Life Lessons in Baseball
Texas might be famous for its love of football, but baseball is America’s favorite pastime. Texans love to play and/or watch this game at all levels. Our Little League season is over finally. I say finally for several reasons. First, we started practicing in February. The season has been riddled with interruptions. We had a little over a week off due to swine flu. We have also had many rain outs and rescheduled games. Despite all of this, our family enjoyed attending each and every baseball game.
Last Tuesday we played what we thought was our last game against the Rangers. My son, Jake, plays machine pitch baseball for the Mets. This game was the championship game. Coming into the game, we had won our first game against them, tied the second, and we ended up losing this game. Since we were tied for the season, we had to play another game Thursday evening. Winners take all, if you will. I guess you could say that the Mets were the underdogs as the Rangers had all the momentum.
I have some great team pictures, but did not get permission from each parent to post so here is a picture of Jake playing catcher.
And, the Rangers started off to a great lead. Their players are really good. They consistently hit hard and run fast. Defensively they can catch and throw accurately. Their second baseman was awesome. He executed many great plays. Almost as soon as the game started, the Rangers were up by three. At our turn at bat, we hit great but they fielded faster than we could run. We only scored two runs.
In the next inning the Rangers kept up their winning streak and scored two more runs. The Mets were starting to get down. They started making errors. Our guys began to think that they had already lost the game. When we got our turn at bat again, their attitudes changed. I don’t know what the coaches said to them, but they were a different team. They realized that they had not yet lost. They began cheering for each other, encouraging one another at bat, and saying “good try” if a child struck out. The Mets were having fun again.
Before you knew it, the game was tied at 5-5. Fans on both sides were standing up. The Mets were still at bat, but had two outs. It was my son’s turn to hit the ball. If he was nervous, he did not show it. On the other hand, I was a ball of nervous energy. I could not believe how intense the game had become. Under my breath, I repeated, “Please let Jake hit the ball. Please let Jake hit the ball…” He did! He got a base hit! By the end of the inning, we were still tied.
Apparently we really take this championship title seriously because to the dismay of the parents in the following game, we went into an extra inning. Under immense pressure, the Rangers were unable to change the score. I felt sorry for one boy who burst into tears at his second strike. The Mets continued to cheer for one another and keep up their spirits as the first batter struck out. Then we began getting base hits. The Rangers kept up their great defense and one of our batters was called out at first base. So with two outs and two boys on base, a young Met comes to bat. He lets the first pitch go. Strike! He makes contact with the next pitch, but it is foul. Strike! The next pitch was bad. Ball one! The very next pitch he hits it and runs as fast as he can. He barely makes it to first base before the ball is thrown to the first baseman. The ball hits off the top of the first baseman’s glove and he runs to get it. Our player keeps running to second while our other boys on base are trying to make it home. We did! We won the game. We are the champions!
As great as it is to win and the be champions, the most important thing to me was that a) the boys had fun, b) they played with good sportsmanship, and c) they did not give up. What a metaphor for life! It is easy to have fun when things are going well. But when the tides turn, it is so easy to get down and stop trying to succeed. It is easy to blame others for your situation. I am sure you have heard comments like “the umpire gave the game away” because someone didn’t like the call the umpire made. It is also easy to quit.
Since Jake is so interested in baseball and really loves to play this game, my husband and I really wanted to encourage him to pursue this interest. We like the fact that he can learn life lessons while playing a game that interests him. We would not make him play against his will. Doing this would defeat the whole purpose. It would not be fun and the only lesson he would learn is how much he hates the game. As a homeschooling family, baseball also offers a way for Jake to develop friendships with boys his age under adult supervision. Our coaches were great with the kids and good role models.
This game in particular was such a great opportunity for these children to learn teamwork, the importance of encouragement, and what it means to work toward a common goal. I am proud of both the Rangers and the Mets for playing so well all season. They have all really improved since February. I am looking forward to next season as Jake will have more opportunities to learn more life lessons from baseball.
Congratulations Jake. SOunds like a perfect ending to a great season. Love you.
[...] it is just because my kids are in T-ball and softball now, but I enjoyed Life Lessons in Baseball. We’ve had a few lessons in community around here lately running along a baseball theme as [...]