These last 5 weeks brought the wettest weather of any March in the bay area in something like 75 years. It’s been depressing at times, but the biggest inconvenience for me is that numerous practices and games have been postponed. We’re very likely to face a period of hectic rescheduling, there will probably be availability concerns and a struggle to get fields.
On the positive side, though, it’s neat when a few hours of a single day can make you (at least temporarily) disregard the past or looming problems. Sunday was that kind of day, but there is a little bit of a back-story.
Two weeks ago on a Wednesday, I picked up my kids from school on what had been a minimum day for both of them. So the ritual is, they come home, have a snack, hang out and relax for a short period, then do their homework. On this day, we’re pretty much on schedule, I only had to do a little nagging to get them going on their school responsibilities. Meanwhile, I’m upstairs, pretty much engrossed in my work, I was midway through a project and hustling to make sure it would be delivered on time. I was pleased when Eric came to me and told me that he had finished his 4 pages of math and language arts, Natalie assured me that she was ahead of the game in a project due the next week. I spent a good deal of time that day on the phone as well, but was off the line when they called out that they were going outside and around the corner on scooter and bicycle.
“Put on your helmets!” I called out from upstairs.
“We don’t have to, we’re going to stay on the sidewalk,” came Natalie’s reply. I confess, I didn’t give it enough consideration, but when they didn’t hear me object, they took it as a sign of approval, and off they went.
Mary Ann got home minutes before 5pm, and no sooner was she in the door than the doorbell rang. A woman, about our age, stood on our porch with Eric, blood staining his shirt and smeared across his face, screaming out in pain. She explained how she came across the kids on the ground on her street, with bike and scooter sprawled out on the side of the road. She drove him home as Natalie struggled with the bent handlebars of her mountain bike, dragging the razor scooter along behind her.
The collision, as far as anyone can tell, took place when Eric was zig-zagging as his sister was trying to pass. He went down, his forehead somehow struck the pavement, and Nat put her arm out to break her fall from the bike. It wasn’t until that evening when he was finally calmed down that I took him to Kaiser for stitches, we ended up staying there until almost midnight. Nat had ice on her wrist the entire afternoon, but it wasn’t until the next morning that we decided to take her in for an examination. Oblique fracture of the right radius. When she fell, she landed on her right hand, the pressure caused the fracture near the top of the wrist. Full arm cast for 3 weeks, to be replaced by a wrist cast for another 3.
Now it’s not the only thing hat she misses out on, but softball season had just started. She pitched very well in her first two games, even fairly dominant in the opener. As it stands right now, she may be back before the end of the season, but it’s questionable what her rehab schedule turns out to be. We’ll deal with that when the time comes.
Eric’s stitches came out in a week, his scar will probably blend right into his eyebrow, and the road rash that covered his right cheek is all cleared up.
The weekend came along, rain cancelled Nat’s 9am game and the weather did not look promising for Eric’s 10am game. But, being coach, I have the responsibility to help the other coach and the umpire determine whether we should proceed or not.
It gets stressful when parents are calling at the last minute, with questions like “it’s pretty wet out, should we come anyway?” That combined with a couple of key kids either out sick or occupied with other activities, I don’t know that I would have enough to field a team. I told Eric he didn’t have to play because of his stitches, but when it became apparent that we needed him, he jumped right in without much hesitation, he even pitched a couple innings. But it was a painful day, we had trouble getting the ball over the plate and numerous walks led to long innings where the kids in the field saw little if any action, their boredom proved to be very trying. Eric got a hit and scored our only run, but that was only one of the bright spots in a 13-1 loss.
The other bright spot was with one of the 10-year olds, who, after initially shying away from pitching in the first weeks of practice, took the mound that day and threw absolute gas.
I think I do a pretty good job of not playing favorites with the kids on my team, but this kid reminds me a little bit of myself in my youth. Like him, I was disappointed when I tried out for the division a lot of my classmates were in and didn’t make it. There was speculation that this kid would rather sit out the season than play in the lower division. He apparently had his heart set on playing triple-A this year, but wasn’t selected, leaving him open to the double-A draft. Each of the double-A teams was required to select four 10-year olds, and without really remembering him from the tryouts, I grabbed him. My thinking was that I would pick my 10s midway through the draft, other coaches took their 10s later because they had their eyes on 8s and 9s that they knew, or kids that went to the same school as their own kids – who knows.
What I could relate to, and this happened to me as a kid and to my own daughter just last year, was that two distinct options were available. Kids can play up and enjoy the prestige of playing in a higher league, they even have the opportunity to develop a stronger game as a result of better competition and a higher level of play. On the other hand, they can play in a slightly lower division and be impact players, the kind of player they’d have little chance of being in the upper division. That kind of impact was felt in yesterday’s game, I have a 10 year old pitcher who is near untouchable, but that’s not the important part for me. I think this kid is genuinely having fun, and he has a chance to be looked upon as one of the leaders of the team.
When it was all said and done, we came out ahead, 3-0. The rain slowed down just enough to allow our game to be played, after we finished it began to pour again, but I didn’t seem to mind any more. At least for the rest of the day.