Baseball has almost been the death of me. I am coaching two of my sons on two different baseball teams this year. I have blogged about it before. Last night (a school night) was no different than the rest of the season in that the games were scheduled waaaaaaaaaaaay too late! Jonathan, my 6 (almost 7) year-old had a game at 7:00; with Jonah having his game at 8:00 (yes, 8). Jon's game is scheduled for an hour, and Jones is for an hour and a half (and will start late) so I could make both of the games. This is not the death of me. It is, however, the fact that parents, other coaches and league officials take the game waaaaaaaaaaaaay too seriously. I love ball, but somehow we have missed the fact that it is a GAME and these are kids. There are teaching moments we miss because we want to win, AND see our kids be the all-stars. My stomach gets in knots most nights we have to play. However, two moments came last night that were what the game is all about.
Jonah is doing fairly well in his first season in "kid pitch" ball. It's a new thing with other kids pitching. Some throw hard and some throw soft, but they all throw wild. Last night, Jonah took a hard pitch in his back just under his left shoulder blade. He sucked in a cry (which was impressive), but he could not suck in air. However, in true tough kid fashion he "shook it off" and went to first. He made it to third on a hit and a walk, but then got picked off because he wasn't paying attention (and probably because he couldn't breathe). This time the cry was about to overtake him. He wanted to come out and I asked the question, "Are you hurt or are you injured?" You see, you play hurt; but it's not smart to play injured. He really didn't know, but he wanted to come out. I moved him to the extra hitter position so he would not have to be in the field, and he set down after I checked him for actually rib injuries.
The next time up to bat was the great moment. He struck out, but he stayed in there. He wasn't afraid of the pitch. If you have never played little league ball let me explain... that's BIG! You see, the kids learn that things happen and they get knocked down, but they can get up again. Also, it's not because a coach yells at them and makes them (which I didn't), but because they want to try again. I'm proud of him.
Jonathan's game is were the "I think" comes in. You see, I'm pretty sure I'm proud of him for this, but the competitive side of me thinks, "Don't do that again." Oh, that crazy competitive side!
Jonathan had come into the game to play the "pitcher" position. This player doesn't pitch (it's coach pitch) but will stand in the middle of the infield. Jonathan's good at this position. There was a play where a girl came to bat and hit the ball to Jonathan's position. He got the ball, and didn't throw it to first. Now, at the time, it was probably a close play, and we teach them that if the player is already there they need to hold the ball so the runner cannot advance. It seemed odd at the time but the game when on. While I was at Jonah's game, Jonathan opened up to Holly.
"Mom, when I was pitcher, there was this girl who really couldn't hit. It was sad"
He then proceeds to show Holly how she was swinging the bat. Not making fun, just showing.
"Mom, I thought she was a pretty good runner, so she didn't need to practice that; but she really needed to practice her hitting."
Moment of clarity coming up...
Don't miss it...
"Mom, that one time she actually hit the ball and I got it. She was running pretty good so I just held the ball so she could get on base."
Wow! I'm proud... I think. No, I am proud. This is what little league is all about. Should be what life is all about, don't you think?
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2 comments:
I think we can go ahead and drop the "I think." Awesome stuff, man.
When Cale was playing soccer, there was a dad of one of his teammates who was always standing on the sidelines hollering mean and downright venomous, shall we say, doo-doo.
Once, I went down and stood by him and started yelling in the same angry voice he was using, "Fly, children! Come on! Grow silver wings of glory and fly! You're just not trying hard enough!" Eventually he got the point and threw me a dirty look as he sat down.
We need more Jonathan's out there--and maybe parents should have to watch from a CCTV viewing room.
Verification word: yamwyk
Joe,
There is a crunchy umpire who all are afraid of but I have somehow gotten on his semi-good side. (I don't think he actually has a "good" side).
He actually stopped the game a few days ago to tell a parent they weren't helping their child by yelling at them. It was great. However, it wasn't the same game he slammed his face mask down and cursed because we realized we were playing on the 11-12 year-old field instead of the 9-10 one.
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