By Eric Valent: "Kids, Family & The Game"

Let the kids have fun.

I'm asked the question all the time, "What is the best age to start baseball lessons for my child?"  This question is different for everybody. The answer lies in the child's enthusiasm for baseball and one's aptitude for learning. An 8 yr. old may be ready for a lesson every other week, while another 12 yr. old may not be ready at all. I know that when I was 8 yrs. old, I could handle a baseball lesson because I wanted to be there. Some young kids are there because their parents are pushing them and want them to be there. While one's parents have to expose their children to the game, let the children take it from there. Allow your child to say to you, "Hey let's go hit" or "Let's go pitch."  See if they are the one's initiating the conversation.

Let it be their dream.

It's important for children to learn a sense of responsibility. When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to get home from school, do my homework, and then practice baseball. It was the same thing everyday. I was always the one dragging my mom or dad outside to play catch or hit tennis balls or anything else that was round. 

Whether some kids start playing baseball at a younger age or older age, it really doesn't have too much to do with their future development as a player. The main thing is learning the proper fundamentals the first time so they don't develop bad habits. Whether it's holding the bat the proper way as a hitter, or having the proper arm action as a pitcher, bad habits are tougher to break.  And let's just remember, let the kids have fun and learn the FUNDAMENTALS OF THE GAME OF BASEBALL. It's not about winning and losing when the kids are young. It's about knowing the situations, learning about hitting, fielding, and baserunning. Who cares if your Little League team goes 10-0 if you learned nothing in the process?  Too many times people get caught up in the moment in time instead of looking at the big picture. It's all about laying a foundation and experiencing both successes and failures.

Kids have to play because of the enjoyment they get out of it. They should want to play because of the fun they have and their competitive nature. They should not play because of the chances for riches. As well all know, anything that people do just for money can be very unfulfilling at times and filled with emptiness. Now, I want to make money just as much as the next person, but there comes a tine when you have to at least enjoy something just a little bit. Baseball provides children with friendships, positive and negative emotions, a learning environment, and a diamond playground.  In the end, whether a kid makes it to the big leagues, college, or just one's high school team, it's about the relationships and people they meet along the way.

I’ve been lucky enough to spend a lot of my life in the game of baseball. Friends from my high school teams, summer teams, college teams, and at the professional ranks have become lifelong friends. It doesn’t matter if we only talk once a month or twice a year, we pick up as if we were just together the day before. That’s what baseball, sports, and any other professions are about, relationships. Your friends will always change throughout the course of your life, but you will always have friends that will always be part of your life.

A best friend of mine is Chad Baum. We have been friends almost all of our lives. Played high school ball together, and have kept in touch since. He’s now a coach at Santa Clara University in CA. Even though he’s 3,000 miles away and we see each other about twice a year, everything picks up as though we’re still throwing batting practice to each other like we did about 13 years ago.

Now, that my playing career is done, I think back about all the people I met along the way and it makes me smile. I don’t miss the competition as some retired players may, but I do miss being around the guys. If you take a handful of retired players, some will say they miss the competition, while others will say they just miss the clubhouse. Whether it was bus trips, plane flights, rain delays, eating together on the road, hanging out in each other’s hotel rooms, or just showing up to the ballpark day in and day out, those are the things that I miss.

When you’re playing, your teammates are your family away from home. You spend so much time together and work so hard either getting to the big leagues or trying to stay there, that you develop a strong bond with some players on the team. Those friendships and moments in time will be with me forever. And although my MLB career did not last as long as I would have liked, the ride was something that I will never forget.

Eric Valent played parts of 5 seasons with the Phillies, Reds & Mets before giving it a a try in Japan.  Promising himself he'd quit if he wasn't a full-time big leaguer by the age of 30, Eric did just that.  He's now a Northeast Area Supervisor for the Phillies.  He has one wife and two children and writes a little something every other week for Jimmy Scott's High & Tight.