Long live Grimace. Long live the Playoff Pumpkin. LGM!

Introduction (For the Grown Ups)

Tonight we have a story about reflecting, writing, and keeping a journal. If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post. 

Questions in italics are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

Words in bold are defined in the vocab section after the story.

The man dancing emoji (🕺) indicates a section where you can add kinetic elements to the story. Mime an action and encourage your audience to join in.

And don’t forgot to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun activities and updates.

Happy story telling!

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Pete’s Notebook

(5 minute read)

Before he was drafted by the Mets, before he got the nickname “Polar Bear Pete,” before he set the rookie record for home runs and won back-to-back home run derbies, Pete Alonso was a first baseman at the University of Florida who wanted to get a little better at baseball every day. In order to do that, Pete realized he needed figure out the things that he was doing well, and the things that he needed to improve. He needed to make time to reflect. 

What do you think about when you heard the word Reflect? (You might recognize the word “Reflection”)

You can see your reflection in a mirror, or on the surface of still water. A reflection lets you see if you’ve got some food stuck in your teeth, or if your shirt matches your pants. But you don’t always need a mirror to reflect on something. 

🕺🕺Close your eyes🕺🕺

What did you have for lunch today? Where were you sitting?

Who else was there? What did you talk about?

Were you able to answer most of those questions? Our memory is kind of like a video camera that records all of the things that we experience every day. Even better than a video camera, memories can capture smells, feelings, and thoughts, not just the things we see and hear. But our memories only have so much storage space. Unless it’s something special, we can quickly start to forget some of the details in our “memory videos.”

Do you remember what you had for lunch yesterday?

What about a week ago?

When we think back on a memory, it’s called reflecting, because it’s like looking at the past in a mirror. Reflecting on our memories, helps to make them stronger, and helps make it less likely we will forget. If we really really want to remember something, we need to “back up” our memories by writing them down, or drawing a picture, creating a physical reflection that we can look at again and again.

After every game, Pete Alonso changes out of his uniform, gets something to eat, chats with his teammates, and then finds a quiet moment to reflect. He grabs a special marble composition notebook out of his locker, and then sit down and asks:

“What have I gotten better at? What do I need to change? What do I want to remember?”

Do you own a marble composition notebook?

What do you do put in it?

Day after day, game after game, Pete adds pages to his notebook. He writes down what type of pitches he saw, or the things he did on defense. He’ll note things that went well, and some things that didn’t. And then he’ll close the book, put it in his locker, and head home.

Before a game, he’ll pull it out again. Maybe there is something he wants to look up. Or maybe there is something he is trying to remember. Sometimes, he just reads to see how he has changed and how he has grown.

If I was reflecting about today - what would you want to know about my day?

When you reflect on this week, what is something you want to remember?

Lots of people keep notebooks just like Pete. Sometimes they are called journals, or diaries, but no matter what you call them, they are a chance for people to reflect on their day, their week, and their life, and make a little note so that they can remember. Sometimes, they share these memories with their family and their friends. Sometimes, they are just for themselves.

Goodnight sport.

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Sources and Videos

Today’s story comes from excellent reporting on Pete’s Notebook from Tim Britton at the Athletic and Deesha Thosar (previously at NY Daily News, now at Fox Sports)

Art & Illustrations

Today’s illustrations come courtesy of:

Fred Reyes and his dynamic baseball doodles.

Polar bear Pete by the incredible Joe Maracic. Check out his work (and get your own customized toon) at Loudegg.com

Pete and Francisco Doodles thanks to the incredible Baseball Doodler, Milo Krimstein. Check out his non-baseball work on his instagram

and finally, Joe Petruccio who has been doing game recap cartoons of Mets games for more than a decade. Black and white for a loss, and in color for a win. Here’s hoping for some more color over the next couple of weeks.

Stat Chat

A percentile is one way to compare an individual measurement to a group. When you go to the doctor, you will often be given your height, weight, and BMI and your percentile. If your height is in the 30th percentile, it means you are taller than 30 percent of the people your age.

Below is Pete’s Percentile ranking for various statistics from Baseball Savant. What does it mean that his sprint speed is 15th percentile? What about that his HardHit% is in the 75th? You can look up the definition of these measurements in the Glossary at the bottom of the link. Which statistic should Pete focus on trying to improve? What would he write in his notebook to improve that percentile? Would improving that statistic influence other statistics?

Vocab

Capture can mean to catch, or take into possession, but it can also mean to record something. It’s like you are “catching” a picture, or a memory.

Physical means something you can experience through your senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, or taste) as opposed to something that is only experienced in your mind.

Face-off comes from hockey, when two players face each other and try and get the puck that the referee drops between them. It can mean when you are competing directly against someone else.

Additional Activities

Get a notebook and decide on a question with your grown up about your day. Both of you can take a minute and write down your reflection. For some example questions check out this post. If you want to share, take a picture and tag us online!

Follow us on Instagram

Join the convo on Twitter

More Story Ideas

You could tell a story about...

• Have you ever read someone else’s journal? What did you learn?

• Have you ever kept a journal or a record? Consider sharing some entries

• What is an important memory that you haven’t recorded but you would like to? Share the memory with your child.

Share Bedtime Baseball

Tonight we have a story about the power of smiling. If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post. 

Questions in italics are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

The man dancing emoji (🕺) indicates a section where you can add kinetic elements to the story. Mime an action and encourage your audience to join in.

And don’t forgot to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun activities and updates.

Happy story telling!

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DJ Smiles

(5 minute read)

How would you feel if I walked into a room and looked at you like this? <🕺🕺Look sternly at your child🕺🕺> Now how would you feel if I walked into a room looking at you like this? <🕺🕺Put on a wide and genuine smile🕺🕺>

My smile gives you clues about how I’m feeling, and that can influence how you feel.

What is something that made you smile today?

People smile for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes we smile reflexively which means we don’t even think about it, because we see something funny or feel happy. Sometimes we smile intentionally or on purpose, because we see someone we recognize or we want to let someone else know that things are ok without using any words. And sometimes we smile because someone smiled at us. Human brains have special neurons that make us feel like smiling even if we just see someone smiling - which means that smiles are contagious!

Across cultures, and across generations, humans have smiled as a way to express how we feel. Babies learn to smile by the time they are two months old, before they even learn how to do things like roll over or coo. Some scientists even think that dogs have learned to smile by spending so much time around humans and watching our facial expressions.

Just like other parts of our lives, there are lots of things in baseball that make people smile. A timely hit, a great catch, sometimes even a goofy, completely unexpected play can bring a smile to my face. But there are also a lot of things in baseball that don’t make you feel like smiling, like an error at the worst time, or your favorite player getting hurt. It can be tough for fans, but you can imagine that after a bad play, or a bad day, smiling might be the last thing a player would want to do.

Has there ever been a time that baseball made you smile?

DJ Stewart did not feel like smiling. After earning the final spot on the Mets team to start the season, everything had gone wrong. At first it didn’t seem so bad; in the very first game of the season, DJ got three at-bats and had two strikeouts and a walk…and the Mets lost. The next day, two more strikeouts, and this time, no walk….and another loss. The day after that, no strikeouts, but no hits either, and the Mets lost again. The next day, he didn’t even get to play AND the Mets lost again. By the fifth game of the season, the Mets did not yet have a win and DJ did not yet have a hit. 

Nobody would feel great in this situation. To be honest, it was tough for me and I’m just a fan! But for DJ, it was especially hard. DJ is a bench player, which means he doesn’t play every day. The coach decides to put bench players in when other players need a rest, or when there is a good matchup against a specific pitcher. If a bench player is playing well, they usually get more chances to play. But if they’re not playing very well, well, they usually end up spending more time on the bench.

