The Real Baseball Game

It is a little late in the season, late in the spring to be writing an ode to baseball but my son has been away from the game. The game hasn't been on my mind much lately. My son didn't want to play this year. This was the year when the competition started getting more intense. He was a good player and I think he enjoyed it but at his age is when the competition and the type of game changes. It gets more intense.

I miss watching my son play. I think he misses the game but he enjoys his downtime now. And now he can enjoy watching the game. He sees it for what it is.

And I have friends. Friends who have kids. Kids who play baseball.

One friend told me a story the other day about her son and his team. His team gave their parents "the MOST EXCITING game we've ever witnessed", she told me. I guess his team had lost their best all around player a week earlier. He got "promoted to the majors" and it dealt the team "our team a crippling psychological blow".

But I will let her tell it:

"Our team is good, but somehow having this guy really made the difference. Consequently, we got or tails kicked 4-12 in our Thursday night game. The boys were totally demoralized. E*** was so bummed before yesterday's (Friday) game, he told me he expected it would be same (or worse!) because 2 of the 'better' players on our team would not be there. (They went to a Padres' game at Petco [Park].)

Our team was preparing itself for a loss, and for the first few innings it looked as it that would be the case as they trailed 1-7. THEN, A MIRACLE HAPPENED: The bottom of our batting order (where the hitting is less consistent) started hitting everything and their team started bobbling and missing everything! Were it not for the 5-run 'mercy rule', our boys might have really pulled ahead, but it was not to be. Instead, we had to be content to hold the score at 6-7.

The other team came up and started scoring: It was 6-11 and it was time for the other team to be held down by the 'mercy rule'. THIS WAS OUR CHANCE! Could they do it again?

Suddenly the score was 11-11 ('mercy rule' applied), but it looked like we were sunk. The boys were certain they'd lose by one stinking run! NOW WE WERE INTO EXTRA INNINGS!!

The other team was quickly shut down again: Three boys, 9 pitches and 3 outs! YIKES! We were all on the edge of our seats! Could our boys rally once more? Was it possible?

INCREDIBLY... THEY DID! They loaded up the bases and Evan hit a grounder to mid-field, allowing the runner on third to come home and ...SWEET VICTORY!!!! A lot of the moms were in tears--me especially!

It was an incredible win! Not only had our boys beat a team they had not previously been able to defeat, but they did it without their former 'star' player AND without the other two 'better' players. I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!! I DO! I DO!!!!

Amid my pride and astonishment, what came to mind was that this was AMERICA!!!! ONLY IN AMERICA! We could use a couple of great rallies like this ourselves about now!"

From PonderingDave:
I started thinking about why a team would react like that. The boys needed to believe in themselves. They all know what to do and how to do it. They have been told a million times. But they need to see that they can do it. Sometimes we are just the product of the expectations around us. That is why every one says "be positive". They did a great job. They had to. All the "superstars" were gone. Somewhere someone must have told them they could do it.

Yeah. I miss those days.