All I could think of was Andy Pettitte.
Yes, I know, he's retired. The Yankees could sure use the all-time postseason wins leader to pitch Game 2 of the ALDS on Sunday, but that's not what I'm talking about.
Pettitte is a lefty.
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Now pitching, No. 46, Chase Sitler
And my four-year-old son, Chase, is a lefty.
Oh, the similarities.
Well, actually, that's it.
He's a lefty.
But the other day I took Chase out in the yard to play catch like we do; only this time I took my camera.
I wanted him to pitch it toward me while I snapped a photo.
Okay, let me backtrack - our pitching sessions usually last about 10 pitches. You see, Chase is four. And he notices a butterfly about 10 feet to the left and runs off, or Daddy gets tired from having to crawl under the fence to get the ball. He is four, after all, and I don't want to push it.
I picture us someday as Ted and Hank Morrison. Father and son. Together at the ballfield. I'll be throwing batting practice, and Chase hitting it out of the park. Some conversation will pass between us about baseball, and life.
I temper my enthusiasm, get back to the present, and crawl under the fence one more time to get the ball.
I think he loves playing with Daddy. I want him to love baseball like I do. But I leave him wanting more, or I try to. I don't want to be "one of those fathers," you know? The ones that push their kid too far.
But then it happens.
I don't have a glove, but I have my camera.
It's a scene out of the movie "The Natural." Slow-motion and all. Roy Hobbs steps back and into his wind-up, and you stare at the ball spinning out of his left hand. The Whammer challenges Hobbs to strike him out. Hobbs does just that, much to everyone's surprise and The Whammer's humiliation.
Chase doesn't step back. He just holds up his left arm and pulls it back and holds it there, looking at the camera, as if he's supposed to hold the pose. (Okay, so it's nothing like Roy Hobbs).
But, in one perfect motion through my glazed-over eyes, he smoothly steps forward with the correct foot (his right), brings his left arm forward, spins the baseball off his left fingertips, and bends his back slightly on the follow through.
I snap the photo, and it gives me goosebumps.
All I could think of was Andy Pettitte.