Sandy Koufax used to live in our house.

Not being a sports girl, I used to throw out this fun fact to sports fans of a certain age. Now it impresses Max.

His new obsession is baseball.

Max at a Reds game.

You learn things from your kids. Through Max’s former obsessions I figured out who Harley Quinn was, grew an appreciation for Diplodocus, and caught up on the more recent Star Wars characters.

Now I know about Big Papi, Billy Hamilton, and Joey Votto. Our summer has involved playing baseball, watching baseball, talking about baseball. (Calvin has a vague interest but mostly for Max’s sake.) He tries and then goes back to his traffic jams.

“I knew Jay Bruce was going to get traded but I’m still sad when I hear about it,” said my little fan.

Our favorite books

I’m ok with Max recording and watching EVERY SINGLE Reds game but I’ve also used his new focus to get him to read.

Here are some of our favorites that even Calvin and I can get into. They are so many inspiring stories about players who have overcome obstacles.

A favorite is I Am Jackie Robinson by Brad Meltzer. (We love all of Meltzer’s We Can All Be Heroes books about famous people and how they overcame challenges – Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln.)

Silent Star The Story of Deaf Major Leaguer William Hoy  by Bill Wise and Adam Gustavson is fantastic and he played for the Reds!

Calvin, Maxfield, and Max at the ballpark!

And don’t forget the female players – The Kid from Diamond Street, The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton by Audrey Vernick and illustrated by Steven Salerno – is a gem.

Sports Illustrated Kids Baseball Then to Wow is a great introduction to the game.

Max found The Love of Baseball in a used bookstore on vacation and could not put it down.

And don’t forget Sandy Koufax – check out You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! By Johan Winter & Andre Carrilho.

If you’re wondering about Sandy Koufax, he lived in our Clifton house when it was a fraternity Phi Lamda Phi and he played for University of Cincinnati. An additional fun tidbit – my friend Annie’s grandfather played with him!