TCB'S Father's Day Stories: First time as a dad makes day grow more special

My son is only ten months old, so this will be my first Father's Day. That fact only dawned on me a few days ago, and I was surprised to notice what a cool feeling it was to get to participate as a dad rather than 'just' a son.

Oddly enough though, my baby boy has already bought me an Astros-related gift. For my birthday, he and his mother presented me with an Astros batting practice jersey (the orange one) that I proudly wear whenever I am doing something baseball-related.

I never did anything specifically basebally for Father's Day for my dad (though perhaps I should!), but growing up, baseball was always a part of our relationship. He encouraged the growth of my baseball card collection. He threw a World Series party for the 1990 Reds and ensured I knew the players' names.

Eric Davis. Chris Sabo. Barry Larkin. The Nasty Boys (Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton, and Randy Myers). Tom Browning. Jose Rijo. Ken Griffey. Joe Oliver. Billy Hatcher.

My dad coached my little league team for a couple years and he took me to many games in the Astrodome, where I transferred my hometown loyalty to the Killer B's of the mid-1990's. Now that we're both adults and I can afford to go on my own, we still attend at least one game a year together at Minute Maid Park, and we bond in agony over the fates of our Fantasy Baseball clubs.

Father's Day is a day that grows in special-ness in my mind as I age and learn to appreciate my son and my dad more and more.

Ed. note: Chris wrote the top, I'm dropping in for a quick gift idea.

Chris mentioning the BP jersey got me thinking. My favorite Astros gear gift idea right now is this awesome jersey. It's the best-looking of all the new jerseys to my eyes and would make a fantastic (if pricey) gift for Father's Day. You can find them at the team store, but I'm sure they also live out in the wild. Has anyone seen them at Academy or another sporting goods store?

via mlb.imageg.net