To make things worse, if you remember, DJ was the last player to make the Mets when spring training ended, meaning that he right on the edge of the major league team. If he wasn’t playing well, maybe the team would send him down to the minors and have someone else come and take his spot. DJ begin to worry about his family. Would he need to leave them in New York and to go play for the Minor League team in Syracuse? Would he need to find a new home, or just stay in a hotel? Would he have to facetime his daughter every night instead of coming home to see her? DJ was stressed out. It was a classic NO SMILE situation.

Have you ever been stressed out? What made you feel so stressed?

Carlos Mendoza is the head coach of the Mets. He decides who gets to play, and when they get to play. He helps the players prepare for games, and designs practices and drills so that they can get better. DJ thought that maybe Coach Mendy was going to tell him he needed to do something different in the batter's box. Maybe he was going to get mad at him because DJ wasn’t playing well. Or maybe Coach wouldn’t say anything, and he would just start losing more and more playing time. But Coach Mendoza didn’t do any of that. He looked at DJ and said, “Smile. Have fun.”

Have fun? How am I supposed to smile when I’m not doing a good job? DJ thought. But the next day, Coach Mendoza told him the same thing, “Smile. Have fun.” By the next day, even before Mendy could say anything, DJ had already knew what he was going to say, and he couldn’t help but start to smile.

Did you know that smiling tricks your brain? If you look in the mirror and smile, those mirror neurons we talked about earlier trigger the same way as if someone else smiled at you, and it makes you want to smile back at your reflection. Even without a mirror, simply scrunching your face muscles into a smile sends all types of messages to your brain and makes your brain think that you’re happy, even if you are not. Smiling can reduce your heart rate, lower your stress, and even boost your immune system - even if your smile is totally fake!

I don’t know if Coach Mendoza knew all this science (I bet he does) But Coach Mendy knew that a smiling DJ was a lot more fun to be around than a stressed out DJ, and that a smiling DJ probably had a better chance at being relaxed and getting a hit than a stressed DJ. And sure enough, DJ started to hit. After starting the season 0 for 12, DJ crushed a tie-breaking 3-run homerun against the Braves to help the Mets win a big game. Big smile. Then two nights later, another big home run to help the Mets jump to a big lead. Big Big Smile. Then a big double, and another Home Run on $1 hot dog night at Citi Field. Big Big BIG Smile. The smiles are coming naturally now, but Coach Mendoza still reminds DJ to keep smiling, every day. It’s their little joke; a good luck charm; a secret way to trick their brains. And if you watch whenever DJ gets a big hit, he takes a minute to shoot a big smile into the dugout, right at his coach.

Goodnight sport.

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Sources

Shout out to reporting from Zach Braziller at the Post and Phillip Martinez at SNY for the story about Carlos Mendoza telling DJ to keep smiling.

And for some of the science behind smiling and how it affects our emotions check out this piece by Nicole Spector and some of the research lead by Stanford scientist Nicholas Coles

Art & Illustrations

DJ and the Bubble Gum hat courtesy of the Cup Of Mets podcast design team. Check out their podcast and the get some merch (Where’s DJ?)

DJ Stewart Hot Dog Neon created by the incomparable Dan Abrams at Athlete Logos. Check out his site here, or shop for Mets themed T's and mugs at the Queens Collection.

Vocab

A reflex is something that happens automatically, without any conscious thought. Has the doctor ever tapped your knee with a rubber hammer? They are testing your reflexes to see how your body reacts!

Intentional means to do something on purpose, or with by thinking about it first. It is the opposite of reflexive.

More Story Ideas

• Is there ever a time where smiling has gotten you through a tough time?

• What is something that made you smile today?

• What makes you smile when you think about your kids?

• What are some baseball memories that still bring a smile to your face?

Tonight we have a story about reflecting, writing, and keeping a journal. If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post. 

Questions in italics are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

Words in bold are defined in the vocab section after the story.

The man dancing emoji (🕺) indicates a section where you can add kinetic elements to the story. Mime an action and encourage your audience to join in.

And don’t forgot to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun activities and updates.

Happy story telling!

Subscribe now

Pete’s Notebook

(5 minute read)

Before he was drafted by the Mets, before he got the nickname “Polar Bear Pete,” before he set the rookie record for home runs and won back-to-back home run derbies, Pete Alonso was a first baseman at the University of Florida who wanted to get a little better at baseball every day. In order to do that, Pete realized he needed figure out the things that he was doing well, and the things that he needed to improve. He needed to make time to reflect. 

What do you think about when you heard the word Reflect? (You might recognize the word “Reflection”)

You can see your reflection in a mirror, or on the surface of still water. A reflection lets you see if you’ve got some food stuck in your teeth, or if your shirt matches your pants. But you don’t always need a mirror to reflect on something. 

🕺🕺Close your eyes🕺🕺

What did you have for lunch today? Where were you sitting?

Who else was there? What did you talk about?

Were you able to answer most of those questions? Our memory is kind of like a video camera that records all of the things that we experience every day. Even better than a video camera, memories can capture smells, feelings, and thoughts, not just the things we see and hear. But our memories only have so much storage space. Unless it’s something special, we can quickly start to forget some of the details in our “memory videos.”

Do you remember what you had for lunch yesterday?

What about a week ago?

When we think back on a memory, it’s called reflecting, because it’s like looking at the past in a mirror. Reflecting on our memories, helps to make them stronger, and helps make it less likely we will forget. If we really really want to remember something, we need to “back up” our memories by writing them down, or drawing a picture, creating a physical reflection that we can look at again and again.

After every game, Pete Alonso changes out of his uniform, gets something to eat, chats with his teammates, and then finds a quiet moment to reflect. He grabs a special marble composition notebook out of his locker, and then sit down and asks:

“What have I gotten better at? What do I need to change? What do I want to remember?”

Do you own a marble composition notebook?

What do you do put in it?

Day after day, game after game, Pete adds pages to his notebook. He writes down what type of pitches he saw, or the things he did on defense. He’ll note things that went well, and some things that didn’t. And then he’ll close the book, put it in his locker, and head home.

Before a game, he’ll pull it out again. Maybe there is something he wants to look up. Or maybe there is something he is trying to remember. Sometimes, he just reads to see how he has changed and how he has grown.

If I was reflecting about today - what would you want to know about my day?

When you reflect on this week, what is something you want to remember?

Lots of people keep notebooks just like Pete. Sometimes they are called journals, or diaries, but no matter what you call them, they are a chance for people to reflect on their day, their week, and their life, and make a little note so that they can remember. Sometimes, they share these memories with their family and their friends. Sometimes, they are just for themselves.

Goodnight sport.

Share

Join the convo on Twitter

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Sources and Videos

Today’s story comes from excellent reporting on Pete’s Notebook from Tim Britton at the Athletic and Deesha Thosar (previously at NY Daily News, now at Fox Sports)

Art & Illustrations

Today’s illustrations come courtesy of:

Fred Reyes and his dynamic baseball doodles.

Polar bear Pete by the incredible Joe Maracic. Check out his work (and get your own customized toon) at Loudegg.com

Pete and Francisco Doodles thanks to the incredible Baseball Doodler, Milo Krimstein. Check out his non-baseball work on his instagram

and finally, Joe Petruccio who has been doing game recap cartoons of Mets games for more than a decade. Black and white for a loss, and in color for a win. Here’s hoping for some more color over the next couple of weeks.

Stat Chat

A percentile is one way to compare an individual measurement to a group. When you go to the doctor, you will often be given your height, weight, and BMI and your percentile. If your height is in the 30th percentile, it means you are taller than 30 percent of the people your age.

Below is Pete’s Percentile ranking for various statistics from Baseball Savant. What does it mean that his sprint speed is 15th percentile? What about that his HardHit% is in the 75th? You can look up the definition of these measurements in the Glossary at the bottom of the link. Which statistic should Pete focus on trying to improve? What would he write in his notebook to improve that percentile? Would improving that statistic influence other statistics?

