Boys of Summer
Of all the world's religions, the one I sometimes think has the best chance of unifying us and saving our psyches, if not our souls, is baseball. I'm reminded of this daily when I and MLB take Abbye out for her evening constitutional and we stroll past the neverending pickup game at our neighborhood park.
There are usually eight-to-twelve boys playing ball. They range in apparent age from around ten or eleven up to, say, fifteen. They come in every size and ethnicity. My wife often remarks on how well the older kids play with the younger ones. We never see or hear any squabbling or any taunting, and when the older guys are pitching, they move in a bit and slow things down a bit for the younger kids.
It's a self-policing game, with no umpires. Batters call strikes on themselves. Disputes over close plays at the bases might generate a couple of outraged squeals, but they're quickly resolved and the game moves on.
One of best things about the games is that when parents appear on the scene, they hang back, standing by their cars, visiting among themselves while keeping one eye on the game...but never interfering. But, more often than not, there aren't any adults around, until the game breaks up at dusk. Some boys walk home, some ride bikes and some get rides when their parents show up. But they'll be back the next evening around 6:00 p.m., practicing their skills and doing what kids that age really ought to be doing during the waning days of summer: having fun.
Oh, and did I mention that they're really good? Even without steroids. There may be hope for us, after all.
Jeff, it's all I can do to keep from carrying my glove down to the park and offering to join the kids! But, two things hold me back. First, I'd embarrass myself, skill-wise. Second, they don't need adults around.
Family's different though. As you wonderfully illustrate.
Glad you guys made it home safe and sound, by the way.
Posted by: Eric at August 10, 2005 09:49 PMHere it comes, an Auntie Brag:
My nephew is an amazing left-handed first baseman. His team just won the Southwest Division for Little League Junior class and is going on to Detroit for the World Series Playoffs!
I think his first game is televised a week from Saturday on ESPN. Auntie Pattie wished she could be there. ( Nephew is probably glad she isn't as she loudly takes exception to bad calls!)
Posted by: Cowtown Pattie at August 10, 2005 10:30 PMSometimes, I think Little League is the worst offense ever perpetrated against children in sports.
If we could only somehow exclude the adults from the process... no offense intended to your auntie-pride, of course! ;-)
But that's a post for another time. I hope your nephew's team does well.
Posted by: Eric at August 10, 2005 10:33 PMHmmm. I do get the drift of your kick to the Little League pants. And, adults have gotten a bad name in their children's sports as of late. But, the organization isn't all bad.
The main gripe I have is that these types of organized sports tend to leave out the less than talented player. And, as the kid who was always picked last for any athletic team, I can tell you it isn't fun.
Posted by: Cowtown Pattie at August 10, 2005 10:56 PMWhile baseball isn't as huge over here, Ironically I was thinking about it. Nothing on this posts wave length however...I was watching take me out to the ball game with Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Esther Williams!
Posted by: Rachel at August 11, 2005 12:18 AMPattie, I think I came across more sternly than I intended. I don't have any real problem with the concept or (usually) the practice of Little League, per se. It's more of a vague disquiet that we've managed too often to turn kids' fun into stressful competition. OTOH, Little League continues to provide important lessons and training and encouragement to millions (?) of kids.
But, I can still tell you that as a boy, I enjoyed much more my time spent in the impromptu summer games in vacant lots than that spent in organized baseball. Of course, I pretty much reeked as a player, so that probably had something to do with it! ;-)
Rachel, I can't believe that baseball isn't a huge deal in New Zealand! ;-)
Posted by: Eric at August 11, 2005 06:44 AMAbout the publisher
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Eric, there is something about the ideal and the spirit of baseball - taking deep root and nourishment in improvised ballfields around the country - that somehow manages to withstand the storms and plagues that are heaped upon us, season after season, by the 'big leaguers.'
If I had to choose between Jose Canseco and W.P. Kinsella to articulate what baseball is, and what it could be? ... would that all my choices were so easy! ... "Dixon Cornbelt League" and "Field of Dreams" are among the permanent fixtures to my bookshelves.
Just a few days ago, my boys and I played ball with our cousins in a field of grass outside an old barn in northern Michigan ... in a place where my father and his father, and his brothers and sisters once played ... I'm unsure of the score, but there's no doubt of the joy we felt amd shared with one another.
Posted by: Jeff at August 10, 2005 09:46 PM