The scoreboard said we lost our playoff game today… but I walked off that field proud of my son and my team.
This season, my son played up with the fourth graders even though he’s only in third grade. From day one, he never used that as an excuse. He just showed up… every single time. Not one missed practice. Not one late arrival. Every drill, every rep, every huddle… he gave his full effort.
He earned his spot as a starter on offense and defense. He returned kicks and he did everything we asked and more, without ever complaining. He worked hard, listened, and played with heart every single game. That’s not something you can coach… that’s just who he is.
As his coach, I saw the growth. As his dad, I saw the love for the game and for his teammates in his eyes everytime I looked at him.
The quiet confidence that comes from knowing you’ve earned it, that is not part of his game yet… so I’ll say it for him…
He belonged here this year… and he earned every second of it. When the season ended, even in that tough loss, I realized something: stats and scores don’t define a player — character does
Oliver’s coaches nominated him for athlete of the year:
“Oliver plays with heart bigger than any trophy. He cares more about teammates than himself, reminding us why we fell in love with sports.”
What do they love most about playing their sport(s)?
What inspires him most isn’t wins or stats—it’s the love he has for the game and the people in it. He’s the first at practice, the last to leave, and hugs every coach and teammate like family. Oliver was asked by coaches to play up with much older athletes for tackle football and is one of the youngest on the state travel baseball team— but it’s his heart, not his age or talent, that makes him unforgettable.
Who inspires them—on or off the field—and why?
I asked Oliver this question specifically: His response, “I love playing catch with you dad. You always tell us about playing catch with Pop (my grandfather). Playing catch with you makes me feel like I get to play catch with your Pop even though I never got to meet him. I love when you tell me about Rickey Henderson & Ken Griffey, Jr. Thanks for telling me about Pop, I love him for making us both love baseball!”
What’s one moment in their athletic journey that makes you proudest?
This basketball season, with time running out, Ollie had a clear opportunity to score again. As he got to the hoop, he saw a teammate who hadn’t scored all season. Without hesitating, he passed the ball so his teammate could score at the buzzer. After, I asked him about it, he said, ‘We win as a team and I love helping everyone.’ That selfless act, prioritizing team & uplifting a teammate, shows the kind of athlete and person he’s becoming. To me his leadership and character makes me most proud.
8.29.25: OK… TOP 5!?????… and currently he’s in second place! Maybe, just maybe this is a thing? The best part though is knowing that the votes that Oliver is getting are in turn supporting cancer research.
8.21.25: Ollie made it into the TOP TEN! Thank you to everyone who has supported Ollie on his athletic journey and through this process. He loves making everyone proud and Steph and I couldn’t be prouder!!!
8.14.25: Another great accomplishment. Oliver is now made it through to the TOP 15 of his group!!!
8.7.25: So incredibly proud to announce Oliver has made it through to the TOP 20 in his group!!!
September isn’t just for pumpkin spice and flannel, today is the day the Wizarding World Calendar reminds us it’s time to head back “homel. September 1 is day the Hogwarts students return for a new term by boarding the Hogwarts Express (or occasional a flying a Ford Anglia). As J.K. Rowling has said, “Whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”
(Maybe this year the typo would draw JK’s attention, then again, maybe not):
So in keeping with tradition, for the 10th year in a row I tweeted @jkrowling to get some advice for Steph and I as we “dropped the boys off” on Platform 9 3/4.
Every year September 1st rolls around, I tweet the same thing to JK Rowling “Dear @jk_rowling any advice for parents… #BackToHogwarts”.
Still no response or any advice from her, but maybe this year will be the year! If not Stephanie and I will have to hope to run into a nice Wizarding family to help us out… Molly? Arthur? Can you hear us…
Let the games begin! This is the first big stop on Ollie’s baseball journey: 8U travel team… LET’s Go Grizzlies!!! So excited for this kid and his friends to dominate! I’m lucky I get to coach this great group of boys!!!
