Saturday could have been Smunch's last baseball game of the season. His tenure with the Giants was certainly over after yet another crushing loss. I give his coach a lot of credit for the fact that the boys never really knew they lost, even when the score was 20-5. They didn't notice and they didn't care enough to keep track of the score themselves. Despite their dismal performance, I honestly think almost all the boys had fun and came away feeling like they were pretty decent baseball players.
Although it was clear from the moment he got up that morning that Smunch didn't have the focus to play baseball, we got him out the door. He got one last chance to pitch. He did a great job and it was a little bittersweet. No more opportunities to pitch this year.
Bummer. He was really beginning to fancy himself a miniature Tim Lincecum!
He's developed some crazy little hand signal/celebratory flourishes. We'd seen him emulate Brian Wilson an Pablo Sandoval. This one seemed a little more generic.
The rest of his game was pretty unremarkable. Smunch was angry after striking out twice and angrier yet when he realized that he wouldn't get another opportunity to bat. I tried to remind him that he'd have other opportunities to bat. After all, the club team has a big tournament this coming weekend. He wasn't going for it. Nothing a little season-ending trophy couldn't cure though.
I didn't even get to see that part because Mam and I had to jet off to her final softball game of the season. Mam's team was playing a team called the Blue Butterflies. If you remember, this was also the name of her soccer team. Might not have been a coincidence. The coach from her soccer team was coaching this butterfly team too. And she adores him. All of a sudden, she turned into a super softball player, making outs everywhere and even catching a fly ball that she turned into a double play when she ran back to third with it.
As usual, there was no score and the girls who were out stayed on base. But it was a fitting end to a fun little season. Still, kinda glad we're done with Friday evening practices and splitting our time between two kids' games.
But, wait! There's more! I already mentioned that Smunch has a baseball tournament coming up this weekend. Beyond that, we just got confirmation that he'll be playing on the league's All-Star traveling team. That means tournaments almost every weekend through Independence Day. It's a big honor. The kids on the traveling teams are nominated by the coaches of the opposing teams they've played. I'm super proud of him, but not because he's got any kind of incredible baseball prowess. I'm proud of him because he's figured out what it takes to be dedicated to something and it shows. He really wants to be good at baseball. He listens, he knows what to do. Gosh, he's a pain in the butt sometimes, but he's
such a cool little kid when he's in the vicinity of a baseball diamond!
Saturday could have been Smunch's last baseball game of the season. His tenure with the Giants was certainly over after yet another crushing loss. I give his coach a lot of credit for the fact that the boys never really knew they lost, even when the score was 20-5. They didn't notice and they didn't care enough to keep track of the score themselves. Despite their dismal performance, I honestly think almost all the boys had fun and came away feeling like they were pretty decent baseball players.
Although it was clear from the moment he got up that morning that Smunch didn't have the focus to play baseball, we got him out the door. He got one last chance to pitch. He did a great job and it was a little bittersweet. No more opportunities to pitch this year.
Bummer. He was really beginning to fancy himself a miniature Tim Lincecum!
He's developed some crazy little hand signal/celebratory flourishes. We'd seen him emulate Brian Wilson an Pablo Sandoval. This one seemed a little more generic.
The rest of his game was pretty unremarkable. Smunch was angry after striking out twice and angrier yet when he realized that he wouldn't get another opportunity to bat. I tried to remind him that he'd have other opportunities to bat. After all, the club team has a big tournament this coming weekend. He wasn't going for it. Nothing a little season-ending trophy couldn't cure though.
I didn't even get to see that part because Mam and I had to jet off to her final softball game of the season. Mam's team was playing a team called the Blue Butterflies. If you remember, this was also the name of her soccer team. Might not have been a coincidence. The coach from her soccer team was coaching this butterfly team too. And she adores him. All of a sudden, she turned into a super softball player, making outs everywhere and even catching a fly ball that she turned into a double play when she ran back to third with it.
As usual, there was no score and the girls who were out stayed on base. But it was a fitting end to a fun little season. Still, kinda glad we're done with Friday evening practices and splitting our time between two kids' games.
But, wait! There's more! I already mentioned that Smunch has a baseball tournament coming up this weekend. Beyond that, we just got confirmation that he'll be playing on the league's All-Star traveling team. That means tournaments almost every weekend through Independence Day. It's a big honor. The kids on the traveling teams are nominated by the coaches of the opposing teams they've played. I'm super proud of him, but not because he's got any kind of incredible baseball prowess. I'm proud of him because he's figured out what it takes to be dedicated to something and it shows. He really wants to be good at baseball. He listens, he knows what to do. Gosh, he's a pain in the butt sometimes, but he's such a cool little kid when he's in the vicinity of a baseball diamond!
4 comments:
I absolutely love the picture of him pitching right after he has released the ball. GREAT shot mommy.
Wow...he's lookin pro! Glad to hear that the baseball season was fun...now off to other things as the summer comes. Such cute pics too!
Wow, great action shots! A couple of real jocks you have there...
Congratulations to Smunch on the traveling league. AWESOME! And AMAZING that Mam caught a fly ball and then made a double out! In the gazillion hours of baseball/softball I've watched these past two months, I've only seen that once...and it was by a third grader! Impressive, Mam!
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