Shannon Taylor Vannatter – The Story Behind the Story – Part 2 of 3

I’m celebrating the release of my 8th title in my Texas Rodeo series this week, Rodeo Reunion. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated June 1 – 5 to enter the drawing for a copy. There’s also a special giveaway at the end of the post. Deadline: June 13th, 11:59 pm central time.

Back when my son was seven, he signed up for Little League Baseball. My husband worked a full time job as a dental technician and was also a bi-vocational pastor. He wasn’t home until well after dark and when he was home, he had to work on his sermon. He rarely made baseball practices, but he did manage to make most of the games. For practice at home, we were on our own.
So on one spring evening, I was trying my best to pitch so my son could practice batting. But I can’t pitch. If I got it over the plate, it was too high and if I got it the right level, it was out of his reach. The conversation went like this:
Logan: “Mo om, pitch it right.” (Did you get that two syllable whine out of Mom?)
Me: “I’m doing my best.”
Logan: “Mo om, I can’t hit it if you throw it way over there.”
Me: “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to pitch.”
My son was discouraged and certain he’d never be able to hit. Though I fully supported my husband’s calling, I was frustrated and feeling a bit like a single mom. As we continued trying to practice, I said wouldn’t it be great if our neighbor just happened to be a baseball coach and came over to help.
An idea was born. A book about a widowed mom with a seven year old son. She’s trying to help him with batting practice, but she can’t pitch worth a flip. A man walks over from next door. He just happens to be a former Major League Baseball pitcher. I didn’t know when I ‘d use it, but I knew I would. It turned out to come in handy about five years later.
In the meantime, our church was able to make my husband full-time four years ago. IT IS AWESOME! We may not have as much money, but our son has his father, and my husband is able to really pastor.
That’s my little pitcher above. For the last two years he played, he pitched and played 3rd base. He hasn’t played for the last two years, since he got involved with a summer basketball league. I miss baseball, but he’s talking about going to a camp this summer, so we’ll see.