In another thread I posted a "Bad Dad" story about how I intentionally clocked DD with a 7 mph slow radar gun. Got me thinking about some of the other embarrassing stunts I have pulled on DD, hence the "Bad Dad" thread. Don't get me wrong, I am the staunchest supporter of my DD and spend more time with her than anyone else in the family. I am very proud of her but every now and then she needs to be taken down a notch. Last summer was no exception.
DD had just come off her most successful tournament season ever. Her batting numbers were off the charts and she had an ego to match. She was starting to talk trash and needed an attitude adjustment. This provided a great setup for my prank. I told DD that a friend of mine had an 18YO DD that was struggling in the circle and wanted some extra pitching time against quality batters. My buddy and I setup time at a local field and arranged for my DD to show up just as his DD was ending her warm ups. This was important so that DD did not see her pitches beforehand.
DD hung her bag, grabbed her helmet, gloves and bat and took a few warm up swings. At the same time the pitcher took a couple of warm up pitches from the circle. These pitches were no more than mid 40s at the most. DD looks at me with the smile that says, "I am going to so crush this pitcher". DD steps into the box and goes through her pre at bat cycle. She is now ready and the pitcher winds up and delivers. DD did not flinch, she did not move, her bat was in the same position the entire time. It took her about a half second to look back and see that the ball was in the catchers mitt. The look on her face went from, "Oh yeah" to "What the ????".
I was honest with DD. The other girl was an 18YO pitcher. What I failed to mention was that she was also a freshman at a D1 college and was a starter in the rotation. The first pitch she faced was at least 65 and probably a bit faster. Those warm up pitches? Change-ups. The next 5 minutes DD got to face the full breadth of a D1 pitcher. She fouled off a couple of pitches but was otherwise swinging at air or caught looking. She got the message and her attitude changed dramatically after that batting session.
DD had just come off her most successful tournament season ever. Her batting numbers were off the charts and she had an ego to match. She was starting to talk trash and needed an attitude adjustment. This provided a great setup for my prank. I told DD that a friend of mine had an 18YO DD that was struggling in the circle and wanted some extra pitching time against quality batters. My buddy and I setup time at a local field and arranged for my DD to show up just as his DD was ending her warm ups. This was important so that DD did not see her pitches beforehand.
DD hung her bag, grabbed her helmet, gloves and bat and took a few warm up swings. At the same time the pitcher took a couple of warm up pitches from the circle. These pitches were no more than mid 40s at the most. DD looks at me with the smile that says, "I am going to so crush this pitcher". DD steps into the box and goes through her pre at bat cycle. She is now ready and the pitcher winds up and delivers. DD did not flinch, she did not move, her bat was in the same position the entire time. It took her about a half second to look back and see that the ball was in the catchers mitt. The look on her face went from, "Oh yeah" to "What the ????".
I was honest with DD. The other girl was an 18YO pitcher. What I failed to mention was that she was also a freshman at a D1 college and was a starter in the rotation. The first pitch she faced was at least 65 and probably a bit faster. Those warm up pitches? Change-ups. The next 5 minutes DD got to face the full breadth of a D1 pitcher. She fouled off a couple of pitches but was otherwise swinging at air or caught looking. She got the message and her attitude changed dramatically after that batting session.
