Somehow, sports have turned my child into a cynic.
These kids aren’t likely to play professionally, or even collegiately. Most probably won’t even play in high school. Most of the team’s parents just want their kids to have fun, and beyond that, to learn something about themselves—how a person with a certain set of limited skills, on a similarly limited team, might develop within an imperfect system to get a little bit better at performing a physical task under pressure. Or at least, that’s what I want my kid to do.
We’ve been over this—that if the umpire calls it a strike, that’s what it is. But he knows as well as I do that these umpires are, at best, inconsistent. Sometimes, they’re strict originalists, calling anything even slightly above the armpits or below the knees a ball. But then there are other nights when it’s hot and late and the umps clearly just want to go home. The ball can skip into the dirt before reaching the plate and still be a strike.
I got out my phone. He leaned over my shoulder, and together we watched the ball enter the upper right corner of the frame, move down toward the waiting, poised batter, my son, who tensed, raised his front foot a little, then—“But then the timeline advanced, and I saw the ball cross in front of him at eye level.
I saw the ball fall, like a rock, down into the catcher’s mitt, and I saw the catcher’s mitt also move down, framing the pitch to look even better than it was, especially to an imperfect vessel like Rick the Umpire.It was a called strike, but to hit that pitch, my son would have had to reach up and chop at the ball like he was slicing down a giant dragon with a broadsword.
From the on-deck circle, he cheers on his teammate, either yelling consolation or encouragement, depending on the call, and when his turn comes, he strides into the batter’s box. He screws his cleats into the clay and taps the tip of the plate with his bat. He sways a little, bouncing on the balls of his feet, waggling the bat in anticipation.AdvertisementThey fly past the catcher’s outstretched glove to rattle off the backstop.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
OPEC+ is teaching the U.S. a lesson it refuses to learnThis week’s OPEC+ decision spotlights how committed the U.S. has been to making the same error over, and over, and over again. (via thereidout Blog)
Weiterlesen »
What Every Guy Can Learn From Lou Reed’s StyleIn a leather jacket and aviators, Velvet Underground co-founder Lou Reed was the ultimate symbol of downtown cool. Here, how to get a little Lou in your look.
Weiterlesen »
NASA Invites Media to Learn About Inflatable Heat Shield DemoNASA and United Launch Alliance (ULA) will host a media briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 1 p.m. EDT in advance of the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration. The briefing will be held via WebEx.
Weiterlesen »
Learn to Clean a Soft Shell Crab with the Queen of Louisiana SeafoodAll it takes is a set of kitchen shears.
Weiterlesen »
Fort Worth's Opal Lee will learn Friday if she's won the Nobel Peace Prize - KRLD NewsOn Friday, we will know if Miss Opal Lee of Fort Worth is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth, she was nominated for the prestigious award by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Fort Worth) and more than two dozen members of Congress signed her nomination letter. Image credit: Tim Heitman/Getty Images
Weiterlesen »