The Day on the Ball Fields

The doctor did say that my daughter’s eye should clear up with the eye drops and the doctor was correct. She did have a little crustiness on her eye this morning when she woke up but her eye was clearing up. This was a good sign because I don’t think my daughter could take not being able to play in her softball game this afternoon. In any event all was proceeding nicely and we decided to have her sleep in this morning as there was no need for her to go her brother’s early morning baseball game. She liked the fact that she could sleep in but even I was surprised to see her awake much earlier than anticipated.

I had intended on getting up very early this morning to go for an 18 mile run but after looking at our day’s itinerary I saw that there was a gap between games and I could get this run in later on today. This meant I got to sleep in and enjoy the arrival of our son as he entered our room at his usual time even for the weekend. I have to admit that I enjoy my runs but I like hanging out in a very relaxed setting with my family much more and this morning was awesome. We lingered a little longer than usual but made our way to start the day’s activities. We were out of the house at the early hour headed off to my son’s baseball games. Yes, this is the plan for just about every Saturday over the next few months. Both of our children have games on Saturdays and today were no exception.

We arrived at the ball field and once again I found myself inside the dugout and on the field helping out with my son’s team. It appeared that the early start was affecting my son’s team much more than the other team. The team I witnessed in the game on Thursday didn’t exactly resemble the team that was on the field this morning. It seemed that each boy was sleepwalking and this goes the same for my son. They all seemed out of sorts and this was reflected in the final score as my son’s team lost 6-1. My son once again had one hit in two at bats but did score the only run for his team. He caught basically the entire game and did have glimpses of being awake back there!!

It is interesting how there are some boys on my son’s team who are really good and others who are just learning the game. Hopefully the coaches won’t lose sight of those boys who need extra help and today I was doing my best to help those boys who really didn’t have much experience playing baseball. My wife found this fascinating because I wasn’t the best baseball player in my youth but I informed that being a good baseball player doesn’t necessarily translate into being a good baseball coach. I do understand the concepts needed to play baseball and I am sure I couldn’t exactly execute those concepts when I played baseball but I do know how to communicate those concepts.

I thought I would have time for my run in between games but I didn’t figure in the photo session for my daughter. I had asked my wife if she wanted me to attend the photo session (this is where my daughter had her picture taken with her softball team) and yes, my wife wanted me to come because afterwards we were headed to a sporting goods store to buy the children baseball/softball related equipment and apparently my input was needed. My wife did tell me that it was okay if I went for my run tomorrow even though it was a Sunday. I certainly listen to my wife and off we went to the photo session which took much longer than anticipated. There appeared to be some “technical” difficulties which caused the delay but the photos were taken and off we went to the sporting goods store.

We were able to purchase the much needed equipment (cleats) with gift cards the children received for their birthdays and afterwards we had lunch together. My daughter’s game time was approaching and after some more errands we were headed to her game. This would be the first time I would see my daughter in an official game for this spring season since I missed the first game when I was in Colorado and her second game conflicted with my son’s game on Thursday. My daughter did extremely well and it appears she is the star of her team. She got a single in her first at bat that drove in two run and she scored in both of her plate appearances. She did get the opportunity to pitch but entered the game in a virtual impossible situation.

The score was tied and the time limit had been reach so either my daughter’s team was able to record three outs without the other team scoring to earn the tie or if the other team did score they would win the game. I say this was a virtual impossible situation because getting three outs without the other team scoring had not been accomplished in any of the innings my daughter’s team had played. However; my daughter did her best recording the first out by tagging the runner as she headed for home but after a series of errors the winning run did score and my daughter’s team did lose the game. This was not a deterrent to my daughter because she was excited to pitch and excited to get her first hit of the season. I watched her confidence level sore as the game went on. She came up to me with a big smile and asked how she did and I told her “great” which made her smile even more. It was great to see her so happy and was a far cry from last night where she was sad because she had to stay home from the birthday party. Yes, it was a great day on the baseball fields for my family and just being here was indeed wonderful.