\\We sometimes forget that the games we play and coach are preparing for the real game: the one that begins after age 18. I am involved with two very different teams at very different levels. I do the stats for the Varsity Baseball Team at Elkhart Christian Academy. I am the Manager of the Major Softball team at Cleveland Little League. The difference between the two teams are night and day.
I love my softball team. They are pretty, they listen when I speak, and they laugh when they make an error. They are just learning how to compete. They are a wonderful group that I get the joy of trying to teach them something about the game and about life. They are 5-7 years away from playing the real game and that is all the time in the world. They are only two-thirds the way there.
I love my baseball team. I have kept their stats, a simple job, that my undiagnosed ADHD mind can look for 58 other things to do at the same time. They are the survivors of Little League and Travel Ball. They are just a couple of years, and, in the case of the seniors, a couple of minutes, away from the real game. Time is short and they are trying to seize every last moment. Heck, I just realized the Seniors are on their Commencement Eve. Tomorrow night at this time, they will have their diplomas.
My softball team braids each other's hair. They ride each other's nerves the only way estrogen can. They throw like girls and it is expected. The girls they throw like would hurt you in a hurry. I love seeing the light come on. They satisfy the craving for the process of teaching and learning.
My baseball team knows they all have hair. They ride each other like ponies, and it is expected. They also have each other's back and it is all good. They satisfy the desire to enjoy the moment and love the game.
One moment during tonight's Sectional semi-final win against Lakewood Park brought the two teams together for a moment.
We scored three quick runs in the first inning, and watched Lakewood get back in the game, tying the score at 3 in the sixth inning. As the visitors, the momentum was against us, and we had the bottom half of the order in the seventh. The top of Lakewood's order was due in the seventh. It didn't look good.
Enter Sung Jong Kim.
S.J., a student from Korea, is a senior and a student manager. He sat down next to me and said, "I hope we win. I'm not ready for this to end."
My mind, ADHD and all, went back to playing my final high school match, my final days as a Purdue golfer, and the last day in PGA Playing Tests, missing by four shots. I saw my softball team, just learning what this competition thing is all about. I saw the travel baseball players I've coached, refining their best. I saw this team, fighting for it's baseball life against a team it defeated easily about four weeks ago. I saw Kenny, still not sure where he was going to go to college, but hoping to play baseball there. I saw Tanner, with a huge opportunity in front of him. I saw my own son, Robby, who could be sitting in either of their seats three years from now.
It didn't end tonight. One of those travel players I coached, Jon Kintner, ripped his first extra base hit of the season with the bases loaded and two out. We play for a Sectional Title on Saturday. One more game, S.J.
I'm not ready, either. My 49 year-old coaching mind and teaching body isn't ready either.
So...am I off base?
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