Could you pull another tooth out please?

A tough game to watch today.
Mike the Allstar made several mistakes at shortstop. The team as a whole played pretty bad. The good hitting by the other team exposed all the weaknesses. The other team was composed of several players from the Pee Wee league, all playing the infield positions. This contributed to short innings limiting the number of at-bats The Allstar's team were gong to have.
I could tell that the other team was the type of team who took baseball seriously, namely by drafting the experienced kids from the other league. Which is okay by me, because the way I see it, good play begats good play. In the Allstar's team's case, bad play begats bad play.
The most excruciating thing to me is when some of the kids can't even field a ball that's rolled to them.
Again, who am I to talk? I'm not out there coaching the kids. I suppose I should be. I put in my two cents worth during game days when I can actually be in attendance. It's practice days that I think the kids need the most help in. Game day is for reinforcing the fundamentals taught on practice day. Of course, I can't make it practice day because of work. As it is, I haven't seen any improvement from the day one. Part of the problem is making the time when the kids aren't at practice or in a game. This falls on the parents. Of course, all households have different situations. Practice and game days are probably the only times some of these kids ever get out to throw or hit the ball around. There's just not enough time in the parents' busy work weeks to devote to baseball. And still there are those kids whose arms were twisted to play. I've been guilty of that in the past.
Oh well, one more game left next week and then it's on to football...er...soccer.

On politics...

You've got to remember. I'm a politician. Which makes me a cheat and a liar. So when I'm not kissing babies, I'm taking their lollipops.

The Hunt For Red October

There's no rolling in baseball!

I'm gonna come off as a total asshole here, but here goes:
I found myself a bit distressed as I watched the Mike the Allstar's Junior Giants game yesterday.
Not for the lack of fundamentals and the inattentiveness which comes with the territory. I can accept that. Kids this age (7-9) are just graduating from t-ball or are even just starting out and can't be expected to pick up such a complex game such as baseball. It takes several years.
I suppose I'm stressing on the coaching, or lack thereof.
I have supreme respect for those who volunteer their time to coach these young players, to the people who organize the league and the parents who shuttle their kids to and from practice and games, but I was distressed to hear one of the coaches tell the Allstar to roll the ball to the pitcher.
There's an old axiom in football: If you play not to get hurt, you will get hurt.
I've thought long and hard about this. In some ways, I believe this applies to baseball also. If you're not aggressive and most importantly, paying attention to the game, you're gonna fuck up and/or get konked in the noggin. In the Allstar's case, he's gonna develop bad habits and fuck up. And baseball's all about fundamentals and avoiding bad habits.
This week ,we're gonna go to the school yard and wing that ball around.