In an earlier posting (click here) I described a dilemma I had about whether to introduce my rapidly growing grand son to the sport of baseball and to the team known as the Boston Red Sox.

I received numerous replies (click here and scroll down to the Comments’ section), almost each one serious, thoughtful, and enlightening.  In fact, of all the postings I have done since I established Millerstime.net, these were the most Comments on a single issue that I have received.

Overwhelmingly, the advice was to proceed with introducing Eli to the sport. 

The main dissenting view, I must acknowledge, came from my younger daughter who had been on the receiving end of my obsession a number of years ago.

I think she said something like, “Save yourself and him the headache. Teach him about ducks or something else. Hmph.”

One cannot easily ignore her advice as she has had more than 20 years to consider what her father’s importuning has done to her.

(I might also say that I just returned from visiting her in NYC where she took me to a Mets’ game {see pix above} to see the new stadium. And I noticed she kept her eye on the scoreboard results of the Sox-Rangers game. But I digress.)

As I read and reread the other Comments, I found some good warnings and suggestions.

And so here is my decision and plans, if you had any doubts:

I will proceed with taking Eli to baseball games.

I will also take him to games other than Red Sox games and other than major league games.

I will pay attention to his response(s) and not force my obsessions on him, neither about the game in general nor specifically about the Red Sox (at least to the degree I am able to accomplish that).

I will, God willing, play catch with him and encourage him to play baseball himself.

But I will not make our relationship dependent upon his falling in love with the game, obsessing about the Red Sox, or being a fan.

I will avoid introducing him to the concept of baseball as a metaphor for life and will not discuss the seemier sides of the game (at least until he begins to discover them for himself)

I will resist the temptation to explain everything about the game in the first years of his attendance (assuming he chooses to attend).

If he doesn’t like baseball, I will ask Lydia Hill to introduce him to soccer (a very poor substitute I must say) or Cory Kessler to introduce him to basketball (also a poor substitute).

I will put off any decision about Cooperstown until I see his reactions to baseball in general.

Should he evidence the interest and joy I have found, I will take him to various parks around the country.

One question:

Should I save Fenway until I know if he is truly interested?