My Mom is awesome.

Besides all the obvious reasons like she brought me into this world, fed me, and didn't let me die (even when I tried my best by diving headfirst over my banister when I was 5 leaving a dent in our floor and an even bigger dent in my skull), she is awesome.

She taught me about the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Stones - still among my favorite bands today and I've seen them all in concert, except Led Zeppelin. Note to Robert Plant and Jimmy Page: LET'S GO! WE'RE ALL READY FOR YOU!

She gave me my love of reading - she's a Middle School Librarian. (My baseball book recommendations that you might not have heard of: "3 Nights in August" and "The Last Best League").

But more importantly, she fostered my love of baseball (and sports) by driving me to approximately 10 million baseball practices.

And 5 million baseball games. (She never missed one!)

And that was just baseball season. Then there was soccer season in the Fall, basketball season in the Winter, and golf whenever I had time (which wasn't often).

Besides going to school, doing homework, and making lots of loud noise on the guitar in the basement with my brother on drums, the only think I did with my free time was play sports. And my Mom was there every step of the way to make sure I never missed a practice or a game.

I remember the time when I was 11 that I begged to go to summer sleep-away baseball camp in Virginia while my all-star team was still in the tournament. Somehow, I convinced my parents to let me do both at the same time, and after driving the 2 hours to the camp to drop me off and then driving back home, she then drove back to camp 3 days later to pick me up for an all-star game (God knows how far away that was), watched me play the game, and then drove me BACK to the camp the next day so I didn't miss anymore baseball. Then she drove home and back AGAIN to pick up when camp ended a few days later. Now THAT'S dedication to a baseball career (and love)!

So while I of course sent her flowers, I really just want to say THANKS MOM for supporting my love of baseball every step of the way, even though I know it meant that you didn't get to do anything with your free time for the better part of 15 years other than drive me (and my brother) to baseball diamonds, soccer fields, golf courses, and basketball gyms all over DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

She's now a HUGE baseball fan and goes to as many Nats games as she can during the season. I regularly get text messages from her saying, "Did you see how well Gio pitched last night?" or "Can you believe sent Lannan to the Minors?" and you know what?

That's AWESOME!