_______________________________________________
Season Ending Totals for Oliver in his first year of Travel Ball against kids MUCH older than him:
17-27 (.630 AVG); 11 RBI; 6 R
_______________________________________________
GAME 1:
I hate losing, but I love learning. Our boys learned a lot today. I am extremely proud of how they put things together in their first Travel All-Star Game EVER. We got destroyed in our first game 10-2 against a much more experienced travel team.
Oliver went 1-2 with a single. I am so proud of Oliver for what he has taken on this season. He’s the funny guy, but he’s turning into a leader on this team!
Thanks to all the fans (families) who came out to cheer us on!
GAME 2:
Another tournament game in the books! We were much improved from our first game. Even though we lost, the boys had fun and played hard and smart!
Ollie went 2-2! Two hits with an RBI and made a great play in the field at second base! I love watching this kid play!
Also: HUGE SHOUT OUT TO JAX who literally did play by play and color commentary from the pressbox!
“Wow he was called out!??? I’m not sure what the umpire was seeing there!!!”
GAME 3
What a game tonight for the 8U Seabreeze team! Our bats finally broke out scoring 10 runs on the night. While we lost, we actually played the A team from the town that we lost to in Game 1 and played them better!!! We are making progress.
Ollie went 2-3 with 2RBIs and a run! Scoring all the way from first on a short double, it’s a cool feeling waving your own son home as you’re watching watching his face as he is flying by you at thirdbase! I FELT LIKE A TURNSTILE OUT THERE WAVING PLAYERS HOME!!!
Tonight the boys broke out the bats and broke out of their shells. The excitement from the bench was infectious and the fans kept the spirits high! (Also, another superb performance from Jax on the play-by-play!)
Superstars all around tonight!!! I really wish my grandfather was around to see this!!!
GAME 4:
Short handed, playing a much better, more experienced team, in 90* humidity (and a fourteen year old umpire whose brother was on the team we were playing)… we lost, but did hold our first lead of the season thanks to some timely hitting in the early innings.
Oliver went 2-3 with an RBI to put us up for the first time all season. His third at bat was a screaming line drive that would have been a double if not for a nice play by the third baseman. He made another great play in the field at shortstop with his partner in crime Connor. They are turning into a dominant defensive force in the middle infield (sort of).
GAME 5:
We “RUN MERCIED” our first team in the third inning yesterday! I can not tell you the screaming and jumping up and down from the kids and families when the ump called the inning! I swear, you would have thought we won the World Series! It felt good to put things together… move players along the bases and get big hits when we needed them! Though we lost the game, this was definitely a BIG step for the boys!
Oliver went 2-3 (his out came on a hard line-drive, so he is making good contact even on outs). He played catcher and came a few inches from making a great tag on a play at the plate. It was one of the most exciting games so far this year!
UPDATE GAME 6:
Yuck. We aren’t going to talk about this game or the umpire again.
Ollie went 0-1 with a hard ground out in the first and didn’t bat again.
UPDATE GAME 7:
The single most thrilling game this year and by far one of the most exciting games I’ve ever been part of as a coach and/or parent. We held our first lead of the tournament, scored five runs in an inning and batted through a the lineup four times.
All you can ask for is a chance to win. We came into the bottom of the sixth down two and came up just a run short. Ollie came up down one with runners on first and second and did his job and moved the runner into scoring position with a sacrifice ground out. The game ended on the next at bat with the tying run on third and winning running on second. A loss stings, but this was one of the best losses I’ve ever been part of (if that’s possible).
Ollie went 3-4 with three RBIs and a two runs. His first two hits were absolutely crushed into the outfield. His second hit was a bomb over the centerfielder’s head and Ollie pulled into second base with a double!
Look at the ball (top of the picture) absolutely crushed off the bat!
GAME 8:
Ollie was 1-2 with a single and fly out. He was an absolute vacuum in the field. He looked like Brooks Robinson at third. As far as the game… YIKES. Quite a step back for the boys today. This is one of those games you live and learn.
