I recently wrote a light piece about the Little League kids we coach and how these 8 year olds treat each game like the Majors. It was called WHY TO LITTLE LEAGUERS, IT'S THE PROS. It’s a fact of life. The whole point of it was to explain how these kids operate like grown professional athletes, but the way they execute offers us parents total humor. Of course, describing my kids strikeout and fist pump allowed some moron to make a negative comment:
Clearly he missed the point of the piece and probably needs to read it again. 8 year olds don’t care about ERAs, they just want to look like a pro and play like them.
Our guys won our first playoff game a few days back and it was a game they shouldn’t have won and if I told you in ended in dramatic style, you probably wouldn’t even believe me, but it did. I’m talking 95+ heat and humidity in the afternoon on the nicest field in the area. It was a tie ballgame until the 8th (they only play 6 innings in little league) and once they scored in their part of the 8th, they shut down the home team in their last licks inning with a dramatic left field catch by my son and 2 strikeouts by our pitcher. These kids looked like they just won the World Series.
I made this point last week and it’s worth repeating, to watch these kids play ball from the beginning until now is amazing. They’ve transformed into true ballplayers. As a coach, you are proud of them, but as parents, it’s the greatest memory in sports. That day, I wished to have my little guys catch on tape, but of course, I missed it, I only have the memory. It was awesome to see his teammates running over to high five him after the play. We had to yell, "Hey, the game's not over!"
As each day comes and goes, the memory fades ever so slightly but I try my hardest to remember the moment again and again. My son’s been talking about it for the past 72 hours now, but for a father, it’s extra special, I don't mind him re-telling it to me, although, each time he tells me, it becomes more and more dramatic.
I wrote WHY JETER IS EPIC FOR 1 GOOD REASON and in it I talked about how in 1 game, my son knocked a double and 2 runs scored to put his team in the lead, and we had a moment, looking at each other. He looked into the dugout after that catch this past week and after the excitement and commotion, and after I gave him the thumbs up, I realized that this kid is something else. He loves the game, he worships the pros, he wants to be one of them... they all do. For crying out loud, this is a baseball team now and with their next playoff game coming up, they are hungrier than ever. They know they have a chance… and that’s baseball isn’t it? You just never know what’s going to happen, you just have to play your best and never give up.
Yeah…I know... I gush over my son. For good reason, because he’s no longer just my son anymore, he’s also a God damn ballplayer, and you know what? He’s damn good, that’s why.
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