Vocab

Capture can mean to catch, or take into possession, but it can also mean to record something. It’s like you are “catching” a picture, or a memory.

Physical means something you can experience through your senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, or taste) as opposed to something that is only experienced in your mind.

Face-off comes from hockey, when two players face each other and try and get the puck that the referee drops between them. It can mean when you are competing directly against someone else.

Additional Activities

Get a notebook and decide on a question with your grown up about your day. Both of you can take a minute and write down your reflection. For some example questions check out this post. If you want to share, take a picture and tag us online!

Follow us on Instagram

Join the convo on Twitter

More Story Ideas

You could tell a story about...

• Have you ever read someone else’s journal? What did you learn?

• Have you ever kept a journal or a record? Consider sharing some entries

• What is an important memory that you haven’t recorded but you would like to? Share the memory with your child.

Share Bedtime Baseball

Tonight we have a story about some of the newest Mets, and what it’s like to root for rookies. If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post. 

Questions in italics are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

The man dancing emoji (🕺) indicates a section where you can add kinetic elements to the story. Mime an action and encourage your audience to join in.

And don’t forgot to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun activities and updates.

Happy story telling!

Subscribe now

The Story: The Baby Mets

(4 minute read)

If you have been watching any Mets games this month, you may have recognized some new names and faces. You’ve already met Brett Baty🤟 and Kodai Senga 👻 (and if you haven’t, well, tonight’s story time might be a little bit longer than usual). You may have also started to hear about Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez. At the beginning of the year, Brett, Mark, and Francisco weren’t on the Big League team and instead, started the year with the Syracuse Mets, one of New York’s Minor League teams. But injuries and opportunities on the Mets meant that one by one, they came down south to New York to make their debut. Because they are so young, Francisco Lindor came up with the name “The Baby Mets,” and it looks like it has stuck.

What are some things you think of when you think of babies?

The Baby Mets don’t wear diapers, they don’t eat baby food, and I certainly don’t think they spend much time crying. So how come Lindor named them “the Baby Mets?” Well, Brett Baty is 23 years old, Mark Vientos is 22, and Francisco Lindor is 21.

Do those ages sound young or old to you?

How many years old does someone need to be in order to be “Old?” (or when do they stop being young?)

Brett, Mark and Francisco are half as old as the Met’s oldest player (Justin Verlander, 40 years old) and as much as eight years younger than Francisco Lindor (age 29).

How old would someone be if they were eight years older than you?

Do you know anyone eight years older than you?

Even though they aren’t really babies, these new Mets are still pretty young. And while they are different from real babies in a lot of ways, there will be some things that are pretty similar.

For example, sometimes babies make messes. In a game against the Washington Nationals, Francisco Alvarez took a lead off of first base that took him a little too far away from the base. The National’s catcher saw him, and whipped a throw to first where the first baseman tagged Francisco out. After all that work getting on base in the first place, he was out, and the inning was over.

Babies are also always learning. Right after he got called up, Brett Baty was chasing a fly ball that was drifting out into the outfield. Looking high into the sky to track the ball while running can be tricky, because it means that you aren’t looking where you are running. 

Have you ever run into something when you weren’t looking?

Good baseball players will use their voices, and sometimes even wave their arms like wild to let their teammates know that they are trying to catch the ball and avoid running into each other. In the minor leagues, with smaller stadiums and quieter crowds, this is easy to do. But in the big leagues, you need to be loud and persistent. On that flyball, Brett wasn’t loud enough - he almost crashed right into the left fielder, who had no idea that Brett was so close. After they play, they had a quick chat, and Brett talked with his coaches and made some new goals. The next time he was chasing a pop-up he called the ball with authority. Everyone gave him his space - no more fly ball accidents.

And sometimes, babies do things that makes you say wow. For his first couple of weeks on the team, Francisco Alvarez wanted to get a hit so bad, that sometimes he swung at pitches way out of the strike zone. It felt like watching a baby try and walk, but continue to stumble. But he just kept at it, and as he settled in, and settled down, and got his feet under him, he started to wait for the pitcher to throw him something to hit, and let the bad stuff fly by. Down three runs, in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs against the Tampa Bay Rays, he didn’t chase a pitch high and outside. The next pitch was right where he wanted it. The Fans went wild. The dugout went crazy. And Francisco’s bat flew high into the night sky. And I don’t know if that home run ball has landed yet. Wow.

When it comes to babies, if you are patient with the messes, you’ll be able to watch them learn. And if you can enjoy watching them learn, you’re really going to enjoy when they make you say wow. Watching the “Baby Mets” grow up is going to be a lot of fun.

Can you guess another baby that I watched make a few messes, learn a lot of new things, and who still makes me say “wow?”

Goodnight sport.

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Sources and Videos

Today’s stories came from watching the games! Shout out to Steve Gelbs for his excellent reporting and Mets’d Up & Til Mets Do Us Part podcasts for some background and context on the players

Art & Illustrations

Babies & The Francisco Alvarez guide to hitting a bomb via the always incredible, always on point Dan Abrams at Athlete Logos. Check out his website and store.

Francisco Grinning via incredible designer and illustrator Kevin González and his comic book style Met’s art

Baty Baseball via Gene Vester. Check out his Orioles art and don’t be afraid to ask for commissions!

Stat Chat

What is young, and what is old? Does it depend on the people around you? The table below is from Francisco Alvarez’s time in the minor league, with his age, and how it compared to each league that he was in. Since his “AgeDif” is negative, it meant he was younger than the average player in his league. What do you think the size of the AgeDif means? Are you younger or older than most of your friends. What does that mean?

Vocab

Big League, Major League and Minor League. Baseball is hard and it takes a lot of work! The Big Leagues are all the teams (and two leagues) that make up Major League Baseball (the Mets are in the Big Leagues) But each Big League team also has a handful of Minor League teams of younger (and sometimes not so young players) who are practicing and trying to get good enough to make the big league team. We will do a whole story on the Minor Leagues soon :)

Track means to follow something or someone. It comes from when we use to look at animal tracks or footprints to try and hunt animals, but is now used to mean following all types of things.

Persistent means to keep doing something, even when it is hard.

Additional Activities

Think of something that you are still kind of a baby at (maybe you are making mistakes, learning, and wanting to make people say wow. Draw a picture of you doing it amazingly, and hang it in your room to help remind you about what you are trying to accomplish. Have your grown ups share your picture and tag us!

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Join the convo on Twitter

More Story Ideas

Babies are a great source of stories. You could tell a story about...

• What is a story you have heard from when you were a baby?

• What is the biggest mess that your baby ever made?

• What is something your child did or does that makes you say “Wow”

Share Bedtime Baseball

Feedback

We are always looking for ways to improve what we are offering! Please share your feedback at bit.ly/BB2Mets

Tonight we have a story about about being a little different. If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post. 

Questions in italics are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

The man dancing emoji (🕺) indicates a section where you can add kinetic elements to the story. Mime an action and encourage your audience to join in.

And don’t forgot to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun activities and updates.

Happy story telling!

Subscribe now

The Story: Daniel Stands Out

(3 minute read)

The world is full of people. All types of people. People who have deep, gravely voices, and people with high, soft ones. People with long hair, and people with no hair. People who like baseball, and people who do not. (Can you believe it?) As you meet these people, you’ll find that in spite of your differences, you still have something in common with almost anyone, whether it’s the color of your eyes, or your favorite flavor of ice cream, or even your birthday. We are all human, after all.

(Wait, remind me, what was your favorite Ice Cream flavor?)

But even if you find someone who likes the same ice cream, shares the same birthday, and maybe even looks like you, you would still discover that there are some things about you that are different. That’s because you, and every one of us, is unique. 

Do you know what unique means?

Unique means to be one-of-a-kind, unlike anything else. And the combination of all of your characteristics and experiences makes you a truly unique person.

