Time of the Season

Son of a...!

What’s your name? (What’s your name?)

Who’s your daddy? (Who’s your daddy?)

(Can he hit?) Can he hit like me?

There comes a time in most of our lives when we realize we won’t be playing baseball for a living. I suppose it’s less of a realization and more about listening. Listen closely. The game will tell you.

While a few WTP readers had the talent and determination to become big leaguers, the dream of making a living under the bright lights was generally abandoned by high school — if you were even that good.

The first round of the Draft, which took place on Sunday, delivered discouraging news for kids whose parents did not wear cleats to work.

Take a look at the results of the top 10 players selected:

1. Son of a seven-time MLB All-Star

2. Son of a five-time MLB All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner

3. Son of an NFL defensive lineman and member of the College Football Hall of Fame

4. No apparent bloodlines; youngest of four boys; father, whose baseball career topped out in high school, had his son swinging a 30-inch wood bat 30 times a day at the age of three

5. Son of a two-time NFL Pro Bowl tight end

6. Son of a minor leaguer

7. No bloodlines

8. Son of a Division I college coach who played one year in the minors

9. Son of a minor leaguer who went on to scout and coach

10. Grandson of a minor leaguer

Wow.

I’ve just started reading The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Performance by David Epstein. Published in 2013, it endeavors to answer the questions the list above might beg.

In the introduction (I told you I had just started it), Epstein asks: “Did Ken Griffey Sr. gift his boy with baseball batter DNA? Or was the real gift that he raised Junior in a baseball clubhouse? Or both?”

I can’t wait to read the rest of the book, and do so through the lens of this year’s top 10 picks. I’ll be sure to provide an update.

In the meantime, if you come in contact with my son, please don’t share this info with him.

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