I know that kids should have fun playing baseball. And there is a good reason I dont coach. But as a parent how in the world can you sit in the stands and laugh cause your kid is making mud pies in centerfeild? and I am NOT talking about T ball. these are 7 and 8 year olds. And NO, winning isnt everything, but having self respect is. And you only get that when you give it your best. Twirling like a ballarina on speed is NOT a good way to catch a ball, unless the batter is REALLY good and aiming for your head.
And what part of HUSTLE dont they understand? I swear, the only time I saw the whole team run full out was when the coach said they could have the donuts in the dugout. Last year I pulled Brett off the field of an All Star game because he walked out to his position and was tossing his glove in the air. We were on a time limit and he was costing his team precious time. After he sat out an inning he learned not to do it. These kids would watch the ball go by and then argue as to who was going to go and get it. Maybe this will all work itsself out before our first game. If not, I see me spending alot of time at the truck.
Now there were some funny moments. Some of these kids just got out of football. And so they would forget and would try to block the ball from being thrown. It was hillarious when the short stop ran over to second base and was jumping up with his hands in the air trying to keep the ball from being thrown to the pitcher. Short stop was about a foot shorter than 2nd base, but VERY determined. Or have a dog pile to get the ball. They were taking batting practice and were just supposed to throw it back to the mound. Since it was practice we could laugh.
And it was SOOO cold this morning. I was even nice enough to loan Matt my School mascot hoodie (its too small now) and let Brett borrow my *gasp* Dallas Cowboys one ( honestly, its too small too.. I really need a new one). Both of them have outgrown any that they have. Oh At first Brett decided he didnt need it. I ended up having to make a trip back into the house to get it after I had went through the checklist. His excuse?
"I cant run in it."
It was a MUD hole out there too. When we got there noone else was there, so I got a glove and warmed up the boys, then got a bat and hit some balls to them. I dont hit balls real well. But I try. 10 minutes later they were already covered in mud. My sweatshirts will never be the same. I did catch my Cowboys one on the bleachers once with the arm and hood brushing up against the ground. I jumped on Brett, telling him that I did NOT want my hoodie on the ground. And he needed to have more respect than that. He said "its not like its a flag or anything"....
Yes, he lived through it.
Bow was as good as could be. He just sat and watched. I didnt take Rayley. I do have some sense..
I really didnt have to get onto Hoover to keep him focused, what he doesnt have in skill he was making up for in attempts :) I DO have to holler at him to hustle when he is running the bases though. I am not sure why. He says he feel self concious when he is running them cause everyone is staring at him.
Once Matt was done we had a 3 hour break, so I went to Walmart and bought a cheapo stroller. I didnt want to, but we just wont make it with out one. I also bought a pizza for the kids. Brett hates pizza ( yep, you read that right... ) I dont know why, he LOVES spaghetti, and begs for lasagna. I think its cause he thinks you want him to like it, so he'd rather miss out on something he loves ( he used to love it) than make it easy on you.
I just told him that he had 2 choices. Eat it or be hungry. We would be home around 7 and he could eat then.
He asked what was for supper. I told him the other pizza I had bought.
He opted to eat it for lunch. and low and behold, the little brat liked it.
Oh he didnt admit that, and gagged the whole time, crying and whining. BUT I saw him sneak another peice.
Once I put the stroller together I got the kids out and started to warm them up again. Brett was just interested in throwing as hard and far as he could. I insisted that we just warm up. So we did for about 8 minutes, then he started trying to kill me. I swear, he threw one that hit the bottom of my glove and got me squarley on the wrist. My hand was so numb that I couldnt close the glove around the ball. He has a mean streak in him. cause he just laughed.
Once practice started he had a pretty good night. This team is a little more focused than Hoovers. Of course this didnt stop us from hollering at them to pay attention. Brett did show some problems with tracking the pop ups. He was on them, but they would get past him by mere inches. I will have to work on that with him.
And we have a bat here that is too big for him. I let them use it here to practice swinging and such, it was a 20.00 bat at walmart. Not one of my smartest purchases. It weighs like 19 oz and he should be using much less. But he refuses to use Matts bat, its a 27 inch 15 ounce. And is really good. I found it on a REALLY good sale. But his hardheadedness wont let him use it. PLUS if he gets used to it and Hoover has a game we will have a problem. Anyway, the coaches convinced him to use a 16.5 ounce 27 inch with a 2 3/4 in barrell. He did WONDERFUL with it. There is ONE problem. its an Omaha. We are talking BIG money. And the bad thing is, you cant find a cheap bat at walmart in a size like that. He tried a few differnt bats, to see which one I need to get him. Of course he excelled with the highest priced one. You would think a bat wouldnt make that much differnce. I know I did. But its not true. It makes a HUGE differnce. And the really bad part, the kid whose bat he was good with is NOT on our team! LOL I wont be buying him this bat. Or any others. But it sure was nice to see him making good contact with balls for once. He really knocked them out there. But what really shocked me was some of the moms. He hit the first few balls with that bat after literly batting hit and miss with the last 3. I commented that the bat was a good one. The coach asked which bat it was, a few moms commented on how much better he did with it. and then one said "I bet you are planning a trip to Academy to buy one tonight aint you?" I said "NOPE". She laughed adn said "Well at least by next practice" I told her that no, I was not going to spend that much money on a bat. She was shocked. The scandel of it. The absolutly striken look on her face was comical.
"but he hits so much better with it"
YEP, but he thinks, walks, talks and lives much better with food in his belly too. Not to mention the rest of us! LOL
I think I just lost mom points. And maybe didnt make a new friend. Oh poo...
once they got home they had to clean up the mess I had made in their room. Last night while they were gone I got their bags together. After gathering up all the stuff they needed, washing an extra load of clothes because I couldnt find clean baseball pants and getting it all together, I couldnt find their... oh those tight black shirts you are supposed to wear for sports.... under armour.. or villiage people wanabe shirts.. I dont know. They were a present from a great aunt. anyway, I was looking for them. I ended up dumping all 8 drawers of their clothes in the floor and putting the empty drawers on their beds. They were PISSED. There was toys, dirty clothes, even some of mine and BR's clothes in their drawers. Come to find out when I have asked them to help with putting up laundry they would put it in there with theirs! They actually thought they could take it all to the dirty clothes. When I told them that anything that left the room was being washed by them, they decided most of them were clean.
It only took them from 8 to 11. Matt was a walking zombie. He goes to sleep by 8:45 when he stays up late. Even Brett was dragging. But I can now walk through their room. And find clothes.
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