[think about some things that make your listener unique]

I think you are uniquely…

What are some things that make me unique compared to other grownups?

Sometimes, being unique, means that you stand out. Daniel Vogelbach joined the Mets in 2022 after a mid season trade. And if showing up in the middle of the year as part of a trade wasn’t enough, when Daniel steps into the batter's box, he definitely stands out. Remember Polar Bear Pete - the guy so big he got his nickname from a POLAR BEAR? Well, when Pete and Daniel stand next to each other, Pete looks more like an polar cub.

Because Daniel Vogelbach is a uniquely big baseball player.

Maybe, if he played football, Daniel wouldn’t stand out so much. He’d fit right in with the other six foot tall, 270 pound lineman pushing people around. But in a sport like baseball, next to guys like Eduardo Escobar, Francisco Lindor, and Jeff McNeil, Daniel stands out. He is not the prototypical baseball player (That’s a fun word, isn’t it? Pro-to-ty-pi-cal)

How do you feel when you stand out, or look different, in a group of people?

How come you feel that way?

Sometimes if someone looks different, people say they don’t belong. Some people used to look at Daniel and say, “Hey, maybe baseball isn’t the sport for you.” They would say that, with a big body like his, he would probably get hurt trying to run the bases. Or that since he can’t jump and spin like Francisco Lindor, he’ll never really be good enough at defense to play for a major league team. Some people even made fun of how he looked.

But Daniel doesn’t let other people decide whether he belongs somewhere or not. He may not be the fastest guy, but he can still run.

He may not be the best defender, but he is willing to put in the work.

Daniel decided that if he was going to stand out for being big, he might as well stand out for some other things too.

Daniel stands out by taking good at-bats. He is so good at taking balls and getting walks that sometimes he even gets to hit leadoff.

Daniel stands out by being a good teammate. He loves to joke and laugh, and make other people feel like they belong too.

Daniel stands out in his bubble gum game. Seriously, check it out.

So while Daniel looks a little different than your prototypical ball player, his size is just one of the things that makes him special.

And when you feel like you may be a little different than everyone else, just remember that the things that make you unique, are the things that make you uniquely you. And that’s what makes you special too.

Good Night Sport.

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Sources and Videos

Grateful for the insights from Daniel's High School Coach in this interview by Corey Brock at the Athletic.

Cody Potanko writes about Daniel hitting leadoff for the Pirates.

Christopher Crawford at VICE sports discusses some of the mold-breaking MLB player's body types and the perceived challenges they would need to overcome.

And, we couldn’t do a story about Vogey without including this gem:

Art & Illustrations

Vogeldoodle thanks to the incredible Baseball Doodler, Milo Krimstein. Check out his non-baseball work on his instagram

Vogelsmash via The Sympathetic Inker. Buy her screenprints/designs or give her a follow for some of her Mets themed illustrations.

VogelHam via the always incredible, always on point Dan Abrams at Athlete Logos. Check out his website and store

Stat Chat

In baseball, if a hitter has the same dominant had as the pitcher, it can give them an advantage because of the way the ball comes across the plate. If you split up a batters statistics against right handed pitchers and left handed pitchers, you can see the difference in a statistic called "Platoon Splits"

Daniel Vogelbach has a career OBP of .817 against righties and .489 against lefties.

What had do you think is Daniel's dominant hand? Why do you think these numbers are so different?

Vocab

A characteristic is a feature, or something that describes a person or thing. 

Prototypical means the first, or most common type of something

The leadoff hitter is the first batter for a team every game. You usually pick someone who is really good at getting on base, so that the next people in the lineup can get some hits and help them score. They are usually really fast, and not power hitters - so Daniel was a unique leadoff hitter!

Additional Activities

What are some of the things that make you, you? What are you most proud of? On a blank sheet of paper, make a drawing of the things that stand out about you. Feel free to share a picture of your drawing on social media and tag our accounts!

More Story Ideas

Daniel Vogelbach stands out in more ways than one. You could tell a story about...

• A time that you stood out for something. What was it? Why did you stand out? How did you feel, and what happened?

• Someone who you remember standing out. Why did they stand out, and why do you remember it?

• Something about your child that always stands out to you when you see them with other people.

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Feedback

We are always looking for ways to improve what we are offering! Please share your feedback at bit.ly/BB2Mets

Tonight we have a story about about a fish, a centerfielder, and walking (or not walking) and appreciating the small things. If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post. 

Questions in italics are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

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Walking Brandon, Running Nimmo

(5 minute read)

On the internet, Brandon Nimmo uses the username “YouFoundNimmo,” because his name sounds like that movie about the fish that gets lost. Do you know which one I’m talking about?

Unlike the clownfish with the lucky fin, Nimmo isn’t very hard to find, especially on the baseball field. With socks pulled up to his knees, and a huge smile which fills the whole bottom of his face, Brandon is a ball of energy flying all over the place. And good thing he has all that energy; as centerfielder for the Mets, he has more space to cover than anyone in the ballpark. Coming in on short fly balls, going back on long ones, jumping, leaping diving, Brandon has to try and get to every ball that’s hit between right and left field. It doesn’t get any easier when he gets off the field to take an at bat. As a leadoff hitter, it’s his job to get on base and dash around the bases as the players behind him drive him in. Sometimes he makes spectacular plays that make me catch my breath. Sometimes he runs so much I think he needs to sit down and catch his breath.

Have you ever run so hard that you had to stop and catch your breath?

What’s the most out of breath you’ve ever been?

But all that energy and movement disappears into stillness when Brandon steps into the batter’s box. If the pitcher throws a strike, Brandon is on it like a shark. But if the pitcher throws a ball, he keeps that bat on his shoulder and watches it whiz by.

“That’s not so special,” you might think, since no one is supposed to swing at a ball outside of the zone. 

But pitchers are tricky.

They throw balls that look like strikes until halfway to the plate, when bottom drops out or they start to slide sideways. Sometimes pitchers try and sneak a pitch juuust outside where the batter can reach it with a bat. If you watch enough baseball, you will see a lot of good hitters make silly swings. Hitting is tough.

Have your eyes ever been tricked into seeing something that was different than what you first thought it was?

People say that Brandon has a good eye, which means he is a tough guy to trick. On those borderline pitches, Brandon does not swing. On the bad pitches, he doesn’t even move. And since he is so good at letting those bad pitches fly by, Brandon draws a lot of walks.

When a batter hits the ball, they have to run, because they are trying to get to first (or further!) before the ball gets thrown to the base. But when a batter watches four balls (AKA four bad pitches) go by, they are awarded a walk, the umpire lets them go to first, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop them. Since it’s a free pass to first base, most batters take their time. 🕺🕺 They unstrap their shin guards and their elbow guards, and their batting gloves and hand them all to the bat boy🕺🕺. Then they jog down the line, relaxing a little bit after a tough at-bat. You didn’t fool me that time. They might think. I earned this walk. After all, it’s called a walk – it’s the one part of the game when you’re allowed to take it slow.

Knowing that he has to run so much everywhere else, you would think that Brandon would take it easy when given the chance. A WALK sounds like the perfect chance for him to take it easy and get a rest, don’t you think?

But Brandon Nimmo does not walk. All that stillness in the batter’s box turns right back into energy when Brandon draws a walk. Almost before the umpire makes the call, Brandon crouches like a bird about to fly and tosses his bat aside. Then in one smooth movement he spins away from the plate and sprints to first. Toss, zoom! Every time Brandon Nimmo gets a walk, without fail, toss, zoom! Sometimes it’s so fast and unexpected that it catches the pitcher and the catcher off guard. Toss, zoom!

How come you think Brandon Nimmo runs to first on a walk when everyone else, well, walks?

