Low And Outside

Despite my own complete lack of baseball talents, I have volunteered to help out on the seven-year old's Little League team. Officially I'm called a coach, but really there's the manager, the head coach, and me. I'm kind of the intern of the team, and I like it like that. I don't want too much responsibility and I definitely don't want to be the one teaching the kids how to play. As much as I know and love baseball, I've never been coordinated enough to get down the correct techniques.

So we've had a few practices and I've mostly been stuck with kids like my son, the kids coming out of t-ball and facing live pitching for the first time. The manager shows the kids how he wants them to swing and moves on, and I stay with the kids and make sure they are doing it right. Unlike last fall when I helped out on my son's soccer team but was never seen as a coach (more like a babysitter for the kids on the bench), these little league coaches are cool and do make me feel like I'm a part of the team. I think (I hope) they also realize that I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to be doing.

So imagine my surprise when my son's first scrimmage comes around yesterday and I'm the only "coach" there from his team. As all the parents stand around I try to blend in with them until someone says, "aren't you a coach?" Then all hell breaks loose. Next thing I know the other teams manager is treating me like a real coach, asking who I'm pitching (I have no idea who's pitching since I've only dealt with the first year guys) and telling me I can have the field for warm-ups in a few minutes. I've got no equipment and no idea how to hit a ball directly at a specific player. I also only know about three of the kids names.

The other team's coaches are cool and help me get through the warm-ups ("What's your right fielder's name?" I have no idea. "Hey, kid in right field, heads up!"). My manager finally shows up (after being stuck in traffic) and explains that during scrimmages you call balls and strikes for your own pitcher. He can see I'm not too crazy about doing that, especially since there are tons of parents watching and we're a baseball town and I'm too young to die. He gives me the one-minute umpire training - anything that looks close enough to hit is a strike.

But we're up first and he asks me to be the first base coach. He can see I'm not too crazy about that either and gives me the one-minute first base coach training - don't let them go past first base. That was fairly easy and kind of fun since the kids are all happy when they get on base.

Calling balls and strikes wasn't as easy. It was easy when the pitches were wild (ball) and when the batter swung wild (strike), but every time it was close and the batter didn't swing I doubted myself. Ball? Strike? (I sounded like a teenage girl? Where everything sounds like a question?) I still thought I did a good job until the inning was over and a coach from the other team gave me a piece of advice - if the ball bounces before the plate, don't call it a strike. Oops!

What else happened? I froze my butt off since I was only wearing a long-sleeve t-shirt (if I want to look the part of a coach I apparently gotta get a windbreaker), my son refused to come to bat when it was his turn (he had been hit by a pitch during practice last week and is still in the post-traumatic stage), my son also was under the impression that I could stop what I was doing and come over to him at any time, and I switched a call from a strike to a ball, which thankfully got a good laugh from the parents and coaches. My son even eventually came to bat, watching five pitches go by without swinging and taking the base on balls.

I survived my trial-by-fire and actually enjoy coaching baseball. The manager and other coaches are being real cool and understanding of the fact that I'm a rookie and a couple of them told me that they had all been through the same thing their first year.

I'm afraid my son is taking after me talent-wise when it comes to baseball. Watching him try to play is like an out-of-body experience - it's like I'm watching an old movie of myself at his age. I trying my best to take it easy on him. I not the kind of parent who wants his kids to excel in sports so they can live vicariously through their victories - I just want him to enjoy himself and learn the game, but I'm not going to let him get away with goofing off like I did when I was his age (picking dandelions in left field). It's been tough knowing when to get on him and when to let him go, but hopefully I'll learn that as the season goes along as well.

It should be an interesting time. I doubt this will be my last post on the subject.

Comments

[dragonballyee]

oh man, this is going to be one great learning experience for you. and i think it's going to make for some great posts in the future. maybe at the next meetup i'll wear my old baseball shirt and call you coach!

i blew out my shoulder in HS where we had a 2-man rotation at pitcher. i lost my love for the game after the strike and have never really looked back. but down the road of life, if/when i have kids, i'm sure i'll be more than happy to help out, just as you are. i'd be even happier if it was soccer though - my favorite sport!

i hope that you don't have one of those "funniest home video" moments where you get zonked in the family jewels by an unsuspecting line drive or thrown bat.

[eRobin]

Too funny!!

I remember when my son stood in for his first player-pitched game. I couldn't watch. Then he finally got hit in the head and wasn't hurt - what a relief. Now he's 12 and they pitch even faster, of course. I'm back to not being able to watch.

You're going to have the best fun with this. Ask the more experienced coach lots of questions so you learn. That's what I did with soccer and I ended up coaching a team that was undefeated. (and having to earn the respect of 8-11 year old boys) There's nothing like coaching sports when you have the right attitude, which, IMHO, is somewhere between "we must win" and "I don't care who wins!"