Counting down the minutes

Laguna Hills, CA - My son John Lamb will start today for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, against the Corpus Christi Hooks, Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, at 7:05PM CT from Whataburger Field in Texas. This marks the third start of the 2011 season for my son in the Texas League. Some of those close to John, like the household, are counting down the minutes for the first pitch.

Today I will take a break from my Development Baseball instruction and scouting responsibility with the Florida Marlins to be a nervous Dad of a professional baseball prospect. Nervous only in the sense that my son is better than the early season statistics expose with the Naturals. The number of walks and hits allowed during his first two starts have some concerned with his overall health, but John insists he feels great and ready to take the ball every 5 days to try and help his team win.

Last outing had a lopsided number of walks for the 3.2 innings of work and an untypical low percentage of strikes thrown during the game. Baseball is a continuous effort of adjustments to succeed and much more evident through the professional levels. John Lamb (0-0, 4.05) is fully aware of the necessity to make adjustments during games and between starts. While his first two appearances have been less than dominating, we are eager to see what today will bring for this young professional baseball player.

Our recent subscription to MiLB was initiated over the televised game schedule and the fact that John Lamb will be on the mound for the Naturals (7-4) against the Hooks (3-8) in the coastal town of Corpus Christi, TX. Seeing him play has always been a challenge during his career and getting the opportunity to watch the game today has merely added to this Dad’s excitement for this Texas League game. Now we simply stare at the clock and continue to count down the minutes leading up to the broadcast.