Last Friday, while taking in my sister’s high school softball game, I had the pleasure of playing catch with a young man whose sister was also a member of the team.

Mike and I tossed a ball around for a while and got to talking sports. This third-grader suprised me with his knowledge of current sports events. It was a nice change to hear some young commentary about the sporting world.

He got on my good side by first complimenting me on my jacket, an authentic New York Mets model. He’s also a Mets fan, which made a good impression on me.

“Tim Teufel is a moron,” Mike said about the Mets’ baby-faced second baseman. “And I don’t like Darryl Strawberry—he’s a jerk.”

I’m sure he stands in the majority about Strawberry.

Since he had only named the players he disliked, I asked him to name some of his favorite Mets.

“Len Dykstra,” he said, echoing my choice.

We moved back to the Chicago area to talk about the Cubs, only because the North Siders make more headlines than the White Sox.

“I like (Mark) Grace and (Damon) Berryhill,” Mike said. “Jody (Davis) was never any good.”

Mike also expressed his disapproval of The Trade last year which sent Jamie Moyer and Rafael Palmeiro to the Texas Rangers for three apparent no-names.

“The Rangers should be great this year—thanks to the Cubs,” he said.

is prediction looks correct, the Rangers are 11-2 and on top of the A.L. West.

We switched over to college hoops, where he stated his allegiance to the Fighting Illini. He was also glad to see a small team like Seton Hall make the Final Four.

At this point, I could have bragged about being the only member of the Star sports staff to pick both Michigan and Seton Hall in the finals and Michigan to win, but I didn’t.

On the pro hoops side, he’s a local boy, a Bulls fan.

I brought up the recent fight between Bill Cartwright and Detroit’s Isiah Thomas, and it reminded him of the trade that last year sent Charles Oakley to my team, the New York Knicks, in exchange for Cartwright.

“Now they (the Bulls) have two old fogeys in there with Cartwright and (Dave) Corzine,” he said.

is next question caught me off guard.

“Do you like ice hockey?” he asked.

Not many eight-year-olds, much less many adults, are interested in hockey.

I said “yes”, but told him that my team, the New York Islanders (don’t get me wrong, I don’t like all New York teams, I am a Bears fan), didn’t even make the playoffs. That in itself is a pretty hard thing to do, given the NHL playoff format.

He is a Blackhawks fan and we both agreed that the Hawks looked good in their first-round playoff upset of the Detroit Red Wings.

It was fun to talk with someone so young that knew more about sports than most people twice his age.

Mike, an aspiring second baseman who fields ground balls with an uncanny resemblance to Ryne Sandberg, was eagerly awaiting the upcoming draft in his baseball league. This will be Mike’s last year before becoming a major leaguer.

Good luck in the draft, Mike. And if you ever want to throw the ball around and talk sports again, I’ll be home in a few weeks.