Little League

I'm a Little League dad. I have two kids that play LL baseball in southern California, which means that I get to be around people who seem to somehow think it's sane to spend $300 on an aluminum bat for a nine year old. Although the overwhelming majority of parents are sane and have reasonable expectations for their kids (i.e. have fun, work hard, and learn to be part of a team), there are always a few who seem to think that their child is unquestionably the next Derek Jeter. Honestly, most of the kids won't even play high school ball, let alone division three college ball, but there's a palpable sense around the fields sometimes that parents expect their kids to go on to be major leaguers. It's quite ridiculous.

All of that said, I love Little League baseball. At its best, its a blast. Most of the parents are nice and a sizable number have a great sense of humor, so there's a lot of laughter during games. The kids tend to be kind to each other (at least at this age), funny, and happy to be playing. On a Saturday morning when the sun hits the grass just right, it is one of those uniquely americana kinds of experiences. Good times.

That said, my wife almost got in a fight at a game two years ago. During one of our son's games, the only girl on his team stepped up to bat and was heckled by a parent from the opposing team. This is, of course, a substantial no-no under any circumstances, but when a 35+ year old man yells "easy out" in reference to a seven year old girl stepping into the batter's box, it's a particularly egregious form of no-no. My wife stood up and suggested to the gentleman that he should shut his mouth and sit down; she then loudly asked him if he felt better about himself after heckling little girls. Naturally, he shut up and sat down and my wife received a round of applause from the other parents.

Dear me, I love that woman.