May 2 – “Real Live Baseball”

I had to say a few words about the purpose of our trip to San Antonio this weekend.  As put so appropriately by Zakary himself, we were there to see "a real live baseball player in a real live baseball game."  That would be … well, Zakary and his t-ball game.    The game was at 8:00 Saturday morning.  An early start even for the little guys.  Christi started getting them up somewhere around 6:30 or 7.  They had some breakfast, made sure Chris and I were awake, and scrambled into their uniforms.  Zak said he was wearing a "real live baseball uniform."  Caleb had his own T-shirt in the bright yellow colors of the Pirates, with a notice on the front identifying him as Zakary's brother.  Way cute.  Mom decided to stay in bed.  She decided that she had done her share of "real live baseball games" back when I was a kid.  That was where she and Dad spent every wedding anniversary from the time I started as a nine-year-old, at least until I got out of Colt league when I was 16.  But then, what better place to spend an anniversary than at the ball park?  Can you get any more romantic?  That particular "sacrifice" inspired me so much that I proposed to Chris right after an Astros game.    The league was put on by the local YMCA rather than Little League.  That meant it was much less competitive and more instructive than Micah's league here in Galveston.  There were parents all over the field helping out.  Chris got some great close-up photos of Zak.  That's because she was standing right next to him in the baseline.   There were 12 players on Zak's team, and the numbers on their uniforms reflected just that, 1 through 12.  And that was also the batting order.  Kept things quite simple.   Everybody on each team had a chance to bat each inning (they played two).  Player number one started things off.  He hit the ball and ran to first – eventually.  It became apparent that all the parents on the field were there for a reason.  One of them often had to chase down an errant runner and redirect him to the proper base.  Then the next guy hit and the first guy ran – somewhere, while the other team chased down the ball.  Eventually, all of the little guys got a single, except the last one in line, number 12 – Zak.  When he hit his ball he ran all four bases at once - a home run.  Then the other team did the same.  The second inning they switched the batting order to where number 12 batted first and got a single.  Then number 1 hit a home run.  Oh, and in the field I saw the results of an ingenious coach's ploy to get t hem into a ready position before the batter took a swing.  He told them to act like a gorilla.  That meant they hung their arms down in front of them with their glove scraping the grass, hunched over into a crouch and swayed back and forth.  Perfect position to be ready for a ground ball.  And when a ball headed their way, they were to become alligators.  Lay the glove on the ground like a bottom jaw, and when the ball got there, snap the top jaw – the other hand – over it and eat it up.  Great fundamentals of fielding.    All in all, the kids really seemed to have a great time.  Caleb was always ready for "my turn baseball now," so Josh occasionally held a ball in his hand (brave Daddy, right?), and Caleb hit it with his own little plastic bat.   And then he ran.  Anywhere.  He did make a run around the bases after the game.  Fast little guy.  Lots of practice running from an older brother, or maybe from Mommy and Daddy?   Matthew 5:3-12 says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.   Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.  Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.           Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."   Father, thank you again for reminding me what it looks like to play with the joy of a child.  Amen.