DocAndersen
“I want to hit the ball and touch them all.” Centerfield, John Fogarty. A great line from a great song. Some years ago, when we lived in Greenwood (we wander both time and space today), the boys played baseball. Just a couple of summers, they didn’t like most of the baseball. Luke is good at hitting the ball; Nick cared more about finding dandelions in the yard and not much else. They weren’t into sports then, and probably less so now.
But we sat and watched. The games were always interesting; the YMCA was a no coach no parent yelling league. I thought that was an awesome idea. They also didn’t keep score in the games which I also thought was a great idea. So we would bring our chairs and relax in the field and watch the kids have fun. There is no pressure and no need to be competitive when the goal is simply the love of the game. Baseball, like football and Soccer, is often a collision sport. As is, frankly, basketball, it was fun to watch the kids though. I have to say I spent many afternoons watching and I looked forward to the games.
When the boys played Soccer, I used to call it clump ball. Wherever the ball was there was a clump of kids around it. Funny thing is In the baseball games wherever the ball was you didn’t often see kids around the ball. A grounder hit to the pitcher could easily become an inside the park home run. That made the games, even more, fun to watch. It is after all a game of inches, just not feet. BY feet I mean to catch the ball you have to be within inches of the ball being feet away usually means you miss it. Lot’s of fun afternoons watching the kids chase the ball and race around the bases!
