A great summer

Going back to April, when our Summer of Baseball began, there was only one goal -- to spend as much time with Colin as I could.

Through work and school schedules, our time together is limited for most of the year. And rather than send him off to summer camp, we decided to keep him home and make our own fun. Fishing. Ice skating drills. Visiting our local barber shop, not some hoity-toity salon, for our summer buzz cuts.

Mostly, though, baseball filled our summer calendar, as we attended 35 minor and major league games. You know something? Yes, it was pretty busy, but it went by fast.

Over nearly five months, we watched 312 innings of baseball, an amount reached after careful review and counting of our list of games. At one time, I thought we'd fall a few innings short of 300, but that wasn't the case. And, in something of a surprise, Colin loaded up on autographs, snagging 367 signatures, including getting team balls from 11 of the 12 Florida State League teams, as well as more than two dozen game-used baseballs.

The biggest benefit, though, can't be measured by innings, autographs or scuffed baseballs. It was, indeed, the amount of time we spent together, discussing the difference between two-run homers and two-runner homes, the beauty and efficiency of a quiet batting stance, and polishing off more bags of Cracker Jacks that I care to remember.

More than anything else, our Summer of Baseball was about bonding -- not just as father and son, but as baseball fans. Now, we both know why it's the American pastime.

Two will do

If it weren't for Detroit pitching coach Rick Knapp and pitcher Casey Fien, the time Colin spent along the third-base line Saturday night would have went all for naught. No complaints, though. Two autographs are two autographs. Now, if only the Rays would've won. At the least, he got to hear the Beach Boys.