It's T-Ball Time

Spring is here. Warm days. Sunshine, flowers, grass and allergies. Birds and butterflies in the air. And the beginning of T-ball season.



Seems like we always spent our summers at the ball park. Both my kids played ball during their school years. Brad started when he was just a little fellow and played right through his senior year. In fact, he still plays church league softball. And Lori played softball several years, too. That meant we were usually at the ball park 4 nights a week through a lot of those years. And sometimes they didn't even play in the same town, so that made things pretty interesting. We always tried to be great parents, so short of death or severe illness, we didn't miss a game. But, as with most things in this life, this too must pass. We lived through it and eventually, our kids grew up and moved on to other interests.


Thus, they now have children of their own. My wonderful grandchildren!! And they are completely into T-ball. They look sooo adorable in their little team shirts and matching caps with that big old leather glove on the left hand. (Of course, Ella's glove IS pink) And they even have cleats, if you can believe it, so they can run fast and get good traction on that dirt infield. Ella, 6, being quite the girly-girl, really doesn't like to get dirty and she sure doesn't like to get hot and sweaty out there where there is NO a/c. So she is having some problems with this whole T-ball thing. But she can really rip that ball off that T and she does run pretty fast, so she is a real good player. (FYI: Cullen won't get to play till next year) JC is 4 and he gets so excited about playing ball. As soon as he puts on his uniform he starts jumping and dancing around with the energy that God only gives to little boys. When he is on the field he "hustles"(his word) so hard, that sometimes when he is the runner on base, he forgets to run, and instead when his teammate hits the ball, he tries to field it. So funny. And so cute. All of them. Can you picture the kids playing in the field chasing butterflies or digging in the dirt? That is T-ball. But if you never had the pleasure of being present for a T-ball game, let me explain a little about it. Although some of the kids can hit a ball pitched by the coach (usually one of the teammates' dad), most of them cannot. So a portable device was developed that is placed over home plate--The batting T. An adjustable height tube can be set to the "swinging" height of the next batter and a ball is placed on it so he can knock it off. No umpires. No balls and strikes. Just keep trying till you knock the ball off the "T". They usually forget to run because they are basking in the glow of getting such a magnificent hit, while every parent present is yelling "run to first base". Finally the dad-coach will nudge the child along enough to get him started down the base line while every child playing in the field runs to get the hit ball. They usually pile up like a big football play till somebody comes up with the ball. The object seems to be to get the ball back to center "circle" where a pitcher's mound would be if we were playing with a pitcher. So play continues with each batter getting a hit and going to first base. Each runner moves up one base per hit till all players on the team have had their turn. Then they take the field and the other team comes in to bat. There are no outs called. They play 2 "innings" or about 1 hr. Then they line up and congratulate the other team on a "good game". How much fun!! Everybody gets a hit! Everybody wins! Nobody strikes out! And then: snacks and cold drinks. What a game!!



My life seems to have come full circle now. I am back at the ball park, but I just might not make every game. And I do not feel compelled to volunteer to work the concession stand or provide team snacks like the parents do. All grammy has to do is show up and root for her favorite little all-star. And have fun watching my grandkids have fun! It's a great life!!!