Opening Day And Ben’s First Game Of The Season
What a day — Gorgeous (if a little too warm) day for playing baseball. I think this is the first time the entire team showed up for pictures on time, even the one with a broken arm. We’ve got great parents this year so there was no hassle in keeping the kids together and on task for the 30 minutes it took to get through the process. We had another hour after pictures to wait for the official Opening Ceremony. Me and Ben had pancakes and sausage and sat with a few other families from the team. Afterwards we wandered around the fields and talked with other players and parents that we’d met in previous seasons. I have to admit, I sneaked out to the street for a quick cigarette since I knew it’d be 4-5 hours before I’d get another. As ugly as that sounds, no one wants me pitching to the kids with an excessively low nicotine level in my bloodstream (it’s impossible to pitch when locked in a straight-jacket, I’ve tried it).
The Opening Ceremony was nearly an hour which is quite long when you’re in charge of a dozen 7 year olds and especially difficult when the sun is beating down on them. Whatever, we made it through without any of the kids getting thrown out for misbehaving.
The game itself was quite a little roller coaster ride for me and the kids. After a brief warm-up and my less-than-inspiring pre-game “pep talk” we settled in to bat first. I didn’t spend any time in advance warming myself up which I’m sure got the better of me (mentally) when I took the mound. My first three pitches were completely unhittable. My fourth almost took the kid’s head off and my final was way inside but he got a piece of it and got himself on base. Side note: The kids only get 5 pitches and if they don’t hit, they’re out. They also only get 3 strikes so if they’re swinging at my garbage they end up leaving the batter’s box even sooner. The first hitter is a stud and will likely get on base every time at bat this year, regardless of the trash I end up throwing him.
I proceeded to hit the next two kids (one of them right in the “junk”) but one of them still got a hit. Then I struck out the next batter. Pathetic!
Once we got the kids out in the field I grabbed one of the helpful parents and had him catch a bunch of pitches for me. I was wild (again!) at first but eventually got into a groove and the rest of the game improved steadily. I still threw occasional garbage that some of the kids would chase but we saw a lot more hitters in the next 5 innings.
I struck out Ben the first time up but he did make two solid connections that he pulled foul. His next at bat was one of those proud Dad moments where he let the first pitch go by and got hold of the next one, ripping it into right field. We proceeded to put the next 5 kids on base and Ben eventually scored. It was a great inning for us. We eventually lost by 2 as the other team had a killer 5-run inning.
We need a ton of work on our infield skills but the kids are doing a decent job considering none of them played at this level last year. I think more than half of the other team had kids who played up last year so this ain’t their first rodeo.
More on great parents: It must be hard for them when the coach pitches and effectively strikes out their kids. I got lots of support and words of encouragement, especially from the parents of the kids I hit in that first inning. I know it’s hard on the kids when they strike out and that weighs on me a bit but most of them eventually hit during the game and that makes the entire affair worthwhile for them (or, that’s what I tell myself).
I’ll be practicing more this week and I’m guessing my first-game jitters are done with me for the season. If not, I’ll have the kids up in catcher’s gear when they’re batting.