Wanna Play Catch…Again?

In 2018, inspired by my daughters, I played catch every day for the entire year.

That year changed my life.

I wrote a book about it, which published in 2020. People read that book and they, too, picked up their gloves and started playing catch.

Like Jason in Oregon and Adam in California.

Like J.D. in Massachusetts and Don and David in New York.

Like Dan in Missouri and Kevin in Iowa.

Like Joe in Bolivar and Travis in Nixa.

Six years later, I’m ready to do it all over again.

This time, I’m focusing my efforts towards two themes: dads and mental health.

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I grew up playing catch with my dad. That’s the metaphor that best describes my childhood.

I remember the field he took me to when he taught me how to catch pop-ups. I remember the times of playing catch in the street, dodging cars, and playing catch in the backyard, ducking under tree branches. I remember when my fastball finally warranted the purchase of a catcher’s mitt, and going shopping for one while we were on a family vacation. And I remember the last time he took me shopping for a new glove, back when I was a sophomore at Kickapoo High School. I stood before a wall of gloves at Bass Pro Shops and dreamed of playing for the Kansas City Royals.

What I remember most about playing catch with Dad is this — every time I asked, he said yes.

Every single time.

When I think about growing up, I remember a dad who wanted to play catch with me, who wanted to spend time with me, who wanted to find a way to encourage me as I chased my dreams, not force me to choose his dreams.

The United States has been declared the world’s leader in fatherlessness – almost 18.5 million children grow up without their dads playing an active part in their lives.[1] Said another way, 43% of the kids in the US grow up without their fathers. A couple more quick statistics:

63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes;
71% of high school dropouts lack engaged fathers;
85% of incarcerated youth don’t have fathers present in their lives;
90% of homeless and runaway youth lack engaged fathers.

As we witness in the movie Field of Dreams, playing catch is an activity that is associated with one’s dad.

Playing catch is an exercise that develops trust, teaches empathy, encourages curiosity, opens lines of communication, makes meaningful memories, and keeps us grounded in the present.

This year, I want to encourage dads across the country to consistently spend time with their children playing catch.

* * * * * * * *

Playing catch is fantastic for the brain.

We live in a culture that is play-deprived, depressed, anxious, lonely, and always digitally distracted.

According to Dr. Stuart Brown, the founder of the National Institute for Play, “The prevalence of stress-related diseases, interpersonal violence, addictions, and other health and well-being problems can be linked, like a deficiency disease, to the prolonged deprivation of play.” We don’t play enough, and it affects our relationships, our physical health, and our mental health.

A recent study of Greene County revealed that more than half the men over the age of 25 have had suicidal thoughts in the last 12 months. They are depressed, anxious, and alone. They don’t feel like they have anyone to talk to. And that’s typical of men across the country. Playing catch creates an opportunity for men to talk to each other, and that literally can make all the difference.

Researchers at UC-Berkeley wrote, “The mind, brain, and body are interwoven. Physical activity exerts a stimulating influence on the entire brain that keeps it functioning at an optimal level.”[2] The act of throwing and catching develops into a natural rhythm, a form of mindful meditation, a sense of “flow,” to quote from Mihaly Csikszentmihalhi, relieving anxiety and releasing endorphins the opposite of depression.

Playing catch is a noble effort to engage a depressed, lonely, and distracted culture.

Dr. Brown stresses, “We are built to play and built through play.” The whole point of playing catch is to throw the ball one more time. It’s not about how hard you can throw or how far you can throw. Oliver Burkeman, author of the book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, wrote, “We might seek to incorporate into our daily lives more things we do for their own sake alone — to spend some of our time on activities in which the only thing we’re trying to get from them is the doing itself.”

* * * * * * * *

So, this catch-playing year, I’m partnering with Good Dads. Good Dads began with the mission of helping all communities, large and small, to begin an initiative to support responsible father engagement. More good dads mean stronger schools, safer communities, and more robust economies.

Dr. Baker, who founded Good Dads in 2015, says, “If we really want to help kids and communities, then we must do something different. We must help fathers be all they were intended to be. We must help them be more engaged with their children in meaningful ways.”

Good Dads is making a difference in communities across Missouri.

I want to encourage dads to play catch with their kids. And I want to encourage dads to play catch with other dads. And I want to encourage people who have never touched a baseball to play catch with seasoned baseball lovers. And I want to encourage people to make new friends through playing catch. I am convinced that if more people played catch on a consistent basis, this world would be a better place.

There is one final reason I want to play catch every day in 2024, and it’s a purely selfish reason: I like the way playing catch shapes me as a human being. When I play catch, I pay closer attention to everyday life, to the people I’m with, and worry less about tomorrow’s unknowns. Joy and wonder and laughter accompany almost every game, as do delightful and serendipitous connections. Playing catch helps me appreciate the gift of today, stepping into sacred thin places, and encourages me to take a few risks to discover new friends.

Dr. Tom House is probably best known for being the person who caught Hank Aaron’s 715^th homerun in April of 1974. In the summer of 2022, Dr. House said, “You can change someone’s life with one game of catch.”