Yes.
It's a big year for our family....first year of basketball, first year of baseball, first year of being a sports mom.
The only LL baseball is in Miles City which is about an hour away; from our house, roughly 80 miles. The good thing is that there are really only about two games or practices a week and we usually need groceries and/or parts for the ranch so it doesn't feel like a "wasted" trip. The bad thing is that practices and the first couple games fall when the kids are still in school and we're branding.
This week, after two practices two weeks ago, Angus had his first baseball games!
Lucky readers of the Chronicles will now have the opportunity to see our big adventure in the first game....
The first thing you need to know is that our team is the Horizon Implement Tampa Bay Rays.
Our sponsor is the John Deere dealer in Miles City, which is SO appropriate. Come to think of it, considering the amount of money the ranch spends there, the team really should be named the Langs Fork Inc./Horizon Implement Tampa Bay Rays. (On most of the little shirts, though, it's all they can do to fit "Horizon" above their number. These players are not very big.)
Also, I feel it's worthwhile to note that we paid the $40 get-out-of-jail-free-fee that ensures we do not have to sell candy bars to friends and family as a LL fundraiser. At the first game, I saw quite a few mothers dragging around the cardboard suitcases of candy bars, resigned to the fact that when they signed their little kid up in March, the candy bar sales seemed a long way off and no big deal. Fast forward to May, however, and the $40 seems a bargain. (Especially since 89% of the general populace is on restricted diets of one sort or another. I'm pretty sure the candy has gluten, sugar, peanuts/GMO cacao oil and so forth.)
Anyway.
On to the good stuff.
We got to the first (and second) game about 45 minutes early. Mostly because I'd been asked since 9 a.m. "What time is it?" and "What time is my game?"
The coach showed up in a relaxed fashion and handed out tshirts and lined up the roster numerically.
My son was #6.
He was batting early in the line-up since they were going numerically this first game.
This is his first moment at home plate:
It's like he thinks his sister is going for his Halloween candy or something....
Aside from the look on his face (which is kinda disturbing in its intensity), I was impressed with the stance...feet are a good yard apart.
After some coaching, this is the modified ball killing position:
Much more effective, not nearly as entertaining....
A base hit!
The base being a rather vague concept, really.
"Close" is as good as "on".
Besides, our friend the first baseman isn't exactly johnny-on-the-spot looking to tag the boy out.
(Are they not the most adorable little pieces of humanity?)
And off he goes!
I daresay his running form is Dutton, while his batting form is Pluhar.
He slid into every base, no matter what.
Showmanship is ESSENTIAL,
No one remembers the guys who trot across the base, but everyone remembers the dude who slid in, in a cloud of dirt and glory.
It's the most painfully wonderful thing I've ever watched, this LL baseball.
The score at the end of this first game was something like Z-Orange or some such thing.
They bat until they hit something, and everyone roots for both teams; 1 1/2 hours for two innings.
It was glorious.
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