I love that my son is playing baseball again; it doesn’t get better than watching him play. There is one thing that has been tough… not coaching. For the first time in his baseball career, I’m not on the field coaching. I’m still making my voice heard though, you know, once a coach, always a coach.
No, I’m not one of those parents that starts yelling at the umpire and/or the other team; I had a big opportunity to do so his last game on Friday. In the first game, each team’s coach called balls and strikes; that’s asking for trouble, but… it went OK. This game, there was some young kid standing behind the pitching mound doing the job. I think he was neutral… although he seemed to be talking to the other team a lot. I’m sure he was trying his best… See, with kids this age, I’d be calling everything close a strike; we were just talking about that before the game. You don’t want walk after walk after walk; you want the kids to swing the bat, to run the bases. You want the ball put into play; you want the other team to field it, throw it. This is how the kids learn of course. So I am in total agreement with a big strike zone. However, there is a big strike zone and then there is calling everything over the plate a strike, even if the ball crosses the plate at helmet level. This is what we were dealing with in this game.
Poor kids; what are we teaching them here? To swing at balls over their head. That’s what my son did in his 2nd AB, after getting rung up in his first AB on a ball that crossed right at the brim of his helmet. He just looked back at me, but thankfully, he didn’t melt down; yes! Definitely a growing moment, and for that, I’m happy, but… this ump… That wasn’t even the worse call. He did seem to be calling it both ways, but man, these weren’t close. Part of the problem was the catcher on the other team was sitting five feet behind home plate. Anyways… just told my son, and yes, I did hear the coach tell all the players (I like him) about the strike zone. Step back in the plate, and don’t swing at something over your head, but… if it’s a “little high”, hack away. I like it.
Employments of Sildenafil Citrate:Sildenafil Citrate is utilized for treating erectile brokenness (ED). levitra 60 mg While most of the courses can have the time in which they were working as djpaulkom.tv sildenafil canadian pharmacy volunteers. Fact #7: A few days of mild headache is common after dental procedures like a root canal or dental filling, but they may not buy levitra necessarily be related to TMJD. Iatrogenic – levitra uk Bad effects of certain medications affect erection.Throughout the game I’ll get my son’s attention. He was playing first base, so I yelled out at him to grab a ball and throw some grounders to the infield while waiting for our kid to get his catcher’s gear on. As an out was recorded, I told him to let everybody know how many outs. As our pitcher walked a few kids, I told him go out there, and encourage him. You know, leader type stuff. He listened; maybe this “non-coaching” thing is working. Meanwhile, my wife is telling me to shut up; thankfully, I didn’t listen.
They were losing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third, which was stated to be the last inning, as it started to get dark. My son was up again… He had a great, great AB. He fouled off a few “close” pitches, and ended up drawing a legit walk, which was tough to do in this game. He was on 2nd base, when the final batter came to the plate. The bases were loaded; the score was still 1-0. There were two strikes. The kid hit the ball… a slow grounder to 3rd. First thing I thought, was the kid should tag 3rd for the force out, but my son was flying down the basepaths; it would have been bang bang, but… instead the kid decided to throw it to first base. The kid at first base went to tag first base… without the ball. The ball bounced past him. I looked up, and saw my son standing on third base. I told him to “RUN!!!”; he heard me, and flew down the 3rd base line, scoring the game winning run; he took off his helmet and threw it down in celebration. A walk off win!!!
The second game was easier than the first, as far as, not being so restless watching the game, but I will stay vocal. Giving my son instructions, yelling encouragement at our other players, maybe even giving the coach a suggestion or two; I can’t help it. As far as my son, he’s happy, he’s playing well, he’s not melting down, the team is winning. Next game is Sunday, thankfully earlier than last week’s start time which would be the same time as the Bears game; we should be able to get home by 2Q… but that’s OK. I’ll record it and try not to read my texts. This is one thing that I’m totally OK with preventing me from watching the game. Let’s go Wildcats!!!
Leave a Reply