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NewsCut
Bob Collins

For a father and son, high school is all about baseball

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Princehoward Barbecue Yee, of Falmouth, Maine, made a federal case last year out of his insistence that he be allowed to play baseball at Deering High School, which is in another school district from his residence.

The principal there was convinced young Barbecue was only interested in baseball. And why not? He's ranked as one of the best baseball players in the state and had been home schooled for much of his youth.

His father, who once spoke disparagingly of the school's academics, according to the principal, sued.

But a federal judge refused to force the school to let the lad play, noting there's no constitutional right in Maine to play interscholastic sports.

This year, he can play for his high school team.

He doesn't want to anymore, the Portland Press Herald reports.

“I’m not saying (high school baseball) is a waste of time, it’s just I would rather train a lot harder, more reps and stuff, to get ready for the summer,” he said. “The summer, I go down south, and in the fall I’m going to a couple more camps at colleges, so I have to prepare for that.”

In other words: it actually is all about baseball.

Yee, 16, throws 86 miles per hour, but his future is as a catcher, and he wants a career in the sport, even though he's played only four varsity high school games in his career.

“Yeah, we set our goals high,” his father says. “I mean, maybe he’ll fall short, but we won’t know until we try.”

The Press Herald asks the appropriate question: Is a future in baseball Barbecue’s dream or his father’s?

“Actually, it’s a family dream to be honest,” Barbecue said. “My brother takes time off of his school to travel with us, it’s also his dream. My dad’s spending the resources, and I put my effort into it. And if it pays off, great. But if it doesn’t, it hurts.”

“I’m a single parent. It’s just the three of us. It’s really the bonding experience,” Howard Yee said. “The lifestyle is kind of unorthodox. And the thing is, it’s not really the goal itself, it’s the journey of that experience of bonding together as a family.”

There's no Plan B, apparently.

(h/t: Dave Draeger)