Opening Day, Take 2

Last year, I used the event of Smunch's first day as a baseball (well, T-ball) player to start my very own blog. Opening Day seemed like the right day to do that. So, it's only appropriate that I should catalog this year's opening day as well.

This year, Smunch is playing in a new league...because PONY Baseball uses the field at his school. Of course, none of his games are actually at his school, but that's beside the point. So, we've got a new color (orange instead of teal), a new mascot (a bird instead of a snake) and a whole new lineup. I'm happy. It's a great group of kids...and more importantly, it's a great group of moms, who all have kindergarteners at the same school.

Smunch even has friends on this team...
...which means I have friends in the stands.

This year's opening day was far less painful than last year's. Instead of a big ceremony involving the entire league and hours in the hot sun, an "official" from PONY Baseball came and talked for about two minutes, the kids from both the Orioles and their opponents, the Mets, were officially introduced and it was time to PLAY BALL!...
...or to sit for a very long time squinting into the sun because a)you were put last in the batting order and b) you refuse to wear your hat.
Smunch proved last year that he's not really all that good at hitting off a tee. He's better when being pitched to, but he did pretty well...you know, considering no one keeps score.

And Mam? Well, doesn't she look like the picture of a true Oriole's fan? All thanks to her brother refusing to wear his hat, of course. What's up with that anyway???
Despite how happy she looks, Mam was bored to death by the whole affair and had a must-be-touching-Mommy-at-all times moment to top that off. It didn't matter that her Sarah was there. She would do nothing without Mommy. And poor Mommy just wanted to see her kid play baseball! Waaah!

Of course, the truth of the matter is, even Smuch, in all his sports fanatic glory, couldn't quite maintain his enthusiasm for the entire game. He looks pretty bored here, huh? He's playing third base...and check it out! He's got his hat on now that the game's almost over!