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TORONTO -- I have two sons. The first one, Charley, is 10 years old and a nerd. He loves books. The second one, Sam, is 8 years old and a jock. I dont think he can read.Charley has autism. Im not sure if all kids with autism are the same (probably not, because no two kids with autism are the same), but Charley doesnt understand spohe object of the game is to put the ball in the other teams net. But Charley doesnt understand why anyone would play sports, and he really doesnt understand why anybody would bother watching other people play them.Im always a little flummoxed when he asks me to explain it. There isnt much of an answer except: Its fun. Sports are fun, Charley, I say, and he looks at me with pity and hands me another book to read him as though he has to show me what Ive been missing.Sam knows that Charley is a little different, but he thinks Charley has something called optimism, and Ive never had the heart to correct him. Sam doesnt just understand sports. Sam was born believing in sports the way Charley believes in books and everything in them. Charley believes in dragons and ghosts and fairies. Sam believes in keeping score.The only toy I can remember him playing with, at least with any regularity, was a ball. I have pictures of us playing soccer together when he wasnt yet 2. (He sucked. I crushed him.) Golf entered the picture, then baseball, then hockey, then basketball. Im pretty relieved that he doesnt seem to like football, but I expect thats just a matter of time. I caught him watching darts the other day.He is a natural athlete, and when he isnt playing sports, he wants to watch them or talk about them or, worst comes to worst, think about them. He has an enormous head, both literally and egotistically, and I swear its because there are so many sports and he cant stop thinking about them all and how great he is at whichever one he decides to play in that moment.That has led to a different strain of parental flummoxing.Because I love sports, too, and its so easy to play catch with your kid or coach his soccer team or take him to the driving range and pretend youre the father of the year. Sports parenting is the cheapest kind of parenting, because its not really parenting at all. Its like being a kid again and your best friend is this other kid who you love more than anything. Its perfection.But there is so much more to life than sports. I know that. Charley knows that. The trouble is, those other things arent dragons and ghosts and fairies. They are hard and complicated and sad and real. More and more the world seems like a place that isnt much fun anymore, and its especially not much fun for grownups.So here is what Ive decided to do, as the flummoxed father of simple sons. Im going to read books to Charley, as many as I can. And Im going to watch sports with Sam, as many as I can.On Saturday, we woke up and turned on the TV to watch Liverpool, Sams team, dismantle Hull in the English Premier League. Then we drove into Toronto with some friends, and I took him to his first professional soccer game: Toronto FC against the Philadelphia Union.It was, to be kind, some garbage football, but Sam was open-mouthed most of the time. He couldnt get over the thrill of the grass, or the view from our seats of the lake, or how far the goalies could kick the ball in real life. Toronto scored a nice goal semi-late to tie it, and Sam jumped up so high that he missed the ground on his way back down and fell into the seat in front of him.Then, because this life is just the purest sort of blessing and still works out beautifully sometimes if we let it, we caught a train one minute after that game ended that took us back downtown, where Canada was playing Russia in the World Cup of Hockey at the Air Canada Centre. It was Sams first hockey game, too.We were in our seats seconds after the opening faceoff, and the first hockey goal Sam ever saw in the flesh was Sidney Crosbys steal and finish to give Canada the lead, 1-0. It happened less than 100 feet in front of his wide eyes, and his arms shot up as though hed been electrocuted. Then we ate popcorn and watched Canada go on to win.This is the funnest day ever, Sam said toward the end of it, and it was everything I could do to keep my chest from caving in.Now Im sitting in the dark, listening to him snore in the hotel bed beside me. His head barely fits on the pillow. Charley is at home with his mother, dreaming under the pile of books that he uses as a blanket.I used to think it was my job as a parent to show my boys the world, to introduce them to every last one of its wonders, to make the planet and its possibilities seem as big as possible. Ive come to think its up to them to find that out on their own. My job, when they find something they love, is to tell them that their love is wise and justified, and I love those things, too, and Id love to do those things with them for as long as they will let me.Not every day can be the funnest day ever. But today might still be pretty great, if we spend time with the people we love doing the things they love. 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HOUSTON -- Collin McHugh pitched considerably better Wednesday night than his previous time out.Still, with Houstons offense still sputtering, the season-high three home runs McHugh surrendered doomed the Astros.Josh Donaldson hit two home runs, and Marco Estrada threw seven solid innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Astros 3-1 on Wednesday night.McHugh (7-8) allowed three runs and six hits with 10 strikeouts in six innings.Stuff wise, most of my pitches were there for most of the day, McHugh said. Early on we kind of settled into a little bit of a groove and felt pretty good.The right-hander was coming off his worst outing of the season Friday when he allowed eight runs in 1 2/3 innings of a 14-6 loss to Detroit.He had a rough last game, so I think he came out with the a little bit of an edge, maybe a chip on his shoulder, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. He had a ton of conviction early in his pitches.Jose Bautista hit his second home run in two nights in the sixth as he and Donaldson went back-to-back.Donaldson led off the fourth with a home run to right field before hitting his 27th home run of the season in the sixth. It was Donaldsons third multi-homer game this season.Home runs are kind of accidents, McHugh said. They could have easily been doubles or singles if its an inch higher or an inch lower. They found barrel on fastballs and it got out of the park.Marwin Gonzalez, who had missed the past four games with a right hand injury, had a double in the sixth. Altuve followed with an RBI double to cut the lead to 3-1.Houston has lost five of its past six gam