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Spring is Springing!; But, Coach Mighty Red Raider hangs it up
Topic Started: Mar 27 2007, 04:16 PM (38 Views)
MightyRedRaider
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On the button!
[ *  *  * ]
Every time spring rolls around, I get nostalgic about Little League. A yearning for the ballpark.

I left Little League some time ago, and every spring I break out this little missive I wrote and reminisce...

I noticed a post a week or so ago about talking to
13-14 year old baseball players, and it left me with
an empty pang. (Aside: I have left you with a term,
"empty pang", the meaning of which I can not define,
or even hope to describe, yet seems to define my
feelings adequately.)

After 8 or 9 years of association with Little League,
on almost every level and position, Manager Mighty is
hanging it up.

I thought I would tell you that I did it as a protest.
You see, unlike high school, college or even Major
League baseball, you can not were a baseball uniform
as a manager in LL. I always thought that baseball
pants were very flattering to me, and showed off my
best assets to their fullest. Stirrup sox always made
me feel secure, and a baseball shirts, well, displayed
the Mighty guns and forearms to their best. Yeah, a
baseball uniform looked pretty good on me, and I've
caught more than one of those single baseball moms
getting an eyeful. But, LL rules dictate I can't wear
a uniform like the players.

Don't get me wrong, I understand why the rule exists.
Have you seen some of these guys coaching LL? They
would make Bbcutch in his +250 days look svelt. The
very thought of some of these guys, gut hanging out
from under a baseball shirt, XXL baseball pants
fitting like a hippo in Lycra, it's downright
unappealing. The loss in consession sales alone, from
people losing their appetite, is enough to create such
a rule, appearances notwithstanding.

Generally, I think personal vanity and meaningless
protests are perfectly good reasons for abandoning the
hopes and aspirations of your children. What I want to
wear and calling attention to myself are adequate
cause to ban my child from playing baseball, to keep
him off the manicured fields of green on a perfect
cool spring evening, to no longer hear the ping of the
aluminum bat and turn a perfectly executed 6-4-3
double play.

Personally, I'm tired of rubbing some kid's damp head
after he makes it home to score a run, grinning at me.
Watching those boys work hard every afternoon, and
playing their hearts out, gaining skill and knowledge
every game. The jokes and kidding around, worrying
about lineups and positions, seeing the uncertian and
shakey kid actually get a hit. Watching a truly gifted
young man develop a swagger and come through in the
clutch time after time. Seeing kids turn into young
men. Yeah, I'm tired of that.

I WOULD tell you all that, but it wouldn't be true. At
the 13-14 yr old level, YoungerMite did OK last
season. Played every out, took every at bat, but he
didn't measure up to what he wanted.

We had "the talk" over a month ago. Seems he'd told
his mother that he was tired of baseball, and he
didn't want to play this year. He didn't know how to
tell me, and he was afraid I'd be upset. Mrs. MRR told
him he had to be big enough to tell me himself. And so
he did. He was shy, almost afraid to start, and he
must have said he was sorry a dozen times. He said he
knew how much it meant to me. Imagine, how much it
meant to me! He's wants to play golf and get on the
golf team at the high school next year like his
brother. He thought he was done with team sports. I
told him I understood his feelings, don't feel bad, I
just want him to have fun and enjoy life. He'd put in
plenty of years in baseball, and if was done, that's
fine. I enjoyed it because of his involvement, not
mine.

I felt guilty that he was reluctant to approach me
with his feelings. I was proud that he overcame it to
tell me how he really felt. I gave him a hug and said
we'd move on from baseball.

Then I grounded him till June.
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:rocklawr
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Eye in the Sky!
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Great story. Brings back so many memories myself.

Though I take offense to you ripping on the big men possibly wearing the uniform. I think that was a shot on me. I'd do something about it but I just found this mozarella string cheese my wife gave me for lunch and I'm about to go to town on it.
"You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward."
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