Lefty Joe

Lefty Joe___8x10 oil on linen panel___For the Whelan Family

Joe is one of our great lefties, for the Round Rock Dragons (5-A High School baseball in Central Texas).

Joe and my son have played ball together since they were pre-teens, and Joe's dad, Mike was probably the best coach my son Sam, ever had. Mike built Sam's confidence like no one else has, and I know Sam will never forget that. We lived on our farm back then, but when we had to decide where to live when the farm sold, it was this family that embodied the sweet spirit of Round Rock, and were one of the reasons we wanted our son to grow up here! We often wish Mike would STILL be coaching all those SAME boys, and we wonder how great they'd be if that was the case...(this is the stuff that moms talk about in the stands!). In fact, many of the boys who were on that team are now the MEN on this Round Rock team!...

The team had been together a few years before Sam got there. So he had to come in and be the new kid for a time. There was one boy they all called "Murph". After a while I learned that his name was Ryan. I supposed that his last name was Murphy. After about a year, I learned that when Ryan was new on the team, and told Coach Mike his last name, Mike "heard" the name as "Murphy", and called him "Murph" (probably because there was another Ryan on the team). This nickname went on for awhile until I guess Ryan's mother asked why they were calling him "Murph"...It was then learned that his name was WINFREY, but he was too polite to correct the coach, and has lived with the nickname "Murph" for all these years....love it!!

For my artist friends....have you ever been asked to paint something for someone and it just comes together so WELL that you wish you could keep the painting?? If I were to advertise myself as the baseball player painter, THIS little painting would be the one I would use in the ad...I LOVED painting it!

Play Ball

Blake__pencil on archival paper__for Blake's Mom
It is spring break here in Round Rock, Texas, and the kids are off school, but the games play on! We have had a series this week, so lots of different guys are getting to play, and the other night was Blake's game to pitch...a tough outing for Blake as he was hit in the face while at bat, which really rattled him on the mound later...My son was called on in the last inning and he shut down the side, but our bats could not make up the difference in the bottom of the inning, so we lost......but our team bounced back the next night. So far, it has been a great baseball season for the Round Rock Dragons!
By the way, for you ball fans...there are MANY former Dragon players in the pros! Some might play for YOUR favorite team! Probably the best ones live right here in my neighborhood...(or their parents still do!) I will name names if anyone is interested!

SV vs VR

SV vs VR___from my sketchbook

Another tournament this weekend, for the Round Rock Dragons. This afternoon was my son's time to pitch again. Sketching and keeping track of his pitches keeps me from "cheering"...This man does not like parental "cheering"... We played a team called Vista Ridge, and my son managed to start and finish a "two hitter", shut out, full game (7 innings) with 99 pitches, 6 strikeouts, and stayed ahead in the count on almost every batter. It wasn't perfect, but with great batting and defense from his teammates we won!

Tomorrow I will post the BIG version of one I painted a few days ago...click here to see the little one and compare the two tomorrow!

SV vs SV

SV vs SV___from my sketchbook
This weekend was a big baseball tournament hosted by our Round Rock Dragons.

We played 5 great games, and only lost one. We played some of the best teams in the state.
I sketched my son, Sam (SV) while he pitched against a school called Smithson Valley (also SV)....so thus, the catchy title...While sketching, I also kept his BASIC pitching stats, right there on the sketch! I ACCIDENTLY did this last year, and liked the result, so here it is again. He would NOT like me showing this on my blog, so please don't tell him! If you can read a baseball scorecard, it is OBVIOUS that he had 6 good innings. A NO HITTER in those six innings, but that dang third inning,..it was a team effort of miscues, including his! He finished strong, and that was good for his first full game of the year! (spoken like a mom, right?)
The sketch looks like him...he is very tall!