Isaac's First Baseball Game

Opening day 2010 for the Penn Trafford Athletic Association was Saturday April 24th. I was there because it was my son's first day of baseball. This was how I saw it.

It was supposed to rain. The weather forecast all that week called for it. I was bummed about this because there were 4 practices before the games started. Out of those practices, 3 of them were cancelled due to rain. Although I did practice with him myself several times I don't think Isaac was catching on yet. I thought he needed more practices with his team and coach but that time has past. The games were how he was going to learn now.

I woke up around 8am and got ready. I needed to remember to grab his gloves and his cleats. He would be receiving his uniform today when we got there and found his coach. When I was ready I put the stuff in a bag and walked over to the fields. (I live very close) It was cloudy but it wasn't raining yet. Maybe it would hold off.

I got there and I texted my ex and located her and Isaac. She was unsure of where to go so even though I thought I knew I pulled out my iPhone and verified anyway. That's what I thought. We were headed the right way. No worries. We went up on the hill by field 5 and there was everyone. The Pirate Parrot was even here. (Probably more fun cheering for and watching these kids then our loser MLB team) We found Isaac's coach and got him into his uniform. It did start sprinkling around this time but wasn't raining yet. We hung out, took a bunch of pictures, and schmoozed with his teammates and their parents. We tried to get a picture of him with the Pirate Parrot but for some reason he was terrified of him. I'm not sure what was going on with that. We pointed out that there were girls even smaller than him that weren't scared but that didn't convince him. He was awful whiny even besides that. As soon as he got his cleats on I encouraged him to run as fast as he could over to a bench and back to test them out and he flat out would not do it. He kept hiding behind Lisa. I don't know what the problem was but it better get fixed quick. Oh they are yelling for us to line up. It was time for the parade to start.

We walked down with them and then had to hurry around the side of the field as they marched on and got in line to be announced. I think the guy said something about there being around 1500 kids involved in the baseball/softball programs. That's a lot!! I could believe it too because the field was packed. They would announce the team and coach and then they would run out between the cheerleaders and slap hands with the Pirate Parrot and then go line up. The whole field was full by the time they were done. Some high school girl sang the national anthem after all the teams were announced and it was raining pretty hard by the time all that was done. Isaac got a ticket to get a free hot dog at the concession stand. The only problem with that was that so did the other 1499 kids. :\ I wanted to get out of this rain so I went for the nearest pavilion and started catching up with all my junk on my phone. Soon Lisa and Isaac found me and he had his hot dog. He still won't eat them in a bun. He was the only kid I saw who took it out and and ate it naked.

We had an hour to kill before the skills competition so we sat there for a while. When we went down to the field I saw some of his teammates so I encouraged him to run around the bases like they were doing for practice. We did that for a couple of minutes before the coach came over and told us the rain had cancelled this event but as far as he knew the game would still be on. At least that was good news. Lisa offered me a ride home but I refused. I needed the exercise so I walked home. It had almost stopped raining by then anyway. I hoped his game wouldn't be called off. I got home and took a nap before Chuck woke me up to start messing with my car. It was pretty nice out now so we started taking things apart until around 2 when I mentioned to him about the game. He told me to go ahead and go. That he would handle things until I got back so I jumped on my bike and bolted.

I got there just in time. Apparently this is how it goes. Everyone bats for each team. there are no outs or strikes. You get about 10 pitches to hit the ball and if you don't you get to use the tee. You hit it and you run to first base and everyone else advances. The last guy clears the bases when he hits and then it's the other teams turn. Isaac only needed the tee one time which was good. The other team must have had more practices cause they killed us. They were all hitting it on their 1st or 2nd pitch and they were cranking it too. Maybe they had better coaches. I don't know. Isaac kept playing in the dirt while he was on the field. That did not please me. I wish he would pay attention more. He still runs like a little girl half the time too but he's still a small boy and that's what signing him up for baseball was supposed to help him with. Learn to be on a team and get along with them, learn discipline and hand-eye coordination and get some exercise, oh and of course have fun. I think they played like 5 innings before it was over and they all got their snacks and were happy. I gave him a big hug and told him he did good. I got nice pictures and good memories. :D