before entering this weeks dark side....i know baseball finds its theme into some of my writing lately but, i just got my new tent, pitched it at the park near the lions shelter and have started raising the boys again on hotdogs, pizza and softpretzels.

without going into an elaborate discussion, i think it is fair to say that the chance of making it to the pros is very, very small. Agree? If you disagree, upmc western pysch. is in oakland.

To my amazement though, and contrary to any remote possibility existing in reality, i saw a 5 y/o team of t-ballers STACKED with future pros this weekend.

These kids were freakin good. there was one kid that caught a ball that just fell out of the sky, hit him in the chest and bounced into his glove to the applause of all, two grounders were stopped with about thirty others dribbling by. numerous instances of hustle...getting to the ball first and fighting to make sure you came up with it. the kid on first made a superb dirt castle, just before he got hit in the face for not paying attention. the little girl on the mound showed incredible range and speed by chasing a ball down all the way to center field. there were some fine hits off of the T especially the liners that dribbled 0.00005 mph, one after another back to the pitcher. there was a base running collision at second due to the play being made at first. there were some fine examples of slides at first base. in all a pretty good game.......for what it was supposed to be.

now, the actions on the sidelines with reference to some of the above as well as a few others were the real classics and indicators of who you do not ever want to show up on your team in the future, not because of the kid, rather 100% because of the lunatic parents.
T-ball is the cauldron of the insane baseball parent that will inevitably plague every manager for years to come until their kid finally decides to quit.

here are some of the classics related to some of the above...

First, a lot (not all) mom's bordered on lunacism. the ones that did not were shunned by the clique of complainers, and non-volunteers that were already starting to form in the cauldron of criticism. the kid who caught the ball off his chest was cheered wildly by that group. the grounders that were not stopped recieved massive amounts of parental coaching from the sideline, i heard one mom say that the coaches need to work more on that (already not johnny's fault at all). the kid on first was the coaches son, the girl on the mound was pretty good, the balls that she threw to first either hit him in the face, body wherever and even messed up the castle...instead of moving him, the guy actually told the little girl not to throw the ball so hard and moved her to the outfield (not the first basemans fault, rather the little girl that had obviously been worked with by her folks). Will i brag about my kid...no but he was the only dude who showed incredibly poor sliding skills at all bases. the mom's told their kids in front of me and him that they didn't want their johnny to slide like that kid because they will get all muddy (that is not a joke). my kid also was involved in the base running collision..he's pretty tough, the other kid wasn't so...my kid was the bad guy since little johnny just wasn't used to that kind of physical contact (again not joking)

after the game the hijinx continued...the snack mom's told the coach that they thought it could be done more orderly. i wasn't close enough to interject but.......lets just say i won the $100 bet that they were from the "complaining clique"

bottom line.....t-ball is really intended for a kid to get a uniform, get some spikes, see himself as a ball-player and hopefully have some fun. the 20 minutes of practice before the game achieves nearly nothing if the parents refuse to spend some time at home. snacks are a big deal. complaining instead of volunteering to help in a worthwhile manner should not even cross ones mind, if it does, check the mirror to see if it is you in the t-ball uniform or your kid.

have fun t-ballers, don't take the seriousness of some of the loonies in the stands too heart and come back next year prepared to be better and chanllenged more. TELL you mom and dad or kid down the street or come over to my place and practice so you will be competetive on your teams as you move forward.