Sunday, April 21, 2013

Baseball the Purest Form of Society

Yesterday reminded me of how baseball should can be representative of a perfect society. It had been many years since I coached youth baseball and T-ball, specifically, is where the emphasis is on developing skills, learning the game, and celebrating success--for both teams.

On a cold Saturday morning, the Tigers collected with hundreds of other children and adults to march through the neighborhood and open the springs sports season. During the parade I saw a lot of resemblance between our team and the Bad News Bears. It was funny (frustrating?) to watch 4-6 year olds try to carry a large banner along the parade route and stay in line and together. But we got them all to the parade's end without incident. Later, during the early evening was the opening day game for the Tigers.

The game was exciting and perfect because everyone cheered every good play--on both sides. The game was focused on helping the kids learn the game and have fun. I thought it was especially great when the other team made a good out at first--the only one of the day, and everyone cheered. It was a good play.

The only thing that would have made the game more perfect is if Jax could have been there rather than off to Texas for his uncle's wedding. But, I 'm sure he had a lot more fun in Texas--where everything is bigger.

In this iteration of T'Ball we do not keep score and I was asked by one of our players after the game-- "Who won?" I replied to him, "everyone did." It took his six-year mind only a few seconds to say: "So it was a tie?" Which made him happy.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD




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