Town Ball

Just another reason to LOVE living in a small town.

My son has played baseball since he was in first grade. I noticed right off the bat (pardon the punn) that alot of the boys on his team- and the opposing teams- were my own friends' boys. A nephew of mine. My cousin's boy. That stuck up snob I always hated- her son too. Lots of people I went to school with had their boys playing. It wasn't a big deal- it was neat. And of course all the coaches were guys I went to school with. It was strange, all of us being "grown ups". It felt surreal. Something about me still felt 16 and we were all pretending to be parents. Anyway, we've (they've) all been playing for several years now. It's just so much fun. All these guys who played together as boys now have sons playing against each other. And for the most part, we're good sports about it. We cheer each other on. Last night I clapped when my nephew threw my son out at first. I told my friend Randy's boy he was looking good while he was throwing strikes to our boys. When Jake cranked a Grand Slam, lots of people on the other team were even cheering. It's a beautiful thing. It's kind of like a family.

Of course there's always the ones you can't stand. I can't help but get a warm fuzzy feeling inside when my son strikes out the son of that big mouth over there. That'll shut her up. Or when my BFF's boy knocks one out of the park off that boy who thinks he's so great- but only because his parents think they are so great and their $#!* don't stink. Ugh- no one likes them. And then there's the time I actually let out a big ol' "Whooop!" when a boy on the other team struck out- but it was pitching machine league and my pal Amy was mortified that I did that. She still ribs me about it. And once in a while she and I will sit and be like "Oh brother, here comes an out" when one of our own who isn't quite so athletic steps up to the plate. Isn't that awful? I'm not proud of it, but it's the truth. I sometimes wonder if I might end up on the ten o'clock news, having been involved in a little league brawl of parents. Oh yeah, it can be ugly. Again, it's like a family.

I love Town Ball ♥