According to Brandon, the first reason is “just in case.” When Brandon played baseball as a little kid, every once in a while, that fourth ball would be so far outside that it would get away from the catcher. And since Brandon had already run to first, he could just keep on going and make it to second before the catcher ran back and picked it up. That doesn’t happen as much in the majors, but Brandon still likes to run, just in case.

Is there anything you like to do, just in case?

(Using the restroom before long car rides is always a good “just in case”)

But Brandon has another reason that he likes to sprint to first. Remember how tricky those pitchers are? In baseball, the pitcher usually wins. Even the best hitters strike out, fly out, or ground out more than half the time. So when Brandon “wins” an at-bat – when he can avoid all the bad pitches, and foul off the borderline ones, and avoid putting a bad swing on a pitch he doesn’t like, that gets him excited. And when Brandon is excited, he lets it out by running full speed to first.

What was the last thing that made you so excited that you couldn’t stay still?

Is it ok to be excited about small things, like drawing a walk?

Brandon may draw a walk more than 60 times every year, but you won’t see him walk for a single one. He isn’t gonna take any of his wins for granted. And neither should you. Toss, ZOOM!

Goodnight sport!

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Sources

For tonight’s story, Brandon Nimmo's “walks” to first are the primary inspiration!

But I couldn’t have told you why he runs if not for some great questions but the incredible Steve Gelbs on this episode of “Around the Bases”

Art & Illustrations

Today’s illustrations come courtesy of:

Joe Petruccio who has been doing game recap cartoons of Mets games for more than a decade. Black and white for a loss, and in color for a win. Here’s hoping for some more color over the next couple of weeks.

Incredible designer and illustrator Kevin González and his comic book style Met’s art

Digital artist Jeff Frandsen’s digital card collection

and pop artist Bill Overholser. Check out his sports themed and general pages for a full collection of his work.

If you like an image - let an artist know, and be sure to let them know where you found them!

Stat Chat

Here is a picture of what is called a “Swing Profile” taken from the fantastic Mets Newsletter, Met’s Fix. It compares Brandon Nimmo’s swings on pitches in different zones in the 2021 season. The green outline shows the strike zone. The percentage in each little box is the percent of pitches that passed through that box that a batter swung at. How is Brandon different from the rest of the league? What about that difference might be good? What about that difference might be bad?

Vocab

Borderline means something that is right on the edge of something - like a pitch that is on the edge of being a ball or a strike.

Draw a walk. Draw is often used to mean creating an image, like to draw a picture, but it can also mean to pull something, like to draw a card, or draw a rabbit out of a hat. Batters aren’t really in control of getting walks - they depend on the pitcher to throw balls outside of the strike zone. So we say “the pitcher walked the batter” but “the batter drew the walk,” to say they kind of worked for it, but they also kind of got lucky.

(I think. I actually got really curious about this phrase researching this story and couldn’t find a source for why we saw “Draw a walk.” If you find one, please share in the comments!)

AKA is and acronym for “Also Known As.” Brandon Nimmo AKA Nemo AKA the Walk Machine AKA…

Additional Activities

What is a small thing that you might take for granted but that is worth celebrating? Tell your grown up and have them share in the comments below or let us know on social media.

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More Story Ideas

• Tell about something you used to take for granted but that you celebrate now

• Tell a story about a time that you did something that made you super out of breath

• What’s something you do that might be just a little different than the way that everyone else does it. Do you have a reason for doing it differently?

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Tonight we have a story about about a ball player, his family, and five different ways to say “I love you.” If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post. 

Questions in italics are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

The man dancing emoji (🕺) indicates a section where you can add kinetic elements to the story. Mime an action and encourage your audience to join in.

And don’t forgot to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun activities and updates.

Happy story telling!

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Baty Signs

(7 minute read)

There are all types of signs in baseball. If you catch a coach at the right time, it can appear like they are in a fight to the death with a swarm of bees as they brush their face and shoulders and chest and communicate secret signs to their players in the field (🕺🕺Go ahead and make up some signs for your listeners.🕺🕺) Infielders and outfielders will signal the number of outs to each other to make sure they are on track. Umpires call balls and strikes, 🕺SAFE or OUT🕺. 

But if you were watching the Mets play baseball on August 17th, 2022, you may have seen a sign that you don’t see very often on a baseball field. 

Have you ever seen this sign before? (🕺🕺make the “I love you” sign🕺🕺)

This is how you say “I Love you” in American Sign language.

🕺Do you want to try it with me?🕺

The sign for I love you is actually an acronym - in sign language, the pinky makes the letter “I,” your pointer and thumb for the letter “L,” and the pinky and thumb together make the letter “Y.” You mix them all together and you get “I Love You.”

The player making the I love you sign was the Mets’ third baseman, Brett Baty, and to get the story behind the sign, we need to go waaay back to when Brett stepped into the batter’s box as a four or five year old to play his first game of T-Ball.

Have you ever hit a ball off a tee?

In T-ball, the ball is much easier to hit than if someone threw it to you, because it is just sitting there on the tee, not moving. But even though it’s easier to hit a ball on a tee, it’s a lot harder to hit that ball very far. That’s because, according to a mathematician named Newton, things that sit there don’t like to get moving. A ball on a tee doesn’t have all the speed and the energy of a ball flying out of a pitcher’s hand that the batter can turn around and hit back to the field. Newton’s law says that in baseball, there are not so many hits, but a lot of home runs. In T-ball, there are lots of hits, but not so many home runs. 

Well, five-year-old Brett had never heard about Newton, or his law. So he stepped up to the plate, and with his very first swing, he knocked that ball out of the park. Brett started to run around the bases. Everyone else stared with their mouths hanging open. Everyone, that is, except Brett’s mom. She took off running, just like Brett. While Brett rounded the bases, Mrs. Baty followed the fence, past the infield, around the foul pole to the spot in the grass where the baseball had landed. She picked it up and looked at it. She didn’t know her son would go on to play professional baseball. She didn’t even know if he was going to T-ball next year. But she knew that this home run was special, and she wanted to save the memory for him, and for her. So she put the ball in her pocket and when she got home, she wrote the date and some notes, and found a special place to keep it. Every time Brett would walk past the ball, it was a reminder of that home run. But it was also a reminder how proud his mom was of him, and how she would run all the way around a baseball field to let him know it. In a way, that baseball sitting there was kind of like a secret sign for “I love you.”

Brett kept playing baseball. And he kept hitting home runs. And his mom, and his sister, and his dad kept running after the balls and scooping them up. Soon he had a whole shelf full, and then a whole case. By the time he got to high school, the Baty’s had three cases with over one hundred balls in them. Every* home run that Brett ever hit was in a case, or on the wall. (*well, almost every home run. Mr. and Mrs. Baty admit that a few might have escaped)

Each one of those balls reminded Brett and his family of a specific home run. But they were also one hundred different ways of saying “I love you.” 

Did you know that you can say “I love you,” in all types of different ways? 

Some people say that there are five languages of love. According to these languages, you can say I love with your words, by telling someone they’ve done a good job, or letting them know how much they mean to you. You can say “I love you” by doing something kind or special for someone. You can say “I love you” through gifts, large and small. You can say “I love you” just by making time for someone. And you can say “I love you” with a hug, or a gentle touch. 

What are some of the ways that people have told you that they love you, without saying “I love you?”

The baseballs in Brett’s house were reminders of his family using their words and cheering from the stands. They were his parents cleaning his jersey for him, or gifting him new cleats for a birthday. They were memories of long car rides to tournaments far away, and hours of catch in the yard. They were one hundred hugs, high fives, and hair tousels.

How can you tell someone you love them without saying “I love you?”

Now, back to August 17th, 2022. It was Brett’s first game as a big leaguer. His whole family traveled out to Atlanta to watch him make his debut. Just like hundreds of times before, they sat together in the stands. They watched when he played the field, and chatted between innings. And in his very first at bat, Brett did what Brett does. He hit a home run. The Mets fans in the crowd went wild. His family went crazy. In that big, major league ballpark, Brett couldn’t hear his family over the crowd. He knew they probably wouldn’t be able to hear him either. But he knew that there was more than one way to say “I love you.” 

