Softball Single
As I push-mowed under the blue late morning sky, soft cool winds confirmed that summer had waned into fall. Soon the roar of my small Briggs & Stratton would be replaced by the quieter swish of leaf raking. My mind wandered as I methodically paced the lawn. I began to think about my eight year old daughter and her batting skills in softball.
This fall I replaced her 25 in/15oz tee ball bat with a slightly larger 27in/17oz youth fast pitch bat. Would the two inches and two ounces make a difference in her batting? She is not the star player on the team. She is deep on the batting charts and usually plays backup behind the short-stop. However, she manages to get on base on most of her at bats. In one recent game she scored 2 of the 3 runs. She reminds me of my dad when I watched him play in a church softball league.
Being a preteen, I was too young to play with the grown men, but I went to practices and watched all the games I could. My two older brothers played in the local church league. I think they were down a player or two for the team and asked Dad if he could play. Dad was probably in his early forties at the time, but had been an active athlete through college where he played intramural sports. After college he coached my brothers and me in baseball, football, and basketball.
Though he was out of shape and had not played any kind of ball in a while, he was an asset to the team. I remember being amazed at his ability to get on base with seemingly every at bat. While some batters tried for home runs or deep balls, Dad go on base with a simple line-drive or grounder. He realized his limitations and did what he knew he could do.
I guess I feel the same way about the way I approach things, except that I want more recognition that I get. I am usually not the most outstanding performer, but I am solid. I show up to work on time and work hard while I am there. Maybe I should learn that batting singles is not such a bad place to be.