GAME 8:
I’m still not ready to completely accept that the end of the season is here, but our 8u Grizzlies’ Seabreeze team ended their season with a 17-16 loss which has a LARGER ASTERISK than Barry Bonds’ homerun record. Oliver “The Ultimate Warrior” Fragola (who in his last game of the seasons went 3-4 with 5 RBIs and 2R) came to bat with the game on the line, down three with the bases loaded and knocked in two runs to bring the game within one, however the game ended there “time limit rule”. These kids’ commitment was unwavering and their resolve and hard work to improve each day was more than i could have ever imagined. I am proud to be their coach, I am proud to have grown with them and I am proud of the frienships and bonds that have been forged from this travel baseball season.
Thank you to Steph for allowing me to be gone six nights a week and to be cranky when things weren’t going our way. Thank you to the parents for trusting me with your children and trusting me with their baseball development. Thank you for coach Meg for getting me on board, and a special shout out to the Pepperbush Crew. Thanks for dealing w me and Joe (thanks for all the feedback, you’ll always be Coach Joe to me!!!)… and thank for getting my third base coach arm “wave them home” working!!!
But most of all thank you Oliver for teaching me more than I could ever teach you; thank you for showing me that coaching could be just as rewarding as being an athlete on the field; thank you for showing me how sports can be about fun and laughter just as much as winning… while reminding me that winning is important too! Thank You for being you, Oliver, a true ALL-STAR!!!
*One of my favorite pictures of the tournament. Clapping for my son who reached first after singling home two runs he knocked in! In one of the biggest spots all summer, Oliver came to bat and came through and had one of the biggest hits of the season. It should have resulted in a win… But Win or lose… I couldn’t be more proud of my son as a baseball player, leader and little boy!!!
Oliver’s Official Rookie Card
Season Ending Totals:
17-27 (.630 AVG); 11 RBI; 6 R
“If my uniform doesn’t get dirty, I haven’t done anything in the baseball game.” -Rickey Henderson
Oliver picked up a pack of 1988 Topps cards today. Today’s break was special not just for the Tom Glavine rookie card he pulled, but his first experience with baseball card pack gum! what’s your favorite Oliver quote from this break!!??
“OLLIE STOP!!!!” he’s doing something stupid. IE: Throwing the diving toys back into the pool when I asked him to take them all out.
“Oliver!???!!!!” (Note the sense of worry with the question marks) = He cant be found. IE: We thought he was in the pool, but he’s nowhere to be seen. He actually around the side peeing on the azalea bush.
“OLIVER!!!!” = He’s acting like an ass. IE: He’s screaming on a Sunday morning when the neighbors are trying to enjoy their coffee on a beautiful day on their deck.
“OLIVERRRRRRRRRRR!” (note the emphasis on the last sound). = He’s now screaming at the top of his lungs after you’ve already screamed his name multiple times. IE: he continues to scream while in the pool even after your neighbors have text you that they can hear your child screaming and you yelling at your child from five houses up the road.
As a former first grade teacher and now the parent of our second first grade child… It’s pretty simple if you ask me:
All emptied out of our first grader’s backpack the day after a four day vacation (in which he was sent to school with a completely clean and organized bookbag.
When I sat and held Buster as he passed away and then did the same for Max, I said I’d never do it again. I had been trying to write this for a week now and I couldn’t figure out exactly what to say, but then I read Stephanie’s post and realized I didn’t need to write anything, because she already said it so perfectly.
“You never know after losing a pet when you will be ready to replace them. It’s been 1.5 years since Buster and almost 1 year since Max. Once we saw this girl we knew it was time ❤️. We surprised the kids with a road trip to Maryland and they had no idea! When we finally met Wednesday Jax said he was so happy that he was confused why he was crying! Oliver has called her Buster at least a half dozen times… then again he’s also called her ‘Girl and Sunday’ ❤️ We will always remember Buster and Max, but we are ready to make new memories 🐶”
This is a post I knew I’d have to write one day, but never wanted to actually have to write. I have no idea how I’m going to get through without completely breaking down. But having just been through this awful course of events, if I can spare a few lines of sorrow, yet in some way figure out how to break the news to my kids, this will have been worth it.