Goodnight Sport.

I love you.

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Sources

You can watch Brett Baty’s first home run and his family’s reaction here:

For tonight’s story, the traditional game recap of the homerun provided the jumping off point. Thanks to the Athletic’s always excellent Will Sammon.

I also owe the Athletic for the tidbit about the Baty family Home Run ball collection found in this piece by Zach Buchanan which led me to even more detail in this profile by Kirk Bohls of the Austin-American statesman.

And be sure to check out Ralphie Jacobs from Simply On Purpose for a kid based explanation of the five love languages. Ralphie’s blog, social media, courses, and conferences are all great resources for positive parenting.

Finally - if you want to show your kid some baseball signage, it doesn’t get much better than this scene from A League of Their Own. I’ve cropped the scene to avoid some language, but the full clip (and heck the full movie) is great family experience when your littles are old enough.

Art & Illustrations

Today’s illustrations come courtesy of Derrick Tan with the Mets Bat (Baty?).

Post-Homer hug via The Sympathetic Inker. Buy her screenprints/designs or give her a follow for some of her Mets themed illustrations.

And finally, Dan Bolenbaugh, and his Instagram account crap_art_daily where you can find, well, it’s pretty self-explanatory. There are a variety of Mets gems in there that we are hoping to share an highlight in future stories.

Stat Chat

Did you know that every baseball field is a little bit different? The infields all look the same, but everything around that depends on the stadium. Some have high walls, and some low. Some have deep outfields and others shallow. When Brett hit a home run against the Nationals on April 27, 2023, it would have been a home run in 14/30 ball parks. Check out some of the numbers and data from the MLB Home run report (and click the picture to go to a link with an animation). How would these numbers (launch angle, wall distance, height, etc) affect if this ball was a home run or not in different ball parks

Vocab

Acronym is word made by the first letters of a group of words or a phrase. For example, MLB is an acronym for Major League Baseball.

Isaac Newton was an English Mathematician, physicist, astronomer, kind of everything guy who is credited with discovering and explaining gravity and the laws of motion. In regards to T-Ball, his laws say that an object at rest should stay at rest until acted on by another force. In regards pitching and hitting, he said that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

A debut describes someone or somethings first performance or appearance.

Additional Activities

Try practicing the five love languages this week with someone you love. See which one “they speak,” or respond to. Let us know how it goes by having your grown up share an example and tag us!

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More Story Ideas

• Tell about a time that someone told you they loved you without saying “I Love You”

• Share which love language you receive best, and which one you most easily use. Try to find a story to highlight both of them.

• Do you have any physical objects that you keep to remind you of a special memory? What is it and what is the memory?

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Tonight we have a story about a ball player and a foodie. If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post. 

Questions in italics are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

The man dancing emoji (🕺) indicates a section where you can add kinetic elements to the story. Mime an action and encourage your audience to join in.

And don’t forgot to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun activities and updates.

Happy story telling!

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Mark’s Meals

(5 minute read)

What’s your favorite food?

When I pick my favorite food, I usually say something that would taste good anywhere; at home, at my favorite restaurant, or even at a place I’ve never been before. I pick something so tasty that I like it even when it’s cold, or kind of old, or served differently than the way I normally eat it. But my favorite dish? My favorite meal, ever? That would need to be something so special that I can tell you the time and the place and the taste when I took my first bite. It would need to be something that tasted so different, and so good, that it changed the way I think about food. 

Mark Canha is an outfielder for the New York Mets, and he loves good food.

When Mark was a kid, his dad would travel to different countries for work. Mark’s dad would collect recipes from the places he traveled, and when he came home, he would try cooking some of the new foods he had discovered. One day, when Mark was six or seven his dad made risotto. 

Have you ever eaten Risotto?

Risotto is a creamy, Italian, rice dish that is a little like the rice version of Mac and Cheese. You cook it slowly so that the starch from the rice seeps out and makes a creamy sauce that holds it all together. Mark, of course, didn’t know any of that, but when he took his first bite, he did know it didn’t taste like any Mac and Cheese he had ever eaten. It was…different. It was delicious. It was like a door had opened to a whole new world of food that he didn’t even know was there.

Have you ever taken a bite like that? A bite of food so yummy and delicious that you can remember exactly where you were and what was on your plate as you ate?

Ever since that remarkable risotto, Mark has loved food. And not just any food, but good food. In fact you could call him a little bit of a foodie. You would be in good company, because Mark calls himself the “Big League Foodie.”

As baseball takes him from stadium to stadium and city to city, Mark goes out, looking for the best places to eat. He plans his meals out in order to try new restaurants, and old favorites, ordering new things, and exploring new flavors. Sometimes he’ll bring teammates. Sometimes, especially in the offseason, he’ll bring his family. And always, he’ll share a little bit about what he eats on his social media with a picture and a caption.

So what type of food does a Big League Foodie eat? Sometimes it’s fancy, like the French Laundry, a three-Michelin-star restaurant near San Francisco, California where instead of ordering food, the chef designs a meal for you, and a single meal can cost more than $300. Other times it’s a single item, like the Almond Croissant at the Almondine Bakery in Brooklyn. Sometimes it’s a bagel with lox, and other times, he just stays home and works on his meatball recipe, trying to find the perfect mix of meat and flavor to make it taste just right.

There is no shard set of rules for something to be considered “Good Food” by the Big League Foodie. The only rule is that you need to be willing to try something new, and when you find that flavor so good that it makes a mark, don’t forget to share it with your friends.

Goodnight Sport.

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Sources

I know I’ve found a true crossover story when the sources don’t all come from sports publications. For tonight’s story, I was lucky enough to find an awesome profile and list of favorite restaurants written by Deanna Ting at Resy. Similarly, I got a lot of background, and info on Mark’s relationship with food from an excellent interview on the Extra Spicy podcast from the SF Chronicle.

But it wasn’t just food folks - I also read and referenced Mark Bechtel’s , “Mets Outfielder Mark Canha Became a Legitimate Foodie” at SI.com,

and Joe Trezza’s, “Foodie Canha comfy with full count, full plate,” at MLB.com to get details on Mark’s Foodie development.

Art & Illustrations

Today’s illustrations come from a variety of Mark Canha fans from his time in Oakland and New York.

Mark Canha #19 via The Sympathetic Inker. Buy her screenprints/designs or give her a follow for some of her Mets themed illustrations.

Eat Lumpia Mark created by SF/Sacramento based artist LeRoid David for The Lumpia Company in Oakland. Lumpia’s are a traditional Pilipino food (similar to an spring roll) and Mark was a frequent enough customer to get his own sticker when he came back to town with the Mets.

Big League Foodie Bubble Gum & Little League Foodie created by A’s fan and artist, Guy Sliwinksi. Check out his art and merchandise at his store.

Anika Orrock illustrated the image used for Mark’s Resy article and linked above. Check out her website, and if you like what we are doing here, beautifully illustrated books.

Kiss the Cook Mark comes from A’s fan artist Danny Rat AKA Zombie Pencil. (FYI grown ups - in addition to the A’s, Danny illustrates a variety of more adult themed subjects. I would probably not share this link with kids)

And finally the Ess-a-Bagel picture comes from the Big League Foodie himself.

Stat Chat

Mark Canha hits a lot of balls. He also gets hit by a lot of balls. In fact, in 2022, he got hit by 28 pitches, the most hit by pitches (HBP) of anyone in baseball. If you get hit by a pitch, you get to go to first base automatically. Do you think it is better to get a hit, or to get hit? How come?

Vocab

Starch is a long chain of sugars made by many plants and is found in foods like potatoes, bread, and pasta. When humans eat it, our bodies break it down and make energy so we can do things like run and jump and play.

