My eight year old grandson, Jaxson, is playing his first "real" baseball this year. He's played T-Ball and the YMCA league, but this year he's playing in a league where they actually keep score, there are winners and losers, and the coaches are trying to teach the importance of fundamental baseball. And, most importantly, they have real uniforms and nice hats......or so Jaxson says.
Of course being an old baseball player, coach, umpire, fan, father, and now grandfather who's followed the game for over fifty years, I have my own opinion as to what's important and how it should be taught. I'm a real stickler for teaching fundamentals, including the fundamentals of sportsmanship, gracious losing, and even more gracious winning. I was pleased to see all of these things taking place when Miss Elizabeth and I attended one of his games a few weeks ago.
But as everyone knows, the real reason grandparents go to little league ball games is to cheer for their grand kids, and if we're to be perfectly honest, to see them show that spark of potential talent that may set them apart from the others.......or maybe that's just me with the old competitive juices flowing.
Anyway, it was a great time to be out at the ball park. It was hot (of course), but one could find a bit of shade if you were skinny enough to take advantage of the long shadow cast by the light pole behind the bleachers. I do believe it was the first time I've seen a bleacher full of fans sitting in a perfectly straight line....
Jaxson had been to bat a couple of times and had hit the ball to get on base; nothing dramatic, but he was doing okay at the plate. In the field the players were alternating positions each inning and Jaxson was at shortstop when a pop-up came his way. This was his chance to shine.....he circled under the ball, ready to make the catch when the third baseman tried to make the catch as well....oops. An unexpected trip to the dugout, ice bag applied to the bruised lip, but none the worse for wear.
Hey, it's baseball; "rub some dirt on it and play", "don't let the other team know that it hurts". We've all heard that advice.......but, this is our grandson we're talking about, and Miss Elizabeth is sitting by me saying, "poor baby".....What's that all about! There's no crying in baseball!
Late in the game, the team is down by a few runs, and needs a big rally to win......and, yes, winning is important. Jaxson is at the plate with a serious look on his now swollen face, but he's a gamer and will give it a shot. Trying to make us all proud, he pulled one to right field, over the fielder's head, all the way to the fence for a triple. It was a stand-up triple, but he slid anyway just to get his uniform dirty. He scored on the next hit and slid again, just because he was encouraged by the amount of dirt generated by the first slide.
Oh, the joy of baseball. At any level it's great fun, and if you happen to be a grandparent, it's gotta be, as a friend of mine once said, "a slice of Heaven".
Hopefully I'll get to see another game soon....before I get to Heaven, but what do I know.
