Hi all,
As you might know by now, IU outfielder Chris Hervey has his own blog on Ping!Baseball.com. I was just surfing around on the Web site, and saw a post in which Hervey sheds some light on how his relationship with his father helped shape his love for baseball.
Fans and reporters rarely get the opportunity to know players personally, nor understand what motivates them. Hervey's blog post does a bit on both fronts. If you're interested in searching for yourself, the link is here.
The post was written on his dad's birthday, which is dated Feb.1 -- so I'm a bit behind. Anyway, the full blog is posted. Enjoy!
Hervey's Post
This time of year is easily one of my favorites. Even though it's late January/early February and it's cold enough to make Richard Simmons wear pants there is nothing like this time of year for a baseball fan. Hearing the words "pitchers and catchers report" gives each and every baseball fan a glimmer of hope that the snow will melt away and the summer will be here soon enough.
This also means the beginning of the season for us as well and I couldn't be more excited for it. I'm so fortunate to be a part of this great game and I owe most of that to my father.
One of my first memories as a kid was having my dad toss a wiffle ball to me in our front yard. I have tons of memories like this with my dad; the hundreds of catches that we have had together, countless hours of batting practice he has thrown to me, all of the games of mine that he coached and the dozens of major league games that we went to see together. My dad was my biggest influence growing up and it is safe to say that without him I wouldn't be where I am today.
His love for the game rubbed off on me at an early age, laying the groundwork for all of the things I would accomplish and experiences that I would have because of the game of baseball. And never once did he push me to play or practice as so many parents tend to do. If I said I didn't feel like having a catch that day, then that was the end of it.
The best part of it all is the relationship that we developed through baseball. We don't have the standard father-son relationship - it's more like a best friend relationship (ask anyone who has heard me speak to him on the phone and they can attest to this). There is so much more that I could put into this post and words can't really do justice to how thankful I am to my father for everything he has done for me.
Happy birthday Dad!
Don't worry mom, you'll get your own post soon too!!
-Herv