A foodie is someone who really loves food - not just eating it, by trying it, tasting it, paying attention to how the flavors mix together. For a foodie, food isn’t just something to eat, it’s a hobby.

The Michelin Guide was a guidebook designed by a tire company to encourage people to drive on road trips. They identified exceptional restaraunts to include in their guide and warded them one, two, or three Michelin Stars.

These stars are awarded by anonymous inspectors who use the following definition for their rating.

One star - A very good restaurant in its category

Two stars - Excellent cooking, worth a detour

Three Stars - Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

Additional Activities

Mark doesn’t only eat out - he tries his hand at making food too. Plan a new (or old!) recipe to make with your grown up. Take a picture of the final product, and share it with us and Mark with the #LittleLeagueFoodie hashtag. Let’s see what you got!

Twitter: @bedtimeNYM @outtadapakmark

Instagram: @bedtimesportsnym @bigleaguefoodie

More Story Ideas

• Tell about the meals and foods that changed your life. When did you eat it? Where were you? Have you mad it for your kids?

• Tell about a time you tried to cook something, and it didn’t go great

• Share the most interesting foods you’ve eaten - good or bad!

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Tonight we have a story about a pitcher, traveling across the ocean and learning a new language, and a ghost. If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post. 

Questions in italics are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

The man dancing emoji (🕺) indicates a section where you can add kinetic elements to the story. Mime an action and encourage your audience to join in.

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Konnichiwa Kodai

Welcome to the Mets (メッツへようこそ)

(5 minute read)

If you were to take your finger and find Citi Field on a map of the world, and then drag it west, across the whole United States, over places like Ohio and Nebraska and Nevada, you would eventually get to California, where the ocean meets the west coast. If you kept going west, your finger would pass over the Pacific, above Hawaii and below Alaska, until finally bumping into a chain of islands that make up the country of Japan. And on the Island of Honshu, you would find the city of Gamagori, the hometown of new Mets pitcher, Kodai Senga.

Have you ever traveled over an ocean? What is the farthest away you have traveled?

This summer, Kodai made a trip opposite of the one we just took with our finger. He left Japan, where he had worked his way to become a star pitcher for the SoftBank Hawks of the Nippon Baseball League, and flew over the Pacific Ocean and across the United States, to New York to join the Mets starting rotation. He had only been to New York once before, but had dreamed of playing baseball in the Major Leagues; when the Mets gave him a chance, he took it.

Would you ever want to move to a new country? What would be exciting? What would be scary or intimidating?

There are a lot of differences between America and Japan. We drive on different sides of the road. In Japan, people eat a lot of rice and seafood. Americans shake hands when they meet new people, Japanese people prefer to bow. In baseball, the ball is a little bit different between Japan and the US. The pitcher's mound is a different height. They play more games in the Major Leagues than in Nippon Baseball.

All these differences can make it hard to adapt. But the biggest challenge might be the language. Like many people who move to the United States to pursue a dream, Kodai will need to learn English to speak with his new friends, fans, and teammates. He showed off his English when he first was introduced by saying, “Hi, I am Kodai Senga, of the New York Mets. I’m very happy and excited to be in the Big Apple and join this team…Let’s Go Mets!”

Do you know how to speak any languages other than English?

Would you like to learn some Japanese together?

Kodai Senga has a special pitch called “the Ghost Fork.” A forkball is a pitch you throw by splitting your fingers like an extra wide peace sign to make a fork.

🕺🕺Can you show me your fork fingers?🕺🕺

Kodai’s forkball got the nickname “Ghost Fork” because it drops so low that it looks like it disappears. In Japanese, ghost is “O” as in Oreo, “ba” like a sheep, and “ke” like kettle. O-ba-ke. (Try it with me: Obake) For forkball, you just say fork, but with Japanese pronunciation. “Fo” as in foe (but make the o a little long), and “ku” like a cuckoo bird. Fo-ku.

Say it with me: “Obake Foku.”

That was awesome!

Are you ready for a whole Japanese sentence? How about the one that Kodai tried out at his first press conference? Kodai said, “Hi, I am Kodai Senga…Let’s go Mets!” Let’s try introducing ourselves.

🕺🕺Sit up behind the table at your own mini press conference. Get comfortable. Now lean forward so you can speak into the mic.🕺🕺

First say Ko-ni-chi-wa. That means Hello. Konnichiwa

Then say, “Wa-ta-shi Wa” That means I am. Watashi wa.

Then you say your name, and add a “de-su” at the very end. That’s one way to finish a sentence in Japanese.

Finally, say, “Let’s Go Mets!”

You want to put it all together?

Konnichiwa. Watashi wa (your name) desu. Let’s Go Mets!

Learning another language is really hard. There are so many words, and so many ways to put them all together! Kodai will need to work on it all year long, along with his driving, and pitching. Sometimes he will make mistakes. But little by little, he’ll get better and better. And he’ll have lots of friends to help - teammates, his interpreter, and even us - the fans!

We can help Kodai feel comfortable by learning some cheers and words in Japanese. We’ll share new ones on our social media every time he starts. Be sure to have your grownup check it out and you can learn them together.

Do any of your friends at school speak another language? What are some words or things you could learn to say to make them feel more comfortable?

Oyasuminasai, Sport. (Goodnight, Sport!)

Sources and Videos

There wasn’t a single source for tonight’s story - most came from the author’s own experience living in Japan and moving back and forth between Japan and the states. However, both Rob Friedman (The Pitching Ninja) and the Mets’d Up Pod interviews with Kodai provided some background.

Art & Illustrations

With a player like Kodai who has pitched for years in the NPB, I was also able to highlight some great Japanese artists.

wakadaisyo83 has an awesome profile of illustrated portraits - be sure to check out the Japanese players in MLB and Met’s legend Mike Piazza coaching team Italy.

kotaroh_5 does caricatures, predominantly of athletes of the SoftBank Hawks, combined with Japanese calligra. Can you find the other illustrations of Kodai?

Gost Fork Neons and Welcome to NY Kodai illustration both created by the incomparable Dan Abrams at Athlete Logos. Check out his site here, or shop for Mets themed T's and mugs at the Queens Collection.

Stat Chat

According to MLB’s Pitcher Report, Kodai Senga threw 32 fastballs against the Miami Marlins on April 2, 2023. He averaged 96.8 miles per hour (MPH) on this pitch. He threw 26 Forkballs that averaged 84.6 MPH. What is the difference in average speed between these two pitches? What do you think that difference in speed does to a hitter?

Vocab

Nippon or Nihon: This is how you say Japan in Japanese (or as a Japanese person would say, Nihongo). It means “Sun’s Origin” and came from China. Japan was an island to the east of China and it would look like the sun rose out of the islands. In Japanese it is written 日本 .

“Kodai Senga was a star pitcher for the SoftBank Hawks of the Nippon Baseball League

Pronunciation: the way that people say a word. While there might be a “correct” or common pronunciation, different people can say the same word in different ways. Ask a bunch of people to say “tomato” or “data” and listen to what you hear. Sometimes people have different pronunciation because of where they are from, or the other languages that they speak.

“There isn’t an R sound in Japanese, so the Japanese pronunciation of ‘fork’ is ‘fo-ku’

Interpreter: a person who understands two languages and helps people who speak different languages to communicate by translating from one language to the other.

“Hiro Fujiwara is the Met’s interpreter and will change English sentences into Japanese to help Kodai interact with his coaches and teammates.”

Additional Activities

Is there anyone you know who speaks a different language? Use Google Translate to learn how to say something to them in their language and surprise them. Then see if they will teach you a favorite word or phrase. Have you’re grown up share what you decided to learn by tagging us on one of our accounts!

More Story Ideas

• Talk about a time that you had to learn another language, or didn’t speak the same language as everyone around you.

