Watch Rockies' Rene Lachemann give life lessons to young Phillies fan - Los Angeles Times
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Watch Rockies’ Rene Lachemann give life lessons to young Phillies fan

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For many young baseball fans, one of the biggest thrills in the world is to bring home an actual ball from a big league game.

You should’ve seen the mass of humanity I had to wriggle out of as a lad just to emerge with a foul ball back at Three Rivers Stadium in the ‘80s. But I still cherish it to this day.

So imagine how nice it must have been for a young Philadelphia Phillies fan to simply have a ball handed to him at Citizens Bank Park last week. No wrestling, no struggle, nothing to endure whatsoever.

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Well, maybe not. The ball was handed to him by Colorado Rockies first-base coach Rene Lachemann, a Los Angeles native and 48-year baseball veteran who has a tradition of handing out baseballs to young fans.

With a catch -- they also have to listen to a lecture on life’s lessons.

Check out the video below from Comcast Sports Nets in Philadelphia. As the boy is admiring his souvenir, Lachemann suddenly thrusts a finger right in the child’s face: “Hey! Don’t you be lying to me -- you listen to your mother and father?”

The confused young man nods and is then forced to listen to a lecture on such topics as taking out the trash, lifting the toilet seat, cleaning his room, not getting a cellphone or playing video games, eating vegetables, doing homework, etc.

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Broadcaster Gregg Murphy said Lachemann, a father of two and grandfather of three, has been doing this since 1994 as a way of forging a lifelong love for baseball in youngsters.

And perhaps a lifelong fear of opposing teams’ first-base coaches.

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