Opening day for Adam’s Little League team was last Wednesday…erev Passover. He did not play. He was sad about that, but he got over it. The Orioles won that evening 9-3. Friday was game two. They played the guys in green…the Diamondbacks? At this point in Adam’s baseball career, we know so many of the kids as he’s been in the same league now for some six years. He was on the Orioles last year in the majors and on the same team for two years before that in the minors. Just like all parents, we dread/enjoy all games as it’s cold out there.
Last night, one parent on our team was bundled up and on his computer as he watched the game. It was so Northwest. Okay, back to where I was going.
The kids lost the game on Friday and were itching to win last night. What is particularly enjoyable this year is that there are seven kids on who were on the Orioles last year. Last year, the Orioles were the powerhouse team — out of the park homers nearly every game and a wonderful cast of boys who have moved on to bigger baseball teams now. Our kids were the newbies and they were learning a lot. They got to ride along with the bigger guys and this year, it is a joy to watch them because:
All teams seem better balanced
Melvin, Andre and Adam have been on the same team now for four years running and they are really relaxed together. The rest of the guys from last year …. Jake, John, Kevin and Buick (who is on injured reserve for now) are so relaxed. The joy of watching sixth graders at Little League is that they truly enjoy the game and enjoy eachother and the little guys who joined them — Thomas, Joe, Jack and the older ones who joined them –Zach, JT — they are all starting to gel and last night’s game which is where I was going before I began all this rambling was so fun.
It would have been a hard game to lose for either side as it was 8-8 in the last inning and both teams fought really hard to win. Here were highlights for me:
Adam pitched first three and a half innings and did well. At his last pitch, he turned to Andre and smiled because he had two strikes on a kid from the Cardinals. When he threw, he lost control of the ball and it “clunked the kid in the head” and Andre burst out laughing and so did Adam and it was so fun to watch. Then Andre took over and it took him a few pitches to get it going, but he did and it is a total joy to watch these kids just play. Thomas went home in the middle of the game because he was throwing up, but you have to appreciate his commitment. I was sitting next to a mom who was hoping her younger one would get through his “jitters” and he did just fine. All in all, it was a tremendous game to watch. I love watching the little guys’ faces as they come around to home plate. I love watching the little guys when a ball is called because they were actually a little to scared to swing. But what I really love is when the older guys don’t have all of those emotions on their faces as for them it’s all in a day’s work. Anyway, it was highly entertaining and the hot tub was waiting when we arrived home.