• What is the most interesting place that you have traveled to?

• What is a trip that you took that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it would?

  Thank you for reading Bedtime Baseball. This post is public so feel free to share it.

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Tonight we have a story about a closer, some music, and the benefit of routines. If this is your first time reading Bedtime Sports, (or you need a refresher) check out our "How To" post. 

Questions in italics are designed to spark a conversation. Encourage your audience to participate, but also feel free to answer the questions yourself and incorporate answers into the story.

The man dancing emoji (🕺) indicates a section where you can add kinetic elements to the story. Mime an action and encourage your audience to join in.

Happy story telling!

The Story: Edwin's Trumpets

StatMuse.com

A closer, trumpets, and the best entrance music in baseball

(5 minute read)

At the very end of a baseball game, after the 6th inning (when the people who are "just married to a Mets fan" make us go home if we are at the game) , after the 7th inning stretch when everyone sings "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," and usually, long after you have gone to sleep, the team that is losing gets one last chance, one last at-bat to try and tie or win the game.

And because the other team has that one last chance, most baseball teams find the toughest, nastiest, hardest-to-hit pitcher on their team and save them for that very last inning.

That pitcher is called the closer. When they’re done pitching - the game is over. 

They close the door.

What do you think would make a pitcher so tough, so nasty, so hard-to-hit?

Edwin Diaz is the Mets closer.

He throws a fastball that comes in at 100 miles per hour, and a slider that drops like a rock.

But since he’s the closer, he never actually starts the game when everyone else does. He gets ready just like everyone else, watches all the fans come into the stadium, hears the national anthem, and sees the first pitch like everyone else, but then he sits down, and he waits. Everyone else is running, and pitching, and hitting, and playing, but Edwin Diaz waits. He waits through the first inning, and the second, the third and the fourth, watching to see if the Mets pull ahead. If they’re winning, he’ll wait through the fifth, the sixth, the seventh inning stretch, and right around the eighth inning, the coach in the dugout will get on a special phone, and call out to the bullpen, way out in the outfield where the relief pitchers warm up. Ring, ring. Ring ring. “Start warming up Edwin. You’re about to come in!”

What would start going through your head if the coach called you and said, “Start warming up, You’re about to come in!”

How would you feel if the coach called you into the game?

Do you think you would be excited? Do you think you would be nervous?

In order to be a good closer, you need to be completely focused, so even if you’re excited or nervous, you need to find a way to calm down, a way to get in the zone. Closers will take a couple deep breaths, throw a couple practice pitches, and then when it’s time, come into the game.

But closers can’t just walk into the game. Remember how I said that the bullpen is all the way out in the outfield?

That means that when a closer comes into the game, they need to run all the way from the outfield to the pitchers mound. So most pitchers pick something called an entrance song to play as they run across the field. It’s something to help them get excited, get the crowd excited, and more than anything, the final piece of their routine to get them focused and ready to close the game. When the entrance song comes on, everyone, from the fans, to the batters, to the pitcher themselves knows that it is time to close out the game. 

If you were a closer, what song would you choose for your entrance music?

Edwin Diaz uses an entrance song called “Narco” by Blasterjaxx & Timmy Trumpet. It rocks. Since all this usually happens after you're asleep, do you want to try imagining it together? Close your eyes and picture this:

The players are running on and off the field between innings. The fans are settling in and getting ready for the last half inning of baseball. There’s a little intro beat - dun dada dada, dun dada dada, and then a single, clear, sharp trumpet begins to play, Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo rata doo rata doo.

Do you want to try? Sing it together with me:

Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo rata doo rata doo

That was great! If you’re at the stadium, Mr. and Ms. Met get real trumpets and jump up on top of the dugout to lead the band. The fans around you grab their imaginary trumpets to play along. People start sending trumpet emojis to their friends to let them know it’s Edwin Diaz time. Do you want to try again with an imaginary trumpet?

🕺🕺mimic playing a trumpet. See if your child will play one as well🕺🕺

dun dada dada, dun dada dada. Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo, Doo rata doo rata doo rata doo.

That was awesome. How did that make you feel? As Narco keeps playing, there are more drums and more bass and more trumpets and the crowd get's more and more excited.

What do you think it feels like inside the stadium as everyone is clapping, and dancing, and playing along?

At some point, as the fans play the trumpets and clap to the beat, the announcer will say, "Your attention please, now entering the game, number 39, Edwin Diaz!" And the music will crescendo as the crowd cheers.

The whole time, Edwin Diaz keeps getting ready until finally the music fades out and he’s ready to close out the game.

Whew.

Just like Edwin Diaz, you have all types of routines in your life.

What are some of your routines?

You probably have bedtime routines, wake up routines, go to school routines. These all help us to get ready to do the things we need to do, and help us to focus, and not get distracted. Tonight, I want you to dream about trumpets, and tomorrow, we can try playing “Narco,” or maybe one of your entrance songs as you kick off your own routines.

Which routine do you want to try with a song tomorrow?

I'm excited to try that with you. Goodnight sport.

Sources and Videos

Video & Audio of Edwin Diaz Entrance (with Mr. & Mrs. Mets on Trumpets):

For more reading on Edwin's conversion from starting pitching prospect to closer, and his first entrance song, check out this piece by Eddie Matz at ESPN.

And for a little bit about the Edwin's current attachment to Narco, this piece by Anthony DiComo at MLB.com

Art & Illustrations

Edwin Diaz headshot via Statmuse.com player profile.

Citi Field Illustrated by Brian Callaghan. Prints of various ballparks, athletes, and musicians available on his website.

Cue the Trumpets and The Diaz Neon both created by the incomparable Dan Abrams at Athlete Logos. Check out his site here, or shop for Mets themed T's and mugs at the Queens Collection.

Stat Chat

A Save is when a pitcher comes on and closes the game for a team that is winning by three runs or less. (More or less) It became an official baseball statistic in 1969.

The all time leader in Saves is Mariano Rivera of the Yankees with 652 saves over a 19 year career. The record for saves in a single season (162 games) is held by Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Angels with 62.

This season after 86 games Edwin Diaz has 18 saves, and 191 total in his 7 year career. 

Do you think Edwin Diaz will set a Saves records?

Does getting a lot of saves mean someone is a good closer? Why or why not?

Vocab

Crescendo: (krəˈSHenˌdō/) The loudest point reached as something gradually gets louder and louder. "The music will crescendo as the crowd cheers"

Slider: a type of pitch that "breaks" or moves down and sideways as it travels toward the plate. It's slower than a fastball, but faster than a curveball.

"He throws a fastball that comes in at 100 miles per hour, and a slider that drops like a rock."

In the zone: being in a state allowing you to perform to the best of your abilities without distraction or difficulty.

"In order to be a good closer, you need to be completely focused, so even if you’re excited or nervous, you need to find a way to calm down, a way to get in the zone."

Additional Activities

Coloring

What does your bedtime routine look like? Do you brush your teeth as part of getting ready for bed? What if you played "Narco" every time you brushed your teeth? Download this coloring page and draw a picture of your reflection in the mirror while brushing your teeth. Share your pictures with us on Instagram or Twitter.

Activity

What entrance song would you pick for yourself? How about your grown up? Take a video of your grown up doing a routine with their entrance song in the background, and share it on Instagram or Twitter (be sure to tag us!) With their permission, you could even make a video of yourself.

More Story Ideas

Edwin Diaz uses music as part of his warmup routine. You could tell a story about...

• The music you use for a routine at work, or when you used to play a sport. What song is it? Why did you pick it? How did or how does it help you?

• What's a song that reminds you about a specific thing or time in your life? How come?

• What's a routine that you use to get ready, or get something done? You can do something as mundane as explaining your own bedtime routine - in all likelihood, your kid has never seen you do it!

• What's a routine that you were terrible at (or are still terrible at?)