Fathers and Sons and Blah-blah

 My, my, this Adam LaRoche thing has really taken off in the past 24 hours.  It seems that LaRoche decided to retire after White Sox vp Kenny Williams asked him to cut back on bringing his 14-year old son Drake to games.  From what I gather, the family last year had arranged it so the boy could be away from school for extended periods to go to the ballpark with his father, whether home or away.  Basically, Williams wanted the kid’s ballpark appearances to be cut in half, at a minimum.

I don’t blame LaRoche for reacting how he did, and I don’t blame the Sox for asking, though they could have done better due diligence when they signed the veteran first baseman, who had his son around a lot when he played with the Nationals.  Williams says he wants the focus to be on winning, and that’s fine.  Maybe now the Sox will cut down on the kiddie stuff between innings at the Cell.  I want to see the game, not 10-year olds in a footrace.

This wouldn’t even come up with other sports.  For openers, who’d want to hang out at Halas Hall?  A kid could get crushed (or threatened by Jeremiah Ratliff).  Bringing your son to practice would almost constitute abuse.  With basketball and hockey, the players can barely take care of themselves, let alone others.  As ever, baseball is the sport closest to the real world, which leads me to ask.  Adam LaRoche has a 12-year old daughter who plays softball.  Why didn’t he want her at the ballpark, too?