushy moment, but it was the lesson that has resonated throughout my life. I give credit to my dad for not yelling at me and forcing the lessons, but for making me learn the lessons on my own.
He's given me the tools to succeed in life, but he left it up to me to use the tools. So when I think about Father's Day, I think of that one Saturday afternoon. That was the day when a boy really looked at his father and realized he used an amazing game to help teach his son a lesson. It was a lesson I will never forget. Thanks Dad.
By Kevin Lopez
