One of the girls on my teeball team attends the school St.
Elizabeth. Every other child her age who
attends St. Elizabeth and plays teeball is on the team we played this
evening. My player is not on that team
because, allegedly, she is a behavior problem and the coach did not want her on
the team. That is just wrong on so many
levels. First, how does the league
permit a coach to be so cruel? I have
been that girl. I know exactly how it
feels to be left out (although for me it never took place on a baseball or
softball field), to be told I’m not wanted and it feels awful. The league should not permit a coach to cause
that kind of emotional pain to one of the players. I understand a coach wanting a team with all
players from his son’s or daughter’s school but then the league should require
that he take everyone from that school. Second,
the coach sends his kid to a Catholic school so the kid can get a religious
education. What would Jesus say about
his decision to reject a fellow classmate?
I seriously doubt Jesus would be on board with it. He was far more compassionate than that.
Considering the anger, frustration and rejection my player must feel, I was not
at all surprised that she did not show up at the game this evening. Seriously, she is six years old. Do you have any idea how difficult it would
have been to face an entire field of players who want nothing to do with
you? For an adult that could be a
traumatic experience, for a child it would be devastating. The coach was wrong to refuse the girl and
the league should never have permitted it, especially when the league proclaims
to put an emphasis on fun. I’m sorry,
but it’s kind of difficult to have fun when you are hurting inside. As for whether the girl is a behavior problem
or not I can’t really say because I have not witnessed any behavior from her
that is drastically out of the ordinary for a six year old.
Anyway, I was
very proud of my son today. This was
probably the best game he has played thus far. Could it be that he is developing an interest
in the sport? Is he just starting to get
a better understanding of what he is supposed to do? Or is it simply that he did
well because the moon is nearly full?
Whatever the reason he played like he wanted to be there and that alone
is a huge improvement. When we took the
field in the first inning he requested to play the pitcher’s position. Of course he wasn’t going to pitch - that’s
what the tee is there for - but it is a pretty prominent position, one that
usually gets quite a bit of action. I
was happy he wanted a position that would keep him busy and I granted his
request. As I expected, several balls
where hit to him and each time a ball came near him he charged it with
enthusiasm, picked it up in his glove , grabbed it with his bare hand, brought
his arm back and then thought really long and really hard about what to do
next. As I screamed to him to throw it
to first, the ball hovered near his neck – he actually resembled a shot-put
thrower more than a baseball player – for a count of three or four before he
finally took a giant step and threw.
Each time the player was long since safe on first, but I was thrilled
that my son was actually playing the game.
One of the balls was hit fairly hard – by teeball standards – and my son
did not hesitate to get in front of it.
Granted he stopped the ball with his body and not the glove, but he got
his body in front of it just like I taught him.
He then picked it up and eventually threw it. Near the end of the inning, when my son
fielded a grounder, instead of following my directive and throwing to first he
threw home. When I asked him why he
didn’t listen he answered, “I threw where the runner was going.” Okay, that made sense and in real baseball it
would have been the proper play, so I couldn’t be too upset that he didn’t
listen. Maybe a baseball instinct, or
two, is starting to kick in.
In one of the later innings, when
my son was playing second base, a ball was hit to center field. My son and two other players charged after it
and all three of them collided with a base runner from the other team. Somehow my son managed to get to the ball
first. He picked it up, ran back to his
position and then threw it to first which, considering the strength of his arm,
was probably not such a bad decision.
Another time, while at second, he and his friend dove for a ball that
landed in between them. My son managed
to pick up the ball first, and then his friend, momentarily forgetting that he
was playing teeball and not basketball, started to wave his hands up and down
to prevent my son from throwing. If it
hadn’t been so frustrating it would have been comical.
At one
point in the game, while my team was in the field, I suddenly heard several
loud voices chanting, “Bee-doo, bee-doo, bee-doo, bee-doo.” (The minion chant from Despicable Me.) Would anyone
like to guess whose voice was chanting the loudest? If you guessed my son, you are absolutely
correct. He and his new friend on the
team were definitely leading that little aside.
And it continued periodically throughout the game. But they were having fun and still managing to pay attention so I did not stop them.
My son
still needs practice batting but he is getting better. The second time he was up to bat he hit the
ball and knocked down the tee. Instead
of running right away as I told him to do, he paused to fix the tee and then
took off for first. The fact that he
still got to the base before the ball should give you some indication of how
slowly things move on the field. But
more than he needs to practice hitting, he needs to practice running. Halfway between bases he will often slow down
to a walk or stop altogether. However, I
suppose when there is no fear of being called out there really is no urgency to
get to the next base.
The game so
totally exhausted my little man that during the drive home he yawned deeply and
then fell into a deep sleep. It’s a good thing he has swimming in the morning
since a bath was not happening this evening.
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