MVN - Most Valuable Network

A No-Brainer Dodger Holiday Gift

Hey You Christmas-Shopping-Dodger-Fan-Parents, we’ve finally got a gift for you.

The Holiday Season is here, and you want your son or daughter to become a lifelong Dodger fan just like you.

What are you gonna do?

Go ahead, go out and buy your kid a Dodger T-Shirt that she’s just gonna grow out of in less than year. Try a pennant that will just get ripped or lost in the next few months, or go out and a mold a Dodger Fan with our own bare hands.

I’ll preface this by saying that I remember exactly when I became a Dodger fan. And that’s why this idea struck me so hard.

It was early on in my life and I was just beginning to read. Every night my mom and dad would either read me a story, or they’d sit down with me and help me through a book that I was reading myself.

What do you want to read tonight Aaron? What’s your favorite story?

“Teammates.”

It was a children’s book about Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese that turned both these guys instantly into my Childhood heroes, even though they had been out of the game for decades.

I’ll never forget that book; I still have our original copy. I’ve bought numerous other copies to give out to the Sports Kids of the World, and to this day both my parents will still say that’s my favorite book of all-time.

Karun Naga and Tom Garcia, have created “Daddy’s Heroes,” their slogan says, “Unforgettable Sports Moments to Share With Children.”

The goal is not only to get kids learning about their (parent’s) favorite sports stories, but also to get Daddies, and Mommies too, to get hands-on with their child’s education.

They’ve come out with one book so far; one story in all of sports that they obviously must have felt connected to. Guess what it is?

Got it, “Gibby’s Homer The 1988 World Series” is the title of the picture book.

It has wonderful illustrations from Jenifer J. Donnelly, and uses words that kids can understand, while still trying to keep it’s basis in Sports and the Gibson Story we all know and love.

Not much different from my favorite story, this book turns Gibson and Tom Lasorda into heroes, while making “Muscle-Bound Mark,” “Heavy-Hitting Jose,” and “Awesome Eck,” a different form of the enemy.

I have a copy of the book, and I found it to be interesting and clever myself, but the only thing I could think about is the look on a young face hearing this story for the first time.

See, kids don’t really understand the difference between reality and fiction just yet, and even though they obviously can’t fully grasp the importance and significance behind that Home Run, they’re definitely smart enough to listen to a story and react when something great happens.

Especially when it has the build up that this story does.

If that’s not enough for you, the Box Scores from all five games are on the Inner Back Cover, just for a reminder.

It’s an easy gift to get for kids and for yourself.

If nothing else, support the cause so they can come out with more awesome sports stories for the rest of the sports fans in the country.

Better hurry up and read this story to your kid before someone else hands them the tale of Robbie Thompson, or Joe Morgan.

Check out the website.

Happy Holidays. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 4:44 pm and is filed under Kirk Gibson, Daddy's Heroes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.