I got another lesson in what the game, and life in general, is really all about the other day. I’ve coached a middle-school baseball team for several years now and thoroughly enjoy that age group. You get a wide disparity when it comes to physical, emotional and mental maturity. I’ve seen 11-year-olds act like 15-year-olds and vice versa. And it can turn in an instant.
Boys that age chase a lot of butterflies, as in “how many kids with ADHD does it take to change a light bulb?” “Hey, a butterfly.”
This year’s team is composed of mostly sixth-graders. They are great kids who work hard and are fun to be around, but they are sometimes overmatched, going against eighth-graders who are bigger and stronger.
Anyway, we were on the bad end of a blowout the other day when the other team switched pitchers between innings. The new guy struggled with throwing strikes during warm-ups, and my guys noticed. From the coach’s box at third base, where I was looking for a butterfly to chase, I heard a clamor from our dugout.
A couple of the players were watching the kid throw and were excited about what it might mean.
“We might get our first base-runner,” one said. The thought fired the whole team up, and they were on the rail talking it up.
Being an experienced coach, I recognized an opportunity for a brilliant coaching moment and wandered toward the dugout. Before I could speak, a face popped out of the crowd of boys, and a boy with a big, smiling face said, “Who brought the Twizzlers?”
Rattled, all I could say was, “What?”
“Somebody brought a package of Twizzlers. These are great.”
It is a moment I will forever remember. That’s good baseball.
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Speaking of baseball, reporters are cynical by nature, but I have to confess to being especially skeptical when it has come to Engel Stadium and the plans over the years to save/use/preserve it.
So it’s been especially encouraging to see the work that is being done there in preparation for the filming of “42,” the Jackie Robinson movie.
No one denies the history and value of the venue. The issue is that it is a money pit in every sense of the word. While very sincere and earnest people over the years have sought to do something with it, money issues have always gotten in the way.
Just getting the stadium to a somewhat-level starting place, where things like electrical and plumbing work, the roof doesn’t leak and is safe to walk and sit under, has tended to leave potential rescuers at the on-deck circle.
Reportedly, crews hired by the movie company are addressing those issues, which is really good news. Actually, it’s amazing news.
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Did you guys read about the new pizza magnets in Dubai? A pizza delivery business there offers a fridge magnet that you program with your favorite pie. When you want one, you simply push the magnet, and a computer chip inside sends in your order. The pie is delivered to your location a bit later.
That’s just pretty much genius.