Our Buster was our first baby. Steph and I brought him home when we were newlyweds 15 years ago. We were broke college kids and we would go to eat at Olive Garden and then go play with the puppies who were in need of of a home. It was a fun way to spend a Friday date night. Buster was there for a while. A few weeks maybe and he grew on us. I decided to bring Buster home as a surprise for Steph the day after our wedding. It was the perfect gift for both of us.
Through the years he ate through a few jackets (he preferred the taste of Northface), he was the reason for the demise of no less than 578 chapsticks, ate multiple meatballs and once farted out biscuits after eating a bag of bisquick.
Buster enjoyed many wall rides with his bestie Sadie and drank his fair share of spilled beer, but he always preferred a glass of Chardonnay to wash down a steak he had pulled off the counter (sorry Vinny)
He tolerated ear tugs from his younger brother Max and rougher than necessary “love pats” from young toddlers who didn’t know better. He kissed them and snuggled them and enjoyed eating all the food they spilled on the floor.
Over the last few months, when I imagined the end of Buster’s life (I know, morbid thought), I always pictured the vet telling me that he had some incurable disease. We never wanted him to hurt and I assumed the decision would be clear cut and obvious. But it wasn’t. I assume now it never is.
Buster’s struggles the past few months, specifically this week, we’re tough to watch. But even to the end, he was sniffing around looking for some scraps of food one of the boys left behind, or something Max might not have finished.
Everything happened relatively quickly at the end. We tried to gently tell the boys how Buster was getting old and really needed to go see the doctor soon. You can never prepare anyone especially kids for something like this, but somehow I think Jackson knew.
As I was about to leave for the vet, I had each of the kids give Buster a kiss. They did, and then they saw that Steph was crying. Jax walked over and gave her a hug and kiss.
This morning, I chose to speak to each of them separately, Jax after breakfast and Oliver tonight (we didn’t want to ruin his thanksgiving party at school today 🙄.
There’s no need to go into details about the conversation. That’s between a dad and son. But Jax took it well. He said he was sad, but I could tell he already had known. Oliver is still too young to “get it”. But I’m sure he’ll have questions I’m not sure I’ll know how to answer. But that’s ok because I’ve learned sometimes it’s ok to not have an answer. Just to say I don’t know and then give a hug and a kiss and be there. We always will be, just like the memories of the last 15+ years we have of Buster. They will always be there.
It’s been 20 years since the first time I wished you a happy birthday. I think I bought you a pair of plaid Abercrombie pants and a six pack of Smirnoff Ice. I probably took you to Olive Garden or Applebee’s and I’m sure we saw a movie afterwards.
It’s been years since that Olive Garden date and a long time since our time was our time. It’s no longer about birthday months or even birthday weekends anymore. As working parents we are tasked with so much more than just being a mom or dad. Parenting can feel isolating and lonely with its constant demands. Yet, somehow we balance it even if it’s not always perfect.
In my short stint as a parent, I’ve already wondered, more times than I like, if I’m doing it right, but one thing I do know is it’s hard. Yet somehow, even in the toughest times including giant tantrums or the occasional full on crying until they pass out, you stay strong. I appreciate you staying strong even when I’m a pain in the ass or act like your third child (or fifth if you count the dogs… then again at least I don’t pee or poop on the floor)!
You may not see it, but you are strong. You are strong for them… Jackson and Oliver will never forget that. It will make them strong and caring and most importantly, empathetic.
Twenty years later, the birthday presents that were plaid pants and Smirnoff may have turned into a teakettle for your night time chai and a travel coffee mug for your long commute after a Board of Eduction meeting… and dinner and a night cap has transformed into standing over a pot of Mac and Cheese and watching Frozen 2 for the 700th time… but no matter what, I loved you then and love you everywhere in between those Abercrombie pants and the teakettle.
Sorry Sons: Chronicles